Declassification and ghost objects

When the Lodève carpet workshop was integrated into the Ministry of Culture in 1966, the “white carpets” woven by the wives of Harkis, in a style inspired by French industrial production in colonial Algeria, were nationalized. During the 1990s and 2000s, these carpets were gradually stripped of their cultural heritage status; some were formally declassified while others faced informal downgrading. This article analyzes their transformation from heritage objects to everyday items, both within the institution and among the Harki community.