Imzad player, Tamanrasset © L. Veirier / UNESCO

The Association started out by informing all the parties concerned locally and nationally of the existence of this ancestral art and making local populations aware of the need to mobilize in order to preserve their heritage. An operation to register all the imzad players and poets was launched throughout the Tamanrasset wilaya. Thus ten male and female trainers were selected for the creation of an imzad school there and 200 girls then enrolled. The first class of 40 pupils, known as "Dassine", began at the professional training institute on 2 January 2004. It is planned furthermore to build Dar el Imzad as a meeting-place and centre of cultural influence for artists from all over the world.

An international conference on the imzad will be held in Tamanrasset from 30 March to 3 April 2005. The principal agenda items are as follows : The imzad : an art deeply rooted in Tuareg history and culture; How to save imzad art : modes of transmission and teaching; The role of the imzad in today’s world as a referent for women and a tool against poverty.