Kozhikode, designated a UNESCO Creative City in 2023, holds which creative field?

The correct answer is C, 2004. UNESCO created the Creative Cities Network in 2004 to link cities that place their creative industries at the centre of local development, and a city joins in one of seven fields: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts or Music. Option A is wrong because 1992 is the year the Memory of the World Programme for documentary heritage was launched, the natural confusion in this chapter. Option B is wrong because 2003 is the year of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, under which Yoga, Ramlila and Durga Puja are listed. Option D is wrong because 2015 is the year Jaipur and Varanasi became India's first members of the network, not the year the network itself was set up. Separate the year of a programme from the year of a country's first entry.

The correct answer is B, Crafts and Folk Art. Jaipur joined the network in 2015 on the strength of its craft traditions, among them blue pottery, hand blockprinting, gem cutting, lac bangles, meenakari enamel and stone carving, and it was one of India's first two members along with Varanasi. Option A is wrong because Design is a separate field of the network, held by cities known for industrial and graphic design rather than for handmade craft. Option C is wrong because Gastronomy is the field in which Hyderabad was designated in 2019 for its biryani, haleem and Deccan culinary line. Option D is wrong because Media Arts covers digital and electronic art, a field in which no Indian city has been designated. Srinagar, in 2021, is the other Indian city in Crafts and Folk Art.

The correct answer is C, Gwalior. Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh joined the network as a City of Music in 2023, recognised for the Gwalior gharana, the oldest surviving gharana of khayal singing, and for its association with Tansen, the musician of Akbar's court, whose tomb and annual Tansen Samaroh are in the city. Option A is wrong because Varanasi was designated a City of Music earlier, in 2015, for the Banaras gharana, the shehnai and dhrupad. Option B is wrong because Chennai became a City of Music in 2017 for Carnatic music and its December music season. Option D is wrong because Pune, although a centre of Hindustani classical music and of the Sawai Gandharva festival, is not a member of the network. Three Indian cities hold the Music field: Varanasi, Chennai and Gwalior.

The correct answer is B, Film. Mumbai was designated a UNESCO Creative City of Film in 2019, on the strength of the country's oldest and largest film industry, which grew from Dadasaheb Phalke's Raja Harishchandra of 1913 and now produces films in Hindi, Marathi and several other languages from one city. Option A is wrong because Literature is the field of Kozhikode in Kerala, designated in 2023 for Malayalam publishing and its reading culture. Option C is wrong because Design is a field of the network in which no Indian city has yet been designated. Option D is wrong because Music belongs to Varanasi, Chennai and Gwalior. Note that Mumbai and Hyderabad were announced together in 2019, which is why the two are often swapped: Mumbai for Film, Hyderabad for Gastronomy.

The correct answer is A, Gastronomy. Hyderabad was designated a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy in 2019 for a cuisine that grew in the kitchens of the Deccan courts, with Hyderabadi biryani, haleem, qubani ka meetha and the Irani chai of the city's cafes as its best known dishes. Option B is wrong because Crafts and Folk Art belongs to Jaipur, from 2015, and to Srinagar, from 2021. Option C is wrong because Film belongs to Mumbai, which was announced in the same round of 2019, making it the standard distractor here even though Hyderabad also has a large film industry at Ramoji Film City. Option D is wrong because Literature belongs to Kozhikode from 2023. The paired fact worth memorising is that India's two 2019 entries were Mumbai for Film and Hyderabad for Gastronomy.