(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) The tent is slowly regaining its status amongst Algerian city-dwellers as an icon of tradition and pride. However it is now assuming the new role as a spot for social banquets and weddings.
Three of the most prominently used in Algeria are the Aures and Ouled Nail tents - which both belong to nomadic peoples of mountainous regions - in addition to the desert tent, inhabited by the Touareg and Ghardaia bedouins.
They differ in shape, colour and size, however they share the common characteristic of being made from camel hide or sheep wool.
The manufacturing of the Aures-style tent has been an inherited tradition for decades, and has been passed down generation-to-generation amongst women of the tribes - common to the northeastern Aures Mountains, Saida bin Abdulrahman says.
However with the coming of modernity, the tradition, which has been an integral part of her tribe's livelihoods, is slowly dying, she told KUNA at a traditional crafts festival.
The tent is one of many bright colours and patterns, and at present times inhabits the backyards of the homes of people in the area with the sole purpose of entertaining guests with tea, coffee and Algerian desserts sometimes accompanied by live traditional music.
Many Algerians are attempting to revive the traditional status of tents with one woman telling KUNA she still keeps the tools once used by her mother hang on the walls of her home.
As for the tent commonly used by the Ouled Nail tribes - who mainly inhabit the northern Bou Saada and Djelfa regions - it mainly comes in red, with locals nicknaming it 'The Red House.' "Tents have been used for centuries by these peoples," says Professor of history at the University of Mostaganem, Azoz Kasimi. "They are a symbol of tradition and a source of pride for the Algerian family, he added.
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