Baguio City

City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2017

City presentation

Baguio City, located in Northern Luzon, is a multicultural hub known for its crafts, folk art, woodcarving, silver craft, weaving, and tattooing. The city works to sustain these traditions through the transfer of skills across generations.

The Panagbenga Flower Festival is a major event, showcasing artisans from various linguistic groups, such as the Tuwalis for woodcarving and Benguet for weaving, aiming to boost international exposure. The city has also established creative villages and training centers, particularly for youth, to preserve traditional knowledge.
Baguio City supports its creative sector by fostering innovation, offering market opportunities, and promoting culture-based urban renewal through initiatives like the Rev-Bloom Urban Redevelopment Campaign, strengthening sustainable tourism and collaboration across different sectors.

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Bamiyan

City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2015

City presentation

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Cairo

City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2017

City presentation

Cairo, the capital city of Egypt, is the largest metropolitan area in the Middle East and has long been a major cultural hub. Known for its rich craftsmanship, the city’s historic center features neighborhoods named after various craft practices. The local creative economy heavily relies on the crafts and folk art sector, which represents 80% of its cultural activities.

Communities in the historic center support crafts by establishing guilds for pottery, glassblowing, coppersmithing, ceramics, and jewelry. Cairo organizes events like the Diarna Fair and the Heritage Forum to promote craft heritage and raise awareness of the creative sector. The International Festival of Drums and Traditional Arts showcases traditional folk art and music. To revive the inactive historic center, the Urban Regeneration Project identifies culture and creativity as key elements for restoration. Cairo aims to strengthen artisans’ skills, create a multipurpose urban square for craft exhibitions, repurpose public buildings as Community Craft Centres, and engage in partnerships for professional development within the cultural sector.

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Chiang Mai

City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2017

City presentation

Located in Northern Thailand, Chiang Mai, the “Rose of the North,” was established in 1296 as the capital of the Lanna Kingdom. The city’s craftspeople were essential in developing its reputation as a trade center, contributing to the crafts industry from nearby villages, with 159 established enterprises providing significant employment. Chiang Mai’s craft practices, including pottery, silverwork, wood carving, silk embroidery, and lacquerware, are passed down through programs in public schools, like the ‘Museum to School’ initiative, which raises awareness of local crafts and folk arts.

The Chiang Mai Provincial Administrative Organisation is committed to protecting this heritage by enhancing educational institutions and launching the ‘One Sub-District, One Product’ initiative to support local crafts in global markets, benefiting small-scale producers, including those from vulnerable communities, through capacity-building workshops.

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Chardeleg

City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2017

City presentation

Chordeleg, a small city in southern Ecuador, is renowned for its precious metal work, pottery, footwear manufacturing, and toquilla straw weaving. These four sectors employ 66% of the active population, with 58% being women artisans. Craft knowledge is traditionally passed down through families and communities via oral tradition, and the city supports sustainability by helping artisans establish cooperatives and facilitating knowledge transfer.

The annual Candonga Festival, initiated in 2011, promotes Chordeleg’s crafts and encourages collaboration among artisans. The city partners with the Inter-American Centre for Crafts and Popular Arts (CIDAP) to safeguard traditional craft methods and improve working conditions. Additionally, the Municipality is implementing a National Plan to protect traditional toquilla weaving, focusing on revitalizing the craft sector through promotion and communication, while a broader Development and Territorial Planning strategy has already led to the creation of 12 new businesses.

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Hangzhou

City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2012

City presentation

With a 5,000-year history, Hangzhou, one of China’s ancient capitals, has transformed by focusing on cultural and creative industries. Its rich history supports renowned crafts such as silk and tea production, as well as porcelain and bronze sculptures. As a historic center for Chinese silk, Hangzhou has preserved this craft heritage. Known as China’s “Tea Capital,” the city is famous for West Lake Longjing Green Tea. Additionally, the stone carvings by the Xiling Seal Engraver’s Society highlight Hangzhou’s enduring crafts tradition. Recognized as a “National Cultural and Creative Centre,” Hangzhou’s creative industries employ over 336,000 people and play a key role in the city’s economic and cultural development.

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Isfahan

City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2015

City presentation

Isfahan, Iran’s third largest city with 1.5 million inhabitants, is a hub for crafts and folk art, featuring 9,000 workshops across 167 disciplines, including carpet weaving, metalwork, and ceramics. The historic Naqsh-e Jahan Square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, serves as the main venue for showcasing high-quality crafts. Events like the International Cultural Heritage Festival highlight local and international artistry, with a special focus on female artisans.

