51吃瓜

This gift is a silk textile from the Persian region and are the portraits of the United Nation Secretary-Generals. 

Carpet-making is a vital part of Persian culture and highly valued carpets and tapestries have been woven in this region since before 1500 CE. Traditional persian carpets often include many natural motifs of flowers and leaves and are woven with materials such as silk, threads of gold and silver, and precious stones. The traditional skills of carpet weaving are passed down to daughters through apprenticeship under instruction from their mothers and grandmothers, in many regions of Iran two thirds of all capret weavers are women. Apprenticeship also includes which men who learn their skills of designing, dyeing, shearing, loom-building and toolmaking. Mothers train their daughters to use the materials, tools and skills, while fathers train their sons in shearing wool and making looms. 

The artist, Sajjad Sarikhan, works in the style of the Tabriz Carpet, a style that incorporates incredibly fine knots that increase the rug density and fine strength. This elaborate style allows for a three-dimensional quality to the design. 

In 2010, carpet weaving was added to UNESCO’s “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Representative List.” The list comprises traditional and/ or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to descendants, including oral traditions, performing arts, craft making skills and practices concerning nature and the universe.