ALGIERS: Beautiful, intelligent and talented, Baraka Merzaia, the young Algerian rising star, is proving to be a true force of nature.

Those who don’t know her will soon find Baraka on their small screens, Arab News in French visited her to know her story.

Originally from Adrar in southern Algeria, the young artist based in Algiers collects several strings on her bow. A multi-faceted artist, Merzaia is also endowed with an angelic voice. Discovered at the age of 16, she joined a choir where she learned to improve her voice.

All-rounder and polyglot like most young people of her generation, the young woman draws attention to herself across borders: In India, four years ago, when the country celebrated Gandhi’s 150th birthday, the musician received praise from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for her “memorable” rendition of “Vaishnava Jana To,” an immensely popular Hindu hymn “whose lyrics are steeped in an empathy” that Baraka hopes is contagious.

Voted Miss Talent 2019, the young Sahrawi beauty multiplies her modeling contracts. Just like her two sisters, Ferdous and Amina, Baraka, who started photography a few years ago and wants to conquer the international catwalks, seems to be captivating the cameras.

Baraka Merzaia admires the career of Somali-American model Halima Aden, who wore a hijab as a model on the cover of Vogue and first wore a burkini in Sports Illustrated magazine and is true to his faith.

The young woman, also studying Spanish, explains with ambition that her mother, to whom she is very close, has a PhD, which motivates her to follow in her footsteps, in parallel with her artistic projects, to achieve higher education.

Of particular beauty, which does not necessarily fit the classic criteria of the North African collective imagination, Baraka Merzaia embodies, perhaps unconsciously, but with enormous elegance, an Algeria in need of representation.

The young woman, who is deeply committed to her faith, said she turned down offers of partnerships with brands who asked her to take off her veil for a photo shoot.

“Many consider my veil a fashion accessory, which is far from the case, and I believe that I can carry out my projects without jeopardizing my integrity,” explains the young woman.

Africanism and Algerianism

The singer, photo model and recently actress shares her everyday life and artistic projects with more than half a million subscribers online.

Far from political and racial claims, Baraka’s peculiarity seems to lie in the fact that she unreservedly claims her Algerian, her African and her faith, which she has been able to reconcile. It thus proves that these aspects of Algerian identity are far from incompatible, but complement each other.

At a time when young people sometimes tend to be impressed by everything that comes their way from abroad, the young woman shows through her talent and quiet strength that, alongside pluralism and richness, the Algerian identity “always there is still a lot to offer and it deserves to be discovered”.

Like many young people of his age, Baraka likes to share fragments of his daily life, but also his professional achievements, especially in the fields of modeling, music and art. His business is successful.

Merzaia says that one day, while visiting her hometown of Ain Salah, she decided to share moments of life typical of her region of origin in southern Algeria.

“When I posted a video showing how we make kesra, a sand-baked semolina pancake, I was inundated with caring and curious messages from across the country asking me to share this type of content more often ‘ Baraka Merzaia wonders.

This video, widely shared on social networks, especially by NWE, a medium that highlights African culture in all its diversity, has thus helped to highlight an often ignored facet of Algerian culture.

The young woman, who currently has more than 515,000 subscribers on Instagram and TikTok, explains that she sees these platforms as a way to introduce people to the south of Algeria that we don’t usually see, while at the same time breaking with the stereotypes related to the Saharan people .

In 2006, a census estimated that the black community in Algeria made up about 5% of the country’s population, the lowest proportion of Maghreb countries.

“I don’t see myself as an influencer, but I strive to be part of the influence of my culture by sharing my beliefs and culture between modernity and tradition with the people who follow me,” says Merzaia.

The one whose first name evokes divine blessing and beneficial influence strives for a life worthy of his first name.