TEHRAN – A group of children and their families attended a water festival held on Friday at Tehran’s Time Museum, also known as Tamashaga Zaman.
The event was organized in cooperation with the Iranian National Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
According to IRIB news agency, Time Museum expert Sara Reihani said the festival focuses on the importance of water protection and the creation of architectural monuments and Iranian gardens.
He also said that the museum accepted children and their guardians as one of the specialized museums that exhibits the concept of time connected to human culture, civilization and life.
She added that the festival included recitation performances of Shahnameh, traditional shows on the relief of qanats (ancient underground sewerage networks), and recitations of water-related poems.
Reikhani said Iranian National Commission of Museums (ICOM) Chairman Ahmad Mohit Tabatabai also briefed on the conservation of water resources and the role of ancient Iranian rituals in shaping Iran’s culture, art and architecture.
She said the event aims to introduce the younger generation to the customs of cultural heritage and preserve it in today’s nature.
Rehani said the water festival ritual dates back to pre-Iranian times and is an expression of Iranian respect for water and the bounty of nature.
“Time and nature are two inseparable elements in Iranian culture, and since time gains meaning with the cycles of seasons and the flow of water, the Time Museum serves to explain cultural and philosophical concepts related to time.”
Rehani added that the Time Museum, in cooperation with the Department of Culture, is currently planning to organize and hold weekly programs for children and youth, focusing on tourism and themes such as “the influence of time on human life” and “the concept of clocks in Iranian architecture, art and literature.”
The Museum of Time, located in Tehran’s Zaferaniye district, is the first museum to collect time measurement and exhibition tools. It is one of Tehran’s tourist spaces, opened in 1999.
KD