Hamedan’s Laljin Pottery Unique

Hamedan’s Laljin Pottery Unique

Hamedan’s handicrafts are as old as the city’s history. Among arts of Hamedan’s artists are carpet-weaving, pottery, leatherwork and woodwork.
By definition handicrafts cover such works, which are partially or fully produced by using natural materials and hands, the Persian daily ’Iran’ reported.

Behjat Abbasi, a handicraft expert at Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) and an avid admirer of Hamedan handicraft artists, said handicrafts of each region emanate from ethnic, national and geographical characteristics. Every artist is inspired by the geography of his/her habitat. Design and colors that they use are taken from their surrounding environment.
The head of Hamedan Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, Assadollah Bayat noted that according to the latest statistics, a total of 1,376 pottery workshops are operational in Assadabad, Razan, Touyserkan, Bahar and Hamedan. About 4,546 people are active in the province’s pottery sector. The highest number of people who are active in the industry pertains to the city of Bahar. This figure is 3,763 people in 265 production units. Laljin, viewed as the hub of provincial pottery and ceramics, has 700 workshops itself. Azure pottery is the hallmark of the province and is sold in other parts of the country too. The very first pottery of the province were turquoise in color, but gradually their color changed and they became azure.

Whenever anything is said of Hamedan, people unconsciously are reminded of Laljin pottery, but Bayat opined that inlaid works is the top handicraft industry of the province due to quantitative considerations.
“However, it must be noted that since wood gradually decays, endurance of woodworks cannot be determined anywhere in the world,“ Bayat commented.
Regarding facts and figures of the provincial wood industry, he observed, “There are 5,463 wood workshops in the province where 9,999 people are employed. From the said figure, 421 workshops and 884 employees pertains to the city of Hamedan and the rest to the cities of Nahavand, Kaboudarahang, Bahar and Razan.“
He added that traditional leather works is another handicraft of the province.
Bayat recalled that a total of 216 leather workshops operate in the country wherein 814 people work.
“Hamedan’s cow leather is of international prominence,“ he noted.
Bayat referred to the latest statistics compiled at the end of last year (March 19) and said that as a whole there are 12,848 handicrafts workshops in the province where 22,035 people are employed.
“From the said figures, the highest pertains to inlaid works and woodworks. Malayer is the top city of the province in terms of inlaid works and woodworks with 2,325 workshops and 2,495 employees,“ he noted.
Handicrafts of each region or city or country have been established due to everyday needs. Man learned to exploit nature and available tools to make objects needed in his life. Therefore, handicrafts actually came to the fore in people’s homes, which eventually transformed into workshops.
Since producing handicraft in the province, such as carpet weaving, leather industries and basket weaving, do not require a large capital or space, and since many artistic works can be produced by simple tools, many people are attracted to handicrafts.
Export of handicrafts is an important income earner in the province. The top export is carpets, worth over eight million dollars a year.
Bayat recalled that in 2007-8 handicraft exports amounted to $20 million.
“Deducing eight million dollars of carpet exports from the figure, the remaining portion pertains to other industries such as pottery and woodworks,“ he concluded.
Hamedan’s handicrafts are exported in two modes, one via the provincial customs administration, which is known as official exports and the other via the customs offices in other cities of the country known as unofficial exports.