The Fifth International Handicraft Exhibition will open today (May 25) in Tehran without foreign participation.
Speaking to reporters at a press briefing on Monday, Bahman Namvar Motlaq, deputy for handicrafts at Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, said this year’s event will be held without international participants because “Iran decided not to pay for their travel costs and give them free stalls.”
The word “international” has been dropped from the exhibition’s name this year.
About 567 stalls have been rented out at Tehran’s Mosalla to artisans, organizations, unions and e-commerce websites that sell handicraft products. The six-day exhibition ends on May 30.
Fifteen charity organizations have been given free stalls to help them raise money, while about 10 free workshops will be held by expert craftsmen and women, donyayesafar.com reported.
With just over 400 stalls rented out, last year’s event broke a record when the participants sold a total of 28 billion rials ($811,000) worth of arts and crafts, surpassing the previous year’s 12 billion rials ($347,000).
Representatives from Turkey, Lebanon, India, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Algeria, as well as Iran-Serbia, Iran-Sierra Leone and Iran-Tajikistan friendship associations took part in last year’s expo.
