Blemish to beauty: the Ghanaian artists tackling waste pollution

DW (English)

Ghana is battling to keep mountains of waste under control. With landfills overflowing, rubbish enters drains and water systems, further polluting the environment. A group of artists has launched a campaign to turn trash into treasure.

Transcript

00:00they look beautiful from afar but on closer inspection the true colors of these artworks

00:07become clear they are all made of plastics and textile waste most of it is collected from the

00:15beaches like this activist and artist patrice arthur creates this exhibition at the museum

00:24of science and technology in the capital akra titled echoes of the landfill she considers this

00:30a powerful way of visualizing ghana's environmental pollution the situation is dire where we're actually

00:37submerged in pollution and plastic is a big problem it's not so much the plastic that is the villain

00:44is our attitude and how we dispose of it or what we do with it is about teaching people to reclaim

00:52repair reuse repurpose your refuse and by the way everything that you think is rubbish can be used

01:02for something else there is worse in waste uberado started painting at a very early age and plastic

01:11pollution increasingly worries him arts like this allows him to take a critical and creative stance

01:18campaign against plastic waste especially in ghana here we normally love beauty so the idea is to

01:28bring the trash we are not going to trash again because we want to make it beautiful so that it

01:34can be meaningful for them it is really amazing how we can use these things to do something beautiful

01:42like this and for many patrons they don't only accept the message but want to spread it very innovative

01:51type of heart and exhibition i mean it's amazing how much we we've got this planet dirty and how much

02:03can be done within a shortest possible time that's creating such a beauty and environment is everywhere

02:12it's us it's where we live and if we are collectively damaging where we live this is something that

02:20should you know ring a bell and this exhibition brings a bell art can open our eyes to the very

02:29damages that we are collectively doing to the environment andre gear salim and esophie bantin

02:39and the other three artists exhibiting at this museum their work holds a mirror to ghanai's pollution walls

02:47and it is hoped their imaginative approach can spark greater interest in ghanai's environmental protection

02:55so

02:57you

03:01you

03:03you

03:05you

03:06you

Category

Transcript

Recommended