TEHRAN – A collection of Baloch rugs and carpets will be put on show in a loan exhibit, which will be running from August 6 to 19 at the Iranian Academy of Arts in downtown Tehran.

A total 77 items have been selected from properties of the private collector Mohammad-Karim Kazemi-Qaraei for the exhibit that is titled “Baloch rugs; from Pain to Gain”, CHTN reported on Tuesday.

Organizers have also scheduled to hold several professional meetings on Persian rugs and carpets on the sidelines of the event. Meetings will be attended by experts Touraj Zhouleh, Iman Zakariaei Kermani and Mohammad-Karim Kazemi-Qaraei, the report said.

Baloch, also spelled Baluch or Beluch, are ethnic tribes that speak Balochi language estimated at about five million inhabitants in southeast Iran also neighboring areas in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the Baloch are traditionally nomads, but settled agricultural existence is becoming more common; every chief has a fixed residence. The villages are collections of mud or stone huts; on the hills, enclosures of rough stone walls are covered with matting to serve as temporary habitations. The Baloch raise camels, cattle, sheep, and goats and engage in carpet making and embroidery. Their agricultural methods are somewhat primitive.

AFM/MG