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Aswan, Egypt

UNESCO City of Crafts and Folk Art

Aswan, Egypt
  • © Aswan

The city of Aswan, Egypt was appointed as UNESCO's first City of Crafts and Folk Art on the 1st of September 2005.

Known as Swno (the market) in the times of the Pharaohs, the city of Aswan has preserved a unique heritage in folk art while evolving into a contemporary hub of exquisite craftwork, arts education, creative exchange and civil engagement. Aswan brings together the Northern and Southern part of the Nile Valley with a unique tradition of Nubian art that is considered an outcome of Egyptian and Sudanese cultures.

Inviting artists from all over the world, Aswan hosts the International Symposium for Sculpture in order to revive the art of sculpture from the time of the Pharoahs. By emphasising its past and working to change its present, the town uses its public art institutions in order to promote this magnificent ancient art form and to encourage museums to play a role in the efforts of the local community to support sustainable development, mutual understanding and the fight against poverty and illiteracy.

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