Malaysia To Host Unesco Award Of Excellence For Handicraft

KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has been honoured to organise the 2012 Unesco Award of Excellence for Handicraft (South-East Asia and South Asia), an event aimed at encouraging the innovative creation of handicraft to ensure the continuity and preservation of traditional skills. Information Communication and Culture Minister Dr Rais Yatim said the closing date for entries was July 31 and it was open to all artisans throughout South-East Asia and South Asia. "Product evaluation would be carried out between Sept 23 and 26 during the 2012 International Symposium and Exhibition on Natural Dyes and World Eco-Fibre and Textile Forum and the products succeeding in gaining the Unesco recognition will be announced on Oct 15," he said at a press conference here on Monday. The awards are divided into eight categories, namely Homeware; Clothing and Scarves; Decoration; Fashion Accessories; Jewelry; Stationery; Toys and Games; and Musical Instruments, he said. "Recognitions would only be given to products made from one or a combination of natural materials such as textile (cotton, silk, linen), fibres (cane and rattan), ceramics (clay), wood, metal (gold, silver and bronze) and stones (precious, semi-precious and jade)," he said. He said the recognition would accord various benefits to the artisans, including certificate of excellence, training and capacity building, international trade exhibitions, communications and promotions, listing on the Unesco website and education on copyright and intellectual property rights. "The Unesco awards are considered the most prestigious and I urge Malaysia's artisans to seize this opportunity and create innovative and functional designs which can attract global attention," he said. The awards are held every two years and took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2010. On a separate development, Rais said Malaysia and Indonesia would be screening jointly-made movies to depict multi-racial harmony through attractive storylines. "The movie industry is continuously developing and we can no longer focus on Malaysian movies in Kuala Lumpur. There are about 100 cinemas in Indonesia which could screen our movies and 80 here, so they will be encouraged to screen jointly made films," he told reporters, commenting on his recent visit to Jakarta. -- BERNAMA