Kuching to play host to 12 Asean Creative Cities next month

KUCHING (Aug 24): Twelve Asean Creative Cities will converge here from Sept 12 to 16 to share knowledge on how they are placing creativity and culture at the heart of their sustainable development agenda.

Unesco Creative Cities Network (UCCN) Kuching in a statement yesterday said the cities are from five Asean countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, with more gastronomy exchanges from Australia and China.

The confirmed participants are Baguio City of Craft and Folk Art; Bandung City of Design; Ipoh City of Music; Jakarta City of Literature; Phetchaburi City of Gastronomy; Phuket City of Gastronomy; Launceston City of Gastronomy; Macao City of Gastronomy; Singapore City of Design; Sukhotai City of Craft and Folk Art; Suphan Buri City of Music; and Shunde City of Gastronomy.

“Each will be sharing on their city’s approach to ensuring the sustainability of their creative economies during the forum,” said UCCN Kuching.

It said Unesco cities from across the creative fields – gastronomy, craft and folk art, music, literature and design – will visit Kuching to take part in forums, discussions, demonstrations and events for the benefit of the city’s creative players.

The event is sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac), which is spearheading the Creative Cities agenda across Malaysia and has been supporting Kuching’s membership since the application stage.

“This will be the first time that our domestic creative industries can directly experience the value of the UCCN right here in their own hometown,” UCCN Kuching head and Kuching South mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng said in the release.

In thanking Motac for making the event possible, he said the platform is a model of collaboration given that UCCN Kuching is partnering with Nyamai Gastronomy Festival, to be held at Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) this year, and also with Borneo Tuak Festival, along with other chefs and restaurants in the city.

“These collaborations with creative players in Kuching will ensure an excellent experience for all our visitors,” said Wee.

Meanwhile, UCCN Kuching strategic director Karen Shepherd said the main event will be a one-day forum at SCV, with free entry for Kuching’s creative industry players.

In addition, she said Creative City representatives will take part in curated dinners, culinary demonstrations, roundtable discussions, study visits with Kuching’s creative sector and a little taste of the city’s gastronomic tours.

Shepherd hoped Kuching’s creatives would make the most of this opportunity to network with invited speakers and also make the event lively and creatively inspiring.

“Many of these cities have hosted Kuching representatives already in the three years since our designation as Malaysia’s first Creative City under Unesco.

“This is a chance for us to repay their hospitality Sarawak style, but more importantly a chance for us to share their programmes, activities and approaches with our own creatives and our own policy makers,” she said.

For updates, follow UCCN Kuching’s social media ‘Kuching Creative City’ or visit www.kuchingcreativecity.com.

For more information, email [email protected].