13 July 2020
Culture & Arts Director, H.E Shaikha Hala, Participates in 1st UNESCO’s Cities of Design Network, attended by 40 representatives of cities around the world
H.E Shaikha Hala Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, Director General of Culture and Arts at the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, participated in the first UNESCO Cities of Design Network meeting today. The sessions were launched remotely today, Monday the 13th of July 2020, and will continue until the 15th of this month.
The participation of H.E Shaikha Hala Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa comes after the inclusion of Muharraq within UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network in the field of design during last October, one of 40 cities around the world under the same classification. The meeting aims to enhance cooperation between these cities and shed lights on design as a creative tool for a brighter future more stable, safe and sustainable.
Commenting on its inclusion in the creative rankings, H.E Shaikha Hala Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, said: "The inscription of Muharraq on UNESCO’s List of Creative Cities Network for Design, indicates that Muharraq, thanks to the efforts of all parties, is considered an exceptional international city model for urban development, which takes into consideration many elements, such as history, arts and architecture, as major sources of inspiration and creativity”. H.E added to say: “Muharraq has central and unique importance in the Kingdom of Bahrain, given that it has been the old capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the commercial center for pearling trade industry in the GCC region, attracting creators and designers from all over the world to procure its rare and unique natural pearls during those times”.
H.E Shaikha Hala bint Mohammed Al Khalifa hailed the honour which acknowledged Muharraq’s rich urban legacy, design, history and civilization, a city characterized by a genuine historical urban fabric, local rich culture, authentic tangible and intangible cultural heritage. H.E also pointed out that development projects, rehabilitation of neighborhoods of inhabitants and institutions aim to enhance the social, cultural and economic aspects and trends in the city of Muharraq.
In addition, H.E Shaikha Hala bint Mohammed Al Khalifa argued that Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities, seeks to invest in the marvelous and outstanding potential beauty of the city of Muharraq, with its architectural heritage and cultural history, as a creative city for design in order to boost the efforts and measures to face the challenges and risks caused by the outbreak of Covid 19 virus pandemic.
Bahrain Culture Authority had previously held a competition, followed by a photography exhibition, titled “Inspired by Muharraq”, as part of BACA’s strategy to organize a virtual parallel cultural activities and events via its different websites and social media networks, encouraging, thus, the future cultural projects in the city of Muharraq, based on creative design concepts and backgrounds, and adapted with the ever changing social needs.
The virtual meeting’s first day discussed a number of future projects to be carried out by the UNESCO Creative Cities of Design Network, the role of design and creativity in enhancing the countries ‘efforts in response to the spread of the Covid.19 Corona virus. The two-year term election of new Network coordinators was also discussed by participants. The 2nd day meeting’s sessions will review a number of studies by UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network, shedding lights on how to invest in design and creativity and come out with new challenging solutions to the current world health crisis. Indeed, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network provides an opportunity for cities around the world to stand together and undertake collective action. Indeed, since the launch of the initiative, the UCCN Secretariat has received many valuable contributions from member cities in all seven Creative Fields across the world. These meaningful city-led initiatives highlight the mobilization of the cities’ cultural and creative capital in addressing COVID-19 through various aspects such as education, sciences and technology, social inclusion, assistance to professional and artists as well as the disadvantaged groups. The 3rd day of the virtual online meeting will discuss the creative cities interested in hosting the meetings of the UNESCO Creative Cities of Design Network
