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Top Artisans as Envoys

Top Artisans as Envoys
Top Artisans as Envoys

Top 30 participants in the 26th National Handicraft Exhibition will be sent to international handicraft events by Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization as representatives of the country. Iran has a long history of making quality handicrafts.

The 26th National Handicraft Exhibition opened on Wednesday along with the 5th International Handicraft Expo in Tehran’s Mossalla and ends on May 30.

Quoting ICHHTO deputy for handicraft affairs, Bahman Namvar Motlaq, IRNA reported that the top artisans will be chosen shortly after the end of the exhibition. “They will be ranked based on their sales,” he said.

Furthermore, the organization will cover half the cost of participation for the top 20 craftsmen and women in next year’s event, the official added.

Iran has historically had a strong presence in handicraft exhibitions in the Russian capital Moscow and the Italian cities of Florence and Milan. Thanks to the lifting of the international sanctions and ICHHTO’s improved budget, it is expected that Iran will participate in more events this year.

For the past five years, the National Handicrafts Exhibition has been held alongside the International Handicrafts Expo. However, this year the international chapter did not have international participants because Iran decided against paying for their travel costs and providing them free stalls.

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.

Fifteen charity organizations were given free stalls to help them raise money at this year’s event.

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).

Financialtribune.com