Old tin cans collected from the streets of an impoverished Sunshine Coast township have been turned into a monster rhino by an internationally renowned “waste artist”.
Dutch artist Maria Koijck said she hoped the unique collaboration with Nelson Mandela Township (Nemato) schoolchildren and old-age pensioners would inspire people to work together to save the environment by turning trash into art.
“Working together to collect rubbish and build the rhino has been an amazing experience for everyone,” she said.
Koijck said enthusiastic schoolchildren – including the disabled – scoured the streets for discarded alcohