ALGIERS-“Dar El Bachtarzi”, a venue steeped in history that has served as a rehearsal space for Mahieddine Bachatzi and El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka since the 1920s, reopened its doors in Algiers on Friday, with an inaugural concert hosted by Andalusian singer Mahmoud Hadj Ali.

Dar El Bachtarzi”, which is run by the Arts et Culture Establishment of d'Algiers and now intended as a meeting place for artists, is located on the lower level of a building, entirely restored by the Algiers Governorate, on Les Frères Ouslimani Street in the lower Casbah of Algiers, on the extension of the left side façade of the Ketchaoua Mosque.

“The reopening of this historical landmark is part of the Governorate of Algiers’ efforts to rehabilitate and enhance the cultural and civilizational heritage of the capital Algiers, particularly the thousand-year-old city of the Casbah,” explained Fodhil Hammouch, head of programming at the institution.     

Under the supervision of the Algiers Chamber of Crafts and Trades, the two upper floors of this mythical space will also host various exhibitors of traditional industry and handicrafts.

Twenty or so carved copper table tops, surrounded by upholstered seats covered in red silk, stretch across the room's rectangular surface. Its arcaded side walls are built of ashlar.

To bring this mythical venue back to life, Mahmoud Hadj Ali, conductor of the Mossiliya band, accompanied by musicians Krimou Meghzifene on banjo, Hichem Hassani on violin, Krimou Chikhi on oud, Sofiane Haddad on derbouka, and Fouad Tebib on tar, delighted the audience for an hour and a half with the Sika nouba and several Hawzi classics.

At the end of the opening ceremony of this “Cafeteria-concert”, which the Governorate of Algiers has restored to Algerian culture, “Le Maître” Mahieddine Bachtarzi was at the center of all discussions, which revisited the atypical and extraordinary career of this man of culture and history.