Talking to Iran Daily, Farshad Beh-Afarin said the handicraft artists of the province have received 203 national awards, as well as 13 international prizes.
The Seal of Excellence for Handicrafts awarding began in 2001 and since 2006 has become the most important UNESCO project in the field of handicrafts.
"The Iranian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft, according to the criteria provided by the World Council of Handicrafts, is working on its national award for handicrafts considering the principles of UNESCO quality award programs," the official said.
“The national award was established 10 years ago with the aim of creating accurate quality standards in the handicrafts, as well as promotion and innovation in this field and to help marketing of these products, also in order to participate more successfully in the international markets,” he noted.
Beh-Afarin said at present, more than 13,000 people are working and producing in the field of handicrafts in the province.
“This statistics include those who have officially received a license from the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization, and the total number of people working in the field of this industry is much more than this number,” he added.
The official noted that the statistics of handicraft artists in the province don’t include people working in the field of carpet and rug weaving.
The Ministry of Industries, Mines and Trade is responsible for the statistics of carpet weavers, he further explained.
Beh-Afarin stated that currently, more than 100,000 people are working in the field of handmade carpet production in the northwestern Iranian province.
Referring to the importance of East Azarbaijan Province in the production of handmade carpets, he stated: "In 2015, Tabriz was selected as a world city of handmade carpet by the UNESCO World Crafts Council.”
Varni (flat tapestry-woven carpet) weaving, silver engraving in Tabriz-style, batik (a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth), Mamaqan-style needlework, white clay pottery and ceramic production are among the exclusive artworks of East Azarbaijan Province, the official noted.
He called varni weaving the most serious and popular handicraft production in the province, and said, "This art is more popular among the nomads and villagers of Arasbaran region and Ahar city was registered as the national city of varni weaving last [Iranian] year”.
Varni weaving art is mostly considered among the women of the province as a job, the official added.
He explained that Varni is a kind of underlay in the form of a kilim that is woven improvised and without a plan, that is, all its patterns are designed mentally and during weaving.
The Tabriz-style silver engraving is a form of engraving that differs from metal engraving in other regions of the country, Beh-Afarin said, adding that in this type of engraving, a hammer is not used for engraving and the chisel (graver) creates a pattern only by the pressure of hand.
He continued that this type of engraving was brought to this region by Armenians, and now it is being done by many Tabrizi artists, so that a large number of its shops are Tabriz, and more than 250 shops in Tabriz sell this kind of silver products.
Beh-Afarin also said that Batik is a type of indirect printing that is done in Iran only in Osku city of the province and its printing is done on silk fabrics.
Osku was registered as the national city of batik last Iranian year, he noted.
He added that this art originally belongs to East Asian countries and especially Malaysia and Indonesia, but batik has been popular in the city of Osku since the Safavid era, and now this type of printing is mostly used on the scarves of nomads and villagers.
Nomadic women of Azarbaijan, Turkmen women, Turkic-speaking women of Firuzabad in Fars Province, and Kermanshah nomads use these scarves, the official continued.
Talking on Mamaqan-style needlework, Beh-Afarin said that it is a kind of embroidery and needlework in which geometric patterns and bright colors are used. "This type of needlework is mostly done improvised and the artist does not use a pattern of colors and geometric designs on the map, so you won’t find two embroideries exactly the same."
Explaining the white clay pottery and ceramic production, he said that this field of handicrafts belongs to the city of Zonuz in East Azarbaijan Province, and this art was registered in the list of intangible heritages of the country in 2010.”
“The turquoise glaze used in this type of pottery is world famous. This type of pottery is one of the revived arts in the province, meaning that 25 years ago, the artists of the province resumed white clay pottery and ceramic production, and now many artists are working on it,” he continued.
Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus in the world, East Azarbaijan’s handicraft exports were in good condition, and in the year started March 2019, the province’s exports amounted to $27 million, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, exports fell sharply, Beh-Afarin said.
He explained that most of the province's handicrafts are exported in luggages by tourists as souvenirs. So, exports of handicrafts declined significantly due to declining tourists’ arrivals and travel bans during the pandemic.
With the decrease in the number of infection and completion of vaccination in the country, the amount of sales and exports of handicrafts in the province is expected to increase, and we hope to see a boom in exports next [Iranian] year, the official continued.
The handicraft products of East Azarbaijan Province are mostly exported to Turkey, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and some European countries such as Germany, Beh-Afarin said, adding that Turkmenistan is one of the major buyers of batik printing products.
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