Sanaz Nataj

Sanaz Nataj is self-taught, and works directly with village craftspeople rather than through workshops. In 2010 she travelled to Qeshm Island and learned golabatoun embroidery and khous, the net-knotting technique, from the local women who had kept them — then reinterpreted both into couture.

She also revived barak, the camel-hair wool weaving of Khorashad in Southern Khorasan, persisting for months to convince a weaver to produce it again after the craft had lapsed for some eighty years. It was registered with Iran's Ministry of Culture in 2015.

Her work has been recognised with a Ministry of Culture handicrafts honour in 2018, a UNESCO regional stamp of originality in 2019, and recognition from the Cultural and Heritage Association in 2021 for respecting the ownership rights of the artisans she works with.