TEHRAN - Handicraft exports from Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province rose by 195 percent since one of its villages, Kalpourgan, was named a world village of pottery by the World Crafts Council - Asia Pacific Region (WCC-APR). 

The province exported $11 million of handicrafts in the past Iranian calendar year 1397 (ended March 20), Pouya Mahmoudian, the deputy director of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, said on Tuesday, CHTN reported.

The village is widely famous for being a living museum of potteries, where the in-house expertise has been passed down generations to generations over the course of history.
Sistan-Baluchestan is a “strategic” province in the field of handicrafts, she said, adding “Needlework and pottery are two valuable crafts of the province.”

The Handicrafts Organization supports craftspeople in all provinces, especially ones in Sistan-Baluchestan. It in particular backs female Baluchi artisans who are practicing needlework embroideries.

Needlework (Souzan-douzi in Persian) is a very common occupation among people of the southeastern province. It is the art of drawing images on plain fabrics by sewing delicate stitches using needle and colorful yarns. They are mainly used to embellish women’s clothes, however, such works are applied to decorate bracelets, necklace, bags and scarfs.

The Baluch are the majority ethnic inhabitants of the region of Baluchestan.

The Organization managed to create 58,357 jobs in handicrafts arena yet significant measures were taken to grant [low-interest] loans in order to create job opportunities in rural areas, the official announced earlier in June.

Handicrafts exports from the Islamic Republic reached $289 million in 1397 that demonstrates three percent growth year on year, according to data compiled by the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization.

Traditional ceramics, pottery vessels, handwoven cloths as well as personal ornamentations with precious and semi-precious gemstones are among Iranian exports to Iraq, Afghanistan and Germany, the U.S., the UK, and other countries.

AFM/MG