The Revival of Persian Carpets Along the New Silk Road

In a carpet shop of Valamin, southwest of Tehran, Moggi Taba was hemming a nearly completed carpet. He put one leg under pressure in the body, stretching the other leg, bending the waist forward, to make his arms just to be able to reach the other end of the carpet.

Moggi Taba, 35 year old, has kept this posture for an afternoon. In this work more than 10 years, he no longer feel joint tingling, only occasionally back pain, stoop body when walking. He said: "my father is doing this, and I follow him, no what to complain about."

In Iran, Moggi Taba is just one ordinary weaver in over one million carpet weavers. Once, Persian carpet is famous all over the world, and in the story "The Thousand and One Nights", a Persian carpet carries Prince hovering the world; now, cheap woven carpets are eroding Iran handmade carpet market, and economic sanctions is one disaster after another, as a result that weavers work very hard, but income is very small.

Traditional Persian Carpet

Iran carpet company expert Ali Babae is carefully checking a new batch of carpet with a special magnifying glass. "One, two, three ...... ten. There are ten nodes per cm of this blanket, belonging to the comparative quality works." He said. The price of each silk carpet of about three square meters is more than $5000, and the weavers costing more than one year's effort to complete a carpet can receive only one small part.

The conceive of constructing the Silk Road Economic Belt brought hope to revive the carpet industry in Iran. "The deep historical and cultural foundation and superb market and artistic value fits the conceive of constructing the Silk Road Economic Belt. I believe that the Silk Road Economic Belt will bring us more business opportunities." Director of Iran Carpet Center and Deputy of Industrial, Mining and Trade Ministry, Hamid Kalgar said.

In recent years, Iran exporters actively go to China to attend carpet exhibition, and some manufacturers even open stores in large Cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou. A few years ago, the amout of Iran exports carpet to China is almost zero, which increase to $5000000 last year, although the total amout is still small, but the increase is enormous. The raw materials of the highest valuable Iran carpet are imported from China.

Another Traditional Persian Carpet

Along with the relaxation of Iran visa policy, Iran tourism wave quietly rise, strolling around the Persian carpet shop has become a fashion. Last year when Feng Xiaogang and Xu Fan attended the Iran Film Festival, they specially bought a few pieces of silk carpet. Silk carpet is works of art hanging on the wall to appreciate. For ordinary consumers, exquisite and durable woven wool blanket is more practicle, which is also a good choice.

Under the scorching sun in Iran summer , Golom stirs wool in the dye vat with long sticks, and the dye is boiling without any chemical smell, only fruit and natural plant fragrance. "We are using natural dyes, which are extracted from pomegranate, walnuts, grapes and madder plants."

Decorating the living room with Persian carpet

Persian carpets has always been popular in the European market. In 2013, at an auction in New York, an antique carpet of the 17 Century from Iran is sold $33800000, breaking the world's most expensive carpet record.

Iran accounts for 2/3 share of the world carpet exports,but total export value is only $400000000. For the revival of the Persian carpets, Iran is not content to occupy more market share, but hope to expand the market, especially mining potential of developing countries, and the Silk Road Economic Belt will become an important way for the revival of the Persian carpet.

Carle Garr said: "Under the basis of consolidating traditional markets, we are trying to export a new frontier for the development of Persian carpet."