THE ARTS AND CRAFTS OF ISFAHAN


Established in 2004, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) aims to connect cities where creativity is both a key factor in their urban development and a means of keeping alive centuries-old handicrafts. Isfahan has long been considered the most important Iranian hub for crafts such as metal and woodwork, weaving, ceramics, textiles and carpets as well as highly complex inlay work.


The Naqsh-e Jahan square or Meidan Eman, itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to the majority of the 9,000 or so craft and folk art workshops, with others found in homes and small industrial units around the city.


As long ago as 1930, the then Persian government recognised the need to protect and promote its traditional crafts. It opened the Honarestan school of arts and crafts and, by the 1950s, had doubled the number of artisans working in Isfahan.


When it came to restoring the Abbasi Hotel, instead of using the master craftsmen who would have been employed to restore a mosque, many of the team of painters and craftsmen had trained in the Honarestan. They used new decorative techniques such as geometric mirror mosaic, stucco and stained glass, giving the hotel a makeover that, while rooted in tradition, was seen as innovative at the time.


Architectural Traveller | Page 47


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