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Paris: On World Cities Day, 31 October, 55 cities have joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN), following their designation by UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay.

New cities were acknowledged for their strong commitment to harnessing culture and creativity as part of their development strategies, and displaying innovative practices in human-centred urban planning. With the latest additions, the Network now counts 350 cities in more than one hundred countries, representing seven creative fields: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music.

The new members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network are: 

Asaba – Film

Ashgabat – Design

Banja Luka – Music

Battambang – Gastronomy 

Bissau – Music

Bolzano – Music

Bremen – Literature 

Buffalo City – Literature

Bukhara – Crafts and Folk Art

Bydgoszcz – Music 

Caen – Media Arts

Caracas – Music 

Casablanca – Media Arts

Castelo Branco – Crafts and Folk Art

Cetinje – Design 

Chaozhou – Gastronomy

Chiang Rai – Design

Chongqing – Design 

Concepción – Music

Da Lat – Music

Fribourg – Gastronomy 

Gangneung – Gastronomy

Granada – Design 

Gwalior – Music 

Herakleion – Gastronomy 

Hobart – Literature 

Hoi An – Crafts and Folk Art

Iasi – Literature 

Iloilo City – Gastronomy

Ipoh – Music 

Kathmandu – Film

Kozhikode – Literature

Kutaisi – Literature 

Mexicali – Music 

Montecristi – Crafts and Folk Art

Montreux – Music

Nkongsamba – Gastronomy

Novi Sad – Media Arts

Okayama – Literature

Ouarzazate – Film 

Oulu – Media Arts

Penedo – Film 

Rio de Janeiro – Literature

Şanlıurfa – Music 

Suphanburi – Music 

Surakarta – Crafts and Folk Art

Taif – Literature 

Toulouse – Music

Tukums – Literature

Ulaanbaatar – Crafts and Folk Art

Umngeni Howick – Crafts and Folk Art

Valencia – Design

Varaždin – Music

Veliky Novgorod – Music

Vicente Lopez – Film

The city of Lyon, Creative City of Media Arts since 2008, has been granted a status of a Creative City of Literature, following its request to change creative field.

Newly designated cities will cooperate with Network members to strengthen their resilience the face of evolving threats such as climate change, rising inequality, as well as rapid urbanization, with 68% of the world’s population projected to live in urban areas by 2050. 

“The cities in our Creative Cities Network are leading the way when it comes to enhancing access to culture and galvanizing the power of creativity for urban resilience and development,” says Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General.

National Tansen Festival

The National Tansen Festival or Tansen Samaroh is celebrated every year in the month of December in Gwalior to honour the memory of the Great Indian Musical Maestro Tansen.  

Artists and music lovers from all over the world gather and perform at the Tansen Festival in Gwalior. It was originally a local festival organized near the samadhi (tomb) of Tansen but when BV Keskar was the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting between 1952 and 1962, Tansen Samaroh was turned into a popular national music festival. 

Anant Maral Shastri, who was Keskar’s contemporary in Kashi Vidyapeeth in the pre-Independence days, came to Madhya Bharat as Director of Information and Publicity in 1949. He held that post till the formation of Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956. It was with his initiative and efforts at the ground level that the famous Tansen Samaroh at Gwalior was turned into a national Music festival with the full support and involvement of BV Keskar, in his capacity as Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting (1952–62). After Tansen Samaroh was turned into a national Music festival, it became a popular platform for maestros to perform.

Sarod Ghar

“I am so happy to know that Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior, land of the Saint musician Tansen, has got UNESCO recognition as ‘City of Music’ at the 42nd Session of the General Conference for its commitment to culture, creativity, and innovative urban planning. The City of Gwalior is famous as an ancient seat of culture. I feel spiritually uplifted when I think that I was born in Madhya Pradesh, in the same town where the saint musician Tansen was born and where his samadhi is. My father, the legendary Sarod maestro, Ustad Haafiz Ali Khan of Gwalior lived for Music. For my father, though, there was no question of a life outside music. Life itself was Music and Music was Life. The creation of Sarod Ghar in Gwalior, a unique institution devoted to musical heritage is my humble tribute to my father and Guru.”

– Amjad Ali Khan

Ustad Haafiz Ali Khan Saheb of Gwalior, father and Guru of Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, was one of the foremost classical instrumentalist of his time. 

Born in 1877, Ustad Haafiz Ali Khan, belonged to the fifth generation in the Bangash family that is credited with the Sarod’s origin and development. 

The Ustad Haafiz Ali Khan Trust was formed in the year following the death of Ustad Haafiz Ali Khan Saheb in 1972. The objectives of the Trust are to propogate the memories of past masters and promote Indian classical music all over the world.

A museum to salute the memory of Haafiz Ali Khan Saheb, has been housed in Sarodghar that was once the family’s ancestral home in Gwalior. The house has a colourful history with four generations of Sarod players being born there.

Gwalior Gharana

Ustad Bade Inayat Hussain Khan (1837–1923) was a classical Indian vocalist who belonged to the famous Gwalior Gharana. He was the maternal grandson of Nathan Pir Bakhsh, the founder of Gwalior Gharana.

Bade Inayat Hussain Khan was a singer who expanded the Gwalior style from the methodical form it followed to the emotional style that he preferred.

The most significant changes in the parampara came from around the late 18th century onward following the migration of Nathan Peer Baksh from Lucknow to Gwalior. Gwalior gharana of Indian classical music is easily the doyen amongst Khayal gharanas.