TEHRAN – A select of top Iranian handicrafts are being showcased at the 4th Fajr national handicrafts festival, which officially opened to the public on Sunday at the National Museum of Iran in downtown Tehran.

The opening ceremony of the festival was attended by the deputy tourism minister Pouya Mahmoudian, the museum’s director Jebrael Nokandeh, several cultural officials, a host of craftspeople and master artisans, as well as tens of enthusiasts, ISNA reported on Sunday.

“A total of 250 works, selected from 400 submitted ones, are on show at this year’s Fajr festival. The handicrafts include traditional personal ornamentations, illuminated manuscripts, marquetry, pottery, ceramics, needlework, kilim carpets, woodturning, and painted bones,” Mahmoudian said.

The Fajr handicrafts festival routinely honors its winners of various fields with exquisite handicrafts, cash prizes or honorable mentions.

Handicrafts exports of the country reached $289 million in the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 20, 2019) showing three percent growth year on year, according to data announced by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts. The exports included traditional ceramics, pottery vessels, handwoven textiles, glasswork, woodwork, metalwork, embroideries, personal ornamentations, as well as precious and semi-precious gemstones.

AFM/MG