Cras Photo Exhibition on “Kurdish Clothing”

The exhibition subject of this news-piece will be organised by the Regional Research Centre for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in West and Central Asia (Under the Auspices of UNESCO), in cooperation with Vard Gallery and under the secretarial supervision of Kayvan Shamshirbaygi.

Cras Photography endeavours to provide one of the world’s most comprehensive and largest photo databases achieved by way of capturing the culture and art of (Kurdish) clothing in photographs. The exhibition offers photographers, who are especially talented in taking snap shots of clothes, with opportunities to put their creative and professional works on display. Under their aesthetic view, the participating photographers have taken to documenting the magnificence and diversity of Kurdish clothing in the framework of a photo exhibition at international level. Collecting and showcasing these pieces of art, provide appropriate research materials for researchers. It also contributes to a comprehensive report on the clothing of Kurdish ethnic groups for presentation at international fora, paving the way for the introduction of this clothing custom as a treasury of intangible cultural heritage.

In 1400 (2022), the organisers established a permanent secretariat for the Event at the Vard Gallery, in Tehran. They later posted an online announcement/call for participation in three languages on Instagram. Subsequent to two extensions of the deadline for participation, the organisers received 4020 photographs by 610 photographers, who captured diverse aspects of Kurdish clothing in their photos. The submitted photographs were evaluated by Saifollah Samadian, Bahram Kalhornia, Masoud Zendeh Rouh Kermani, Chia Jabri, and Dr Reza Sojoudi. Nine-hundred-and-twenty-five (925) photographs entered the final stage of the competition and 65 photographs were selected from among these to be put on display at a forthcoming photo exhibition, to be held at the National Museum of Iran in September 2022.