SRINAGAR: Paradise is on a high after Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO (INCCU) endorsed the call to include Srinagar in the list of United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization’s creative cities network.
In a letter sent to Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC 0Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu, Saroj Kumar Choudhary, the undersecretary to the government of India, ministry of education, said they have endorsed the application to include Srinagar in the list of creative cities network.
“Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO is pleased to endorse the following two applications for UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) 2021: Srinagar for Creative City of Craft and Folk Art and Gwalior for Creative City of Music,” he said.
The endorsement comes two years after Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) applied for “UNESCO Creative City” for crafts and folk art.
In 2019, SMC had submitted the application to declare Srinagar ‘UNESCO Creative City’ under `Creative Cities Network’.
“Srinagar city is known for its long and illustrious tradition of crafts and folk art; crafts including Pashmina shawls, walnut wood carving, Paper Machie, and Kani shawls. Sozni Khatamband and hand weaved carpets are some of the iconic crafts of Srinagar and hold a significant share in the overall production and exports of the state,” the SMC application said.
SMC said the local craft is viewed as an important driver of the city’s economy and needs to be preserved and promoted at all levels. “Government has already initiated the Artisan Cluster Development Initiative (ACDI) to promote and incentivize the local craft which will be key to economic empowerment of the local community,” the SMC added.
Srinagar city has a lot to offer vis-à-vis heritage tourism. Within a radius of seven to eight kilometers, the city has old religious, commercial, and residential structures and spots that are accessible through land, lake, and river.
From the historic Maharaj Gunj market to old residential houses and historical structures, Srinagar has a lot to offer. Several mosques and shrines are all wooden and need to be promoted as pilgrim and heritage tourism destinations.
The ‘Khanqah-e-Moala’ itself is the oldest of its kind in the Valley. It was first built in 1395 AD and is known for its intricate wooden and paper machie works. Old Srinagar is a treasure trove that has not yet been discovered by the high-end tourists that visit places purely for the sake of heritage.
If UCCN is granted, it will give global recognition to Srinagar as a creative city in exquisite art and crafts. UCCN will boost local art and crafts
The UCCN was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.
The 180 cities which currently make up this network work together towards a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level cooperating actively at the international level.
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