Archeoplastica: Puglia's Plastic Waste Becomes a Museum

Enzo Suma, a naturalist guide from Ostuni, founded Archeoplastica in 2018, a 'museum of ancient beached waste' that collects and exhibits plastic refuse found along the Puglia coastline and the Po Delta. The project has amassed nearly 500 artifacts, which are cataloged in a virtual museum and displayed in temporary exhibitions at schools, cultural institutions, and environmental events. Suma and his collaborators select items that retain recognizable shapes, dating from the 1960s onward, and research their origins through vintage advertisements, collector forums, and eBay. Notable finds include a mysterious bottle shaped like a hunchbacked figure, nicknamed 'il Gobbo,' possibly from the 1960s. The project has gained stability through crowdfunding on Produzioni dal Basso and has held exhibitions at Torre Colimena in the Saline dei Monaci nature reserve, Bisceglie Castle, the Io scelgo il Pianeta festival in Bari, and a National Geographic exhibition on plastic. Suma emphasizes the educational mission: by confronting people with tangible objects from the past, he aims to raise awareness about plastic pollution and the throwaway culture. The virtual museum currently features about 60 artifacts, with plans to digitize the entire collection. Suma also conducts outreach in primary schools across the region, leaving objects for a week to engage children. The next goal is to expand beyond regional borders.