(Tehran) The Iranian handmade carpet, an age-old art, is undergoing a small revolution: faced with increasingly tough international competition, traditional works with floral motifs are abandoned in favor of creations with modern, smaller, and more geometric figures. especially less expensive.
Posted at 10:46 a.m.
After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Tehran carpet exhibition resumed this week with some 400 exhibitors from all over the country, while abroad India, China and Turkey are cutting corners considerable market shares in Shiraz, Tabriz, Qom or Isfahan.
But Ahad Azimzadeh, who presents himself as “the largest exporter of Persian rugs in the world”, is convinced of the inevitable upheaval that is occurring in this centuries-old craft.
“A revolution is underway,” assures this 65-year-old man.
“Of course, traditional rugs have their customers, but the future belongs to modern handmade rugs,” he says in front of a 3m weave2representing 102 world famous personalities like Charlie Chaplin, Stalin or Einstein.
It took five years to create this work, which he sells for nearly 90,000 euros.
For comparison: a 2000 m Tabriz2 is displayed at nearly 120 million euros and a 170-year-old silk Kashan is on sale for around 160,000 euros.
The oldest surviving Persian rug is 2400 years old and is on display in the Hermitage Museum, Russia. But it was during the Safavid period (16th -18th century) that the art of the Persian carpet reached its peak.
“The classic patterns of Iranian rugs are thousands of years old, but today there is a strong demand for contemporary shapes, more suitable for modern homes,” he says. “The colors are clear, and the dimensions smaller. This is what the new generation wants. »
“Changing mindsets”
In his stand, however, traditional rugs dominate. “We will gradually put them away. Next year, 70% of the carpets on display will be modern,” adds this self-made man, who started weaving at the age of seven before going into the carpet business in Ispahan at the age of 14.
Iranian rugs remain highly appreciated by connoisseurs, but sales have plummeted in 30 years, the country having been overtaken in particular by India and China.
“In 1994, the amount of sales of Iranian carpets abroad amounted to 1.7 billion dollars and represented 40% of our non-oil exports”, says Ahmad Karimi Esfahani, head of the Union of Manufacturers and Exporters handmade rugs.
But in 2021-2022, sales are down to just $64 million, according to the National Carpet Center in Iran.
“The sanctions have certainly had an impact, but the decline is mainly due to the great diversity of carpets on the market and the change in mentalities and tastes of new generations,” explains Mr. Karimi.
“Nowadays, people see the carpet as a consumer good to put on the doorstep, whereas in the past it was an investment, and the carpet represented capital for the future. It has lost its status as an art object,” he laments.
” Fashion ”
Third generation of traders, Abbas Arsin created 25 years ago what he calls the “transitional carpet”.
This consists of fading the too bright colors of pieces with traditional patterns, by rubbing them and exposing them to the sun.
“When I started with this technique, my father and my older brother didn’t understand what I was doing. But when I exhibited my first pieces and the clientele was there, they told me to do just that,” says this 40-year-old man with a smile.
According to him, India, Pakistan, Turkey or China have overtaken Iran on the international carpet market, because “we Iranians had less relations with the rest of the world. We have not seen the changes take place”.
However, this revolution is not unanimous at this 29e edition of the annual carpet exhibition in Tehran.
Mehdi Jamshidi, Sales Manager of Iran Carpet Company, whose slogan is “Walk in a Persian Garden!” says the company “started making modern patterned rugs a year ago, but that’s only 5% of our production.”
“I don’t think we’ll go any further,” assures this 42-year-old executive. “Modern rugs will never replace the traditional ones rooted in our culture and regions.”
“It’s a fashion and like every fashion it will disappear,” asserts Hamid Sayahfar, a 54-year-old carpet trader who lives between Tehran and Toronto. Modern pieces are “maybe good for decorating offices but not for a living space. »