Village Ellefte

Village Ellefte, also known as "Graba", is part of the old neighbourhood known as "Village nègre" during French colonisation, where legionnaires used to come to satisfy their urges. The image of this village in the Algerian collective memory is that of a myth, but also of a place of debauchery and prostitution. It is also said that it was here that rai music began with the ch'youkh... but all this is part of the construction of the myth and where the traces of the the veracity of these claims remains difficult to confirm. This place is not a village in itself, it only has the name, but it is at the heart of the town of Sidi-Bellabes. The image of the people who live there is reminiscent of all those people in the remotest parts of Algeria who are trying as hard as they can to get by and live a prosperous life, but who are totally erased from society, living in a permanent bubble. In 2011, the village was razed to the ground following a protest movement by its inhabitants, who were evicted and dispersed to various parts of the town.