Delegates from Sweden register for the UNESCO Creative Cities Network conference at Seaview Hotel in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, yesterday.
Scholars, industry insiders and government officials from 24 cities in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network have gathered in Shenzhen to attend its annual conference, which opens today.
The four-day conference will include keynote speeches, panel discussions on the UNESCO creative cities, parallel workshops and open discussions on the theme of new technology, new media and creative city synergy.
Hundreds of delegates from around the world are expected to share practical experience and exchange cutting-edge ideas on the development in the fields of literature, film, music, craft and folk art, design, media arts and gastronomy.
A museum director from Egypt was looking forward to the meeting.
I look forward to the cooperation between our city and Shenzhen in the future and hope Shenzhen, a City of Design, can help design our craftworks, said Ossama A.W. Abdel Meguid, director of the Nubian Museum in Aswan, Egypt.
A member of the network, Aswan has been endorsed as a City of Craft and Folk Art.
Meguid will address the conference on the use of media to promote craftworks.
Paz Sanchez Zapata, general director of Institute for Culture and Art of Seville, said the conference was a good opportunity to open Shenzhen to the world.
When we return home, we will speak about our experience in Shenzhen and make it better known to the world. Because, for most foreigners, the impression of Shenzhen is only that of a modern, fast-growing city, said Zapata.
With the approval of UNESCO, the conference will conclude with the release of the Shenzhen Declaration, which calls for enhanced communication and cooperation among international creative cities.
There are 27 cities from 17 countries in the network, established in 2004. Shenzhen was endorsed as a City of Design in December 2008, the first city in China to claim the title. Shanghai was later endorsed as a City of Design and Chengdu a City of Gastronomy.
The UNESCO Creative Cities Network has convened annually since 2008.
The 2010 Shenzhen Conference will be the first UNESCO Creative Cities Network meeting to be held in a developing country, also the first time in Asia.
