UNESCO chose two cities of the Caspian region in the “Creative City Network”
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has included two towns of the Caspian region to the list of “Creative Cities Network”, reports Caspian News.
For example, Shaki, located in the north-west of Azerbaijan, was rated as a creative city due to its crafts and folk art, while the largest city of Kazakhstan and its former capital, Almaty, was recognized for its musical culture.
The full list of cities included 66 places from 44 countries, including Italy, Colombia, China, Mexico, Australia, etc. They became “laureates” in such nominations as media art, design, gastronomy, literature and cinema.
UNESCO launched the project “Creative Cities Network” in 2004 to promote cooperation and development through creative life as an important factor of development.
Approximately 68 thousand people live in Shaki, a city located about 350 km from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Archaeological discoveries indicate that it was founded in the fifth or sixth century of our era.
One of Shaki's famous sights is the Palace of Shaki Khans (15th century), completely built of wood without using a single nail. It is decorated with patterned and subject mural paintings, colored stained glass windows - glass mosaics, the creation of which, according to local masters, requires a deep knowledge of geometry, as well as mathematical and drawing skills.
Another reason for choosing Shaki in the “Network of Creative Cities” was a Kelagayi headscarf - a silk four-cornered shawl woven from floss thread with a printed pattern made by the traditional method of reserving wax in this region. In November 2014 at the 9th session of UNESCO's traditional art and symbolism of Kelagayi, its production and the wearing were included in the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage .
Kelagayi has a certain connection with Shaki, because local silk was once used to make such scarves throughout the country. Today, the Shaki Silk Factory produces many types of such scarves.
Kazakhstan's southeastern city of Almaty has in turn well proven itself as a musical city. The international festival of classical music “Forte Music Fest” has been held here since 2015, the last festival took place in May this year in the Big Hall of the Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory with the participation of well-known musicians from Germany, Venezuela, Romania, Georgia, Ireland, Russia, Greece, USA, Ukraine, Estonia and Colombia.
Within the framework of the festival, everyone could attend master classes from unsurpassed virtuosos, concert soloists and concertmasters of orchestras, which will be held at the Museum of Folk Musical Instruments named after Ykhlas.
Almaty this year also hosted an International Vocal Contest “I Am a Singer”, similar to Eurovision. The main goal of the project is the promotion of modern Kazakh culture abroad and the development of tourism in Almaty. The contest is broadcast on television stations throughout Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and is expected to reach an audience of over 250 million people.
