THUMBS UP

Srinagar Gets UNESCO Tag

Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar city became one of 49 cities worldwide to the prestigious list of UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) for 2021. The inclusion of Srinagar has paved the way for the city to represent its handicrafts on the global stage through UNESCO. With this, the UCCN is now an exclusive club of 295 cities from across 90 countries that invest in culture and creativity - crafts and folk art, design,film, gastronomy, literature, media, arts and music - to advance sustainable urban development.

                      The UNESCO CCN is a project launched by UNESCO in 2004 to promote cooperation among the cities which recognised creatively as a strategic factor in their urban development. The dossier for nomination for Srinagar as creative city was first filed by Srinagar as Creative city was first filed by Srinagar in year 2019, however, only two cities Hyderabad for gastronomy and Mumbai for Film were chosen during that year. Prior to year 2019 only there three Indian cities have been recognised as members of UCCN for creative cities - Jaipur (crafts and folk arts) in 2015, Varanasi (creative city of music) in 2015 and Chennai (creative city of music) in 2017.

                      While the entire control Kashmir is known for its varied craft traditions, the UCCN allows only individuals cities to file nominations. The UCCN tag would not only give global connections to the Srinagar city but also help it in international funding tie-ups with craft universities and pitching craft as a product. It is a proud moment for us.