Tehran (IP) - Iran's Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts said that in the past, Iran used to practice foreign arts, but nowadays the traditional arts have been revived in the country.

Iran Press/Iran news: "In the past, we used to practice foreign arts and we had forgotten Iranian art, but nowadays the traditional arts have been revived." Ali Asghar Mounesan said on Sunday at the closing ceremony of the 40th Fajr Handicraft and Traditional Arts Festival in Iran's National Museum in Tehran.

Noting that nowadays, the traditional arts are becoming a trend, Mounesan said: "Iranian culture and arts are issues that have preserved the country. During any kind of war, the country's identity has been affected by the war, but Iran is the only country that its identity has not changed during and after wars."

Mounesan said that branding and commercialization are two important issues in the field of traditional arts, adding that special budgets have been allocated to this sector.

Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts called the development of handicraft markets as one of Iran's plans, mentioning the establishment of NGOs, and commercial companies that could help develop the handicrafts market, as the other plan. 

Speaking at the event, the Executive Manager of the Development and Promotion of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Hossein Bidokhti said Iran is the 3rd country in handicraft production.

He added that there are 23 national cities and Iran ranks first globally in the number of craft cities and villages registered by the World Crafts Council (WCC).

The closing ceremony of the 40th Fajr Handicraft and Traditional Arts Festival was held on Sunday with the Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Ali-Asghar Mounesan in attendance, honoring featured artists.

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