TEHRAN —Handicraft exports from Iran reached $300 million during the past Iranian calendar year 1401, which came to an end on March 20.
Iran exported handcrafted commodities valued at $300 million to various countries, including the Persian Gulf littoral states and Iraq during the past year, said Mohamad-Hossein Askarpour, a senior official from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts.
About 520,000 Iranian artists are currently active in 299 fields of handicrafts in the country, he said on the sidelines of his visit to a crafts exhibition in Torbat-e Heydariyeh in northeastern Iran.
“The government is planning to increase job opportunities in the near future by offering more support to the handicrafts sector,” he said.
According to available data, handicrafts sector of the country has generated jobs for more than 2.5 million people, of which some 1.5 million are registered in government databases and around 0.5 million are licensed workers.
So far, a total of 13 cities and three villages in Iran have been registered by the World Crafts Council as “world cities” of handicrafts.
From exquisite carpets to subtle miniature paintings, and from turquoise inlaid objects to floral potteries, each one hints at skills passed down from generation to generation.
The country’s skilled artisans use raw materials like woods, bones, silk, wool, copper, silver, gold, and gemstones to create exquisite handicrafts. They perform a miracle by infusing their sentiments and cultural ideas into these traditional handicrafts. Because of this, Persian artwork is incomparably valuable compared to many other works of art from around the world.
AFM
Source: Tehran Times