Isfahan’s Municipality actively promotes social cohesion and the preservation of traditional knowledge through training workshops and financial support, particularly via Handicrafts Cooperative Societies. As a Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art, Isfahan aims to enhance the capacities of artists, promote gender equality, and foster international cooperation, ensuring the growth and visibility of its rich craft heritage.

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Kanazawa

City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2009

City presentation

Kanazawa, influenced by the samurai lifestyle, is renowned for its artisan workshops and is recognized as a City of Crafts and Folk Arts. The city’s crafts reflect a unique blend of techniques introduced by skilled artisans from Kyoto and Edo, combining dynamism with the elegance of samurai culture. Traditional craftwork, such as kaga-yuzen silk dyeing for kimonos and gold leaf lacquer ware, continues to enrich daily life. Local artisans are now exploring collaborations with other creative fields, merging traditional crafts with innovation and new technologies.
The Kanazawa Citizens’ Art Center, operational 24/7, provides free spaces for artistic activities, while the 21st Century Museum for Contemporary Art, inaugurated in 2004, attracts over 1.5 million visitors annually, showcasing modern art and craft collections.

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Lubumbashi

City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2015

City presentation

Lubumbashi, the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a population of 1.7 million, is located in the Copperbelt mining region. Historically reliant on copper and malachite industries, the city aims to revitalize its development by leveraging creativity to celebrate its industrial legacy.

With over 50 workshops focused on malachite carving, Lubumbashi’s policies prioritize this trade as a means to stimulate employment. Artistic expressions stemming from local copper miners, such as street performance and music genres like karindula, enrich the city’s cultural identity.
The Copper Eaters Festival, celebrating artisan work for 15 years, and the Picha Encounters, an innovative visual arts biennale, underscore Lubumbashi’s commitment to cultural vitality. Although much of the cultural landscape has developed informally, the Municipality seeks to create a comprehensive policy framework to support cultural organizations and creative industries, aiming for sustainable urban renewal through creativity.

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Manises

City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2021

City presentation

Manises, a Mediterranean city with over 31,000 inhabitants, is renowned for its ceramic crafts that trace back to the 13th century, particularly known for the Islamic gold luster technique. The 20th century marked another flourishing period for the ceramics sector, especially during the Art Nouveau movement, which transformed Manises into a vibrant ceramic landscape now protected by law.

Today, the city boasts over 46 enterprises and artisans, three major associations, and two official ceramic educational centers, including Spain’s first Higher School of Ceramics, which has a high percentage of female students. The city hosts a lively calendar of craft events, such as the International Ceramics Biennial and the Ceramic Festival, attracting over 40,000 attendees. As a Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art, Manises aims to preserve its ceramic heritage, support local artisans, and promote creative tourism and integration efforts for migrants.

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Nakuru

City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2021

City presentation

Nakuru, located in the Rift Valley region of Kenya, is a city rich in cultural heritage, boasting a diverse array of cultural assets that foster creativity. The crafts and folk art sector features innovative artists working in sculpture, visual arts, beadwork, fabric design, metalwork, pottery, and storytelling, forming the backbone of Nakuru’s creative economy.

This economy encompasses thirteen creative sub-sectors that utilize culture as a strategic tool for economic growth. Recognizing the significance of creativity in development, Nakuru has launched hands-on programs to train professionals and build networks within the creative industries. Events like the Nakuru International Investment Conference and Nakuru Business Expo provide platforms for artists to showcase their work and attract investments. Moving forward, Nakuru plans to develop creative spaces such as cultural centers and art galleries, as well as establish a community festival to celebrate local heritage and promote inclusivity.

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Ouagadougou

City of Crafts and Folk Art since 2017

City presentation

Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, is a political, administrative, and cultural hub with a population of 2 million, housing over 80% of the central region’s inhabitants. The city has a rich tradition of bronze-working, particularly in the Niongsin neighborhood, where it originated through the expertise of three major families specializing in lost wax casting. This craft has evolved to become a primary source of income for many families and significantly impacts the local economy, employing 13% of informal sector workers across 375 businesses. Various training centers, such as the National Centre for Arts and Crafts and the Craft Village, ensure the transmission of this artisanal knowledge.
The city also hosts two major cultural events, the Ouagadougou International Craft Fair and the Pan-African Cinema and Television Festival. The municipal government actively supports local cultural industries by improving working conditions and promoting the bronze craft through initiatives like the Bronze Display.

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