TEHRAN – An international workshop on professional mat-weaving skills opens today in the Persian Gulf island of Qeshm.

“The workshop is aimed to promote matting as one of authentic handicraft skills practiced in southern parts of the country and in Hormozgan province in particular,” Mehr quoted Mohsen Ziaei, the provincial tourism chief, as saying on Tuesday.

During the event [Iranian] artisans will be familiarized with novel fashions and designs of matting by Chinese experts, Ziaei added.

The five-day workshop is organized by Qeshm Free Trade Zone in close collaboration with the World Crafts Council-Asia Pacific Region (WCC-APR).

Matting is the art of weaving or plaited strips of organic fibers into mats which are cool and suitable to the hot tropical climate.

PHOTO: An Iranian artisan makes a piece of mat board.

AFM/MQ/MG