TEHRAN–Collections of basketwork have been put on show at a sales exhibition in Dashtestan, which is famed as a national hub for the ancient craft in southwest Iran.

Opened on Friday, the eighth-day exhibition features a wide variety of traditional basketry made of natural materials such as young twigs from trees and shrubs like willow, plant roots, grape or honeysuckle vines, or grasses.

Hasir-Bafi or basketry is one of the oldest fields of handicrafts on the Iranian plateau. It is not known when and where this craft was first invented. Archaeological evidence has found traces of mat weavings on plaster pieces that belong to six thousand years ago.

The oldest piece of Hasir in Iran belongs to the Shahdad region of Kerman province. Mat weaving, which is wearing thin reeds through cotton yarns, has not changed from ancient Egypt until today.

Tools for Hasir-Bafi are very simple and limited, including sickle, file, scissors, needle, and stitching awl. This art-craft is common in the provinces of Sistan-Baluchestan, Khuzestan, Kurdistan, Hormozgan, Bushehr, Kerman, Yazd, Fars, Mazandaran, Gilan, and Tehran.

To practice the craft, the first step is to pick stems that match each other in size and diameter to be soaked in water. Then three to five of them are packed together by another stem. These bundles are woven together to make objects such as baskets, bags, floor covers, wall hang, etc.

AM