TEHRAN – On Friday, the first Persian textile history museum in northern Iran was inaugurated, Gilan province’s tourism chief said.

The museum, in its first phase, houses and displays more than 200 objects including authentic textiles and local tools and equipment made by the ethnic communities, Vali Jahani said.

It turns the spotlight on the process of making a textile, which starts with the raw material through the weaving stage and ends with the finished product, using life-sized wax figures.

Moreover, visitors have the opportunity to test their skills on the loom and touch on exhibits, according to organizers.

Also on display are arrays of contemporary works based on traditional weaving and design techniques. Traditional costumes and fashion accessories used in ceremonies are on display as well.

The museum is located in Qassemabad village, which was named a world hub of handicrafts by the World Crafts Council-Asia-Pacific Region (WCC-APR) in 2020.

As mentioned by Iranica, textile production in Iran dates back to the 10th millennium BC, and much of the output of Persia’s weavers has rightly been hailed as masterworks.

Information on ancient Iranian textiles is somehow fragmentary and episodic, and relates to the ruling households, the military, divinities, and occasionally priests; depictions of women (even female goddesses) are rare.

In fact, our knowledge of dress in ancient Persia comes from pictorial depictions mainly on rock reliefs, metalwork (including coinage), seal impressions, and, from about the second century CE, wall paintings.

AFM