TEHRAN -- Woodcarver Osman Rahmanzadeh known as the Iranian Geppetto (the creator of Pinocchio in the 1883 novel “The Adventures of Pinocchio”) displays Persian traditions and costumes in his wooden dolls.

Coming from Nachit village in Kordistan Province, he has been creating his dolls over the past 44 years without having received any formal academic training, the Persian service of MNA reported on Wednesday.

The dolls’ costumes show their origins. One doll, clad in a Kurdish costume, is baking bread. Its pose truly reflects a woman busy in a traditional oven.

Other dolls from his collection show a farmer plowing the earth along with his children; still others show a group of rural men and women dancing at a wedding ceremony.

Some also reflect the unhappy events they have been through such as the chemical bombardment of the Iraqi town of Halabcheh (mostly Kurdish residents) during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

Having created over 1400 statues, he has so far held exhibitions of his artworks in several cities in Iran and Iraq.

Master Osman has asked Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) cultural officials several times to help establish a museum of anthropology, however, the officials visit his exhibits and make promises, but their promises are never fulfilled.

He keeps his collection of wooden dolls in several cardboard boxes and every time he has an exhibition, he has to carry them all with great difficulty. His most recent exhibit was held in Tehran’s Milad Tower a few days ago.