Iran’s Handicrafts: the Glory of Art

Iran's handicrafts rank first in the world in terms of variety but unfortunately not in terms of market share.

Handicraft definition

Handicrafts are the products that mostly made by hand, or with help of simple tools. These crafts are the unique expressions of the culture and art of a particular nation.

Handicraft features

The followings are the features of handicrafts:

- The whole or at least a part of making process is done by hand or with the help of hand tools.

- Direct, creative and effective manual contribution of the artisan in the production of the items is necessary.

- Raw materials are mostly supplied from domestic resources.

- Authentic, traditional and local designs used in craft products represent the local culture.

- Variety in the form and design.

- Minimal start-up capital in comparison with that of other industries.

- Higher value added products in comparison with other industries.

- Capability to be developed in various areas (urban and rural areas and even among nomad people)

- Capacity to transfer the experience and techniques of craftsmanship from generation to generation.

Iranian handicrafts

From a long time ago Iranian handicrafts’ reputation has been echoed across the world. Studies of the famous researchers and Iranologists such as Arthur Upham Pope, Roman Ghirshman, Erich Friedrich Schmidt and Henry-Rene D’allemagne about Iranian Handicrafts express the exclusive values and unique position of craft art of Iran.

Iran possesses one of the most diverse handicraft industries of the world, covering 24 major categories and about 370 subcategories. The major Iranian handicrafts categories include:

Textiles (handloom, knitting, needlework, hand printed), hand woven, felting, pottery and ceramic, glasswork, leather work, metal work, engraving, latticework, metal etching, stone work (carving, inlay and engraving), wood work (inlay, carving and lattice work), handmade straw matting, marquetry, wood inlaying, tile making, filigree, enameling, making of fine and decorative crafts, jewelry and other crafts.

Despite this potential, Iran’s share in total world handicrafts exports remains limited. In an article titled “the Relationship between Demography factors and Handicraft shopping behavior of European Tourists in Isfahan city”, Zargham and Atrsaee noted that the majority of visitors are not familiar with Isfahan's handicrafts; therefore they don’t apportion their money on buying handicrafts.