Kerman to establish Iran’s largest carpet museum
The director of the Kerman Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department said that the museum dedicated to Kerman carpets will be established in the 100-year-old garden in a space of four hectares.
According to Ali Karnama, the garden was converted into a carpet weaving and importing workshop almost one hundred years ago by British businessman George Thimou.
The garden is currently supervised by the Ministry of Commerce and the Kerman Carpet Corporation. It houses several old buildings, and the old equipment for producing carpets has been left untouched. He explained that the museum will be established through the cooperation of the Kerman Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department and the Ministry of Commerce, adding, “The ministry, the department, and the Kerman Carpet Corporation will allocate a sum of 200 billion rials to purchase the old carpets of Kerman from different regions for display at the museum.”
Karnama said the details will be discussed in May during President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Kerman, and the project will begin after the necessary funding is allocated.
Kerman carpets mostly feature floral designs. Many have rich central medallions, the motifs of which are also used on the borders and in the corners. On the larger Kerman carpets there are animal designs or repeating patterns. The smaller ones are often decorated with vase patterns or pictorial subjects.