Tehran's International Laleh Hotel hosted a three-day evaluation ceremony of World Craft Council's Award of Excellence for Handicrafts in the Asia Pacific region that ended on Tuesday. Iran participated in the contest with a collection of 70 top works of art selected from the 356 items awarded at the 2017 National Quality Award for handicrafts. "An international jury composed of two Iranians and three others from China, Kuwait and Oman were judging the competing artworks," a handicraft official, Marzieh Torkamanian, was quoted as saying by the CHTN. The event attracted handicrafts from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran and Kuwait and the jury is expected to announce its verdict by mid October, Torkamanian added. Established by UNESCO in 2001, the event aims to encourage artisans to produce handicrafts using traditional skills, patterns and themes in an innovative way to ensure the continuity and sustainability of these traditions and skills. WCC since 2014 is continuing the program under patronage of UNESCO within the Asia Pacific region, including Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Bahrain, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Yemen and Iran, under management of Ghada Hijjawi Qaddumi of Kuwait.
