Indian and Pakistani handwoven carpets surpassed Iran
Iranian carpets have lost their main customers in recent years due to sanctions and the problems caused by the economic crisis. It should not be forgotten that carpets are not just an exquisite export commodity.
Carpets can be a factor in employment in the country, and the production of this product is effective in terms of increasing employment rates and reducing unemployment, and this Iranian art should be given more attention in both the private and public sectors.
In an interview with Bazaar reporter, Farahnaz Rafi, head of the National Carpet Center of Iran, spoke with a market design unit of Zanjan province and some carpet weaving workshops of Bazar reporter about the situation of Iranian carpets and the position of this art industry.
Q: What is the current situation of Iranian hand-woven carpets and to what extent have sanctions been effective in this regard?
Iranian carpets were the second most banned product by the United States, with more than 45 percent of Iran’s exports of handmade carpets coming from the United States, leading to production and manufacturing. We face many problems in the distribution of handmade carpets.
Today’s statistics in the field of hand-woven carpet exports confirm the current state of this long-established Iran-Earth industry and show that Iran’s exports in this field have decreased significantly every year. However, countries such as India and Pakistan have overtaken Iran in this regard.
In general, the export of handmade carpets in the world has been declining today, and the reasons for this are different. One of the reasons is the discussion of taste and taste, and we can say that today we are in a situation where tastes have changed a lot. This is in a situation where the producers of Iranian handmade carpets have not been able to take effective steps in this field and have been successful in creating taste, which in addition, we have not been successful in finding taste.
For example, carpets used in European countries are tailored to the tastes of young people who have different demands in this area than in previous years, and this adaptation produces carpets to the tastes of young people in various dimensions, including size. , Color, texture model, etc. are done.
* How many types of carpets are mostly offered in Iran?
Today, two types of carpets are offered in this industry, the first type is a carpet that is luxurious and requires that the designs of this carpet be maintained, recorded and remain for the future, and the other type of carpet is a commercial carpet that must be customized according to the customer’s taste. Produce, taste or value to be able to capture the handmade carpet market as in previous years.
Another major reason for concern in the field of handmade carpets is the discussion of the raw materials of this industry, carpet is a commodity that is 100% domestic production, but over time we realized that in the field of silk 90% of what we have in this industry Imported, as is the case in various fields, including the carpet itself and some colored bases.
To date, no serious attention has been paid to the side industries of carpets, including painting and restoration. All this negligence has led us to conclude today that the value chain of Iranian handmade carpets has been disabled, so today we must somehow Let’s plan to fix this shortcoming.
With the behaviors that have emerged over time from the society, handmade carpets have been removed from the homes of the people of Iran, the land of clothes, and machine-made carpets have left their mark on handmade carpets, while in the past several handmade carpets have been added to each house. He was a housewife and in many economic difficulties, he untied the knots of the problems of Iranian families, but over time, this increased value has given way to other items, which we believe should return to the old days.
* How to invest in the Iranian carpet industry?
Today, we see that young people are not interested in using handmade carpets, nor are they interested in producing this valuable industry, which is why they do not pay much attention to this issue, if every time we talk about it. Painting, music, etc., we see a lot of young people moving towards these arts, but when we talk about carpets that shape our history, culture and civilization and are more than 4500 years old in Iran. We see that we have not invested much in the survival of this valuable work.
This issue is not only related to one collection and various agencies such as IRIB, Education, Ministry of Science, Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, etc. have been involved in it. Today, we must all try to bring this art and industry to life. Introduce the community correctly, but we see that this has not happened in practice.
Today we can boldly say that the condition of Iranian handmade carpets is not good, the current situation of Iranian handmade carpets is such that it can be clearly said that this valuable industry is on the rise and if we do not get it in time, nothing but extinction is waiting. It will not be, so in addition to the scientific community of carpets, the field of carpet activists, carpet industry ancillary industries, etc. should be thinking about using new tools in the Iranian hand-woven carpet industry.