Vaziri Cave Museum, located in Lavasan, a northeastern suburb of Tehran, has showcased a collection of 30 statues, including life-size and small figurines, made with recycled plastic.
Iron and other metal waste can be easily recycled to make artworks; but the Vaziri museum is the first to use plastic waste and PVC as sculpture materials, said manager Rama Vaziri, the daughter of Prof. Nasser Houshmand Vaziri, museum founder, Mehr News Agency reported.
Rama, who attended the 24th General Conference of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) on July 3-9 in Milan, decided to apply the techniques she learned there at the cave museum.
Since 2005, when the Vaziri museum was founded, she and her father have received no support for the museum activities.
“State-run museums in Iran rarely receive support, let alone the private ones. But during my visit to Milan, I realized how much the government cares about private museums and promotes them,” Rama said.
But she appreciated the gesture of the Iran Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization for providing the museum with the necessary closed-circuit TV (CCTV) cameras after a robbery at the museum three years ago.
Rama invited students who have majored in art and cultural heritage to work as museum guides as part of their training experience. “In the course of training, students will learn how to work in a museum.”
She is now planning to establish training and educational programs like pottery and ceramic workshops for young adults and students. “Such workshops will create awareness about the museum activities as well as help the participants.”
