Jordan's Plastic Trash Turned into Art with a Message

Maria Nissan turns plastic waste collected from the streets of Jordan's capital into art in an effort to persuade people against single-use plastics Khalil MAZRAAWI AFP
Maria Nissan turns plastic waste collected from the streets of Jordan's capital into art in an effort to persuade people against single-use plastics Khalil MAZRAAWI AFP
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Jordan's Plastic Trash Turned into Art with a Message

Maria Nissan turns plastic waste collected from the streets of Jordan's capital into art in an effort to persuade people against single-use plastics Khalil MAZRAAWI AFP
Maria Nissan turns plastic waste collected from the streets of Jordan's capital into art in an effort to persuade people against single-use plastics Khalil MAZRAAWI AFP

Jordan-based artist Maria Nissan is on a mission: to rid the world of single-use plastics and to raise public awareness about the environmental scourge through eye-catching art.

One of her best-known murals graces the side of a building in the capital Amman, a giant work made from more than 2,000 plastic bottles, almost 1,000 shopping bags and over 150 hookah pipe hoses, AFP said.

A US citizen of Iraqi origin, Nissan said she became enchanted with Amman when she first visited three years ago, but also felt "frustration and anger" at the piles of garbage on the streets and in areas of natural beauty.

"Despite the beauty of the city, walking its streets can be a journey filled with all kinds of trash," the 35-year-old said.

"My eyes cannot turn away from the abundant shiny plastic bags, glass bottles, soda cans, candy bar wrappers," said Nissan, who occasionally sports a dress made from a sturdy blue Ikea bag.

Trained in painting and drawing in the United States and Italy, Nissan decided to collect and repurpose the trash to create art -- often collages themed on women's faces, flowers and Oriental motifs.

Her home, where she has a rooftop workspace under a large canopy, is filled with every imaginable kind of discarded plastic object, from razors and toothbrushes to lighters, pens and plastic spoons.

"Art made of plastic is a concrete and powerful way to raise concerns on environmental issues that affect Jordanians, their children, their communities and natural environments in the kingdom," she said.

- 'Everybody's problem' -
"A bottle littered in a valley will take up to 450 years to decompose," said Nissan, pointing out that the effect is "micro-plastics polluting the soils, water and the wildlife.

"Because plastics are littered indiscriminately in fields and water, livestock and fish feed themselves indirectly with plastic pieces that we will ultimately find on our plates."

Nissan's work has been exhibited in 12 shows in Jordan as well as in Italy and Greece, and features on her Instagram channel @marianissanart, all with the purpose of changing minds and habits.

Jordanians use three billion plastic bags every year, part of the country's annual solid waste load of 2.2 million tons, of which only seven percent is recycled, according to the UN Development Program.

Nissan urges people to avoid buying plastic products and to go shopping with reusable bags, and also advocates a tax on single-use plastics.

"The consequences of single-use plastic pollution are often delayed, and therefore it is difficult to have people feel accountable and responsible for their own acts," she said.

"Plastic comes back to us in one way or another ... It's nobody's responsibility until it becomes everybody's problem."



Princess Kate's New Wax Figure Revealed at Madame Tussauds

The new wax figure of Princess Catherine of Wales (Madame Tussauds)
The new wax figure of Princess Catherine of Wales (Madame Tussauds)
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Princess Kate's New Wax Figure Revealed at Madame Tussauds

The new wax figure of Princess Catherine of Wales (Madame Tussauds)
The new wax figure of Princess Catherine of Wales (Madame Tussauds)

London's Madame Tussauds museum unveiled on Wednesday a new wax figure of Princess Catherine of Wales, wife of Crown Prince William.

The new figure stands next to one of her husband and those of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, AFP reported.

The Princess of Wales, 43, is wearing a sparkly pink Jenny Packham gown and silver pumps, as well as a Royal Victorian Order blue sash.

“The new figure is styled in honor of an evening outfit Kate wore to King Charles' second annual Diplomatic Reception in December 2023,” Madame Tussauds said.

It is finished with an exact replica of the Lover's Knot tiara, which had been worn in the 1980s by the museum's figure of Princess Diana.

Senior general manager at Madame Tussauds, Steve Blackburn, said the Princess of Wales, also known as Kate, was “majestically crafted by our talented studio team.”

She “has been sculpted to ensure her resemblance is fit for a future queen, alongside her dashing husband,” Blackburn added.

Kate's new double has been put in place nearly 14 months after the princess announced she had been diagnosed with an unspecified cancer and was having chemotherapy in March 2024.

The shock announcement came only weeks after officials revealed that King Charles III, 76, had also been diagnosed with cancer.

The London tourist attraction first launched wax figures of William and Kate in April 2012, a year after their wedding.