Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan has said that the ICCN General Assembly will be an opportunity to present the heritage of the region before the world.
Launching the 9th ICCN General Assembly and International Cultural Festival here on Sunday, he said that preserving the intangible heritage across the world is the purpose of the assembly to be hosted in Kozhikode from November 10-14, 2023.
The Minister said that travelling and studying abroad comes as easy as going to the next city for today’s generation due to globalisation. However, the loss of intangible heritage is a negative after effect, and hence the importance of networks such as ICCN that works towards its conservation.
“The local population should work shoulder to shoulder with the governments for the purpose,” he said, adding that Kozhikode, with its recent bid for the ‘City of Literature status’ deserves to be the first Indian city to hold the ICCN General Assembly.
The Inter-city Intangible Cultural Cooperation Network (ICCN) is a UNESCO-approved network of 45 global cities that works for conserving culture and heritage. Mayor and cultural leaders from these cities will take part in the assembly. ICCN General Assemblies have been held in Egypt, Iran, Korea, Italy, Spain, and Palestine.
Interactive sessions with prominent people from academic, social, educational, and tourism sectors besides heritage tours will be held along with the general assembly. An international cultural festival, mega-painting exhibition, handicraft exhibitions, and mural painting session involving around 200 women, will also be part of the assembly. M.K. Raghavan, MP, presided over the launch while MLA Thottathil Raveendran launched the event website. Former regional director of Archaeological Survey of India K.K. Muhammed, E. Pushpalatha and Ahammadu Zirajuddeen from UNESCO Chair of Calicut University, Director (South Asia) of ICCN V. Jayarajan were present.
The event was followed by a performance of Koodiyattam (Kailasodharanam, Parvathi Viraham) by Kalamandalam Sivan Namboothiri.
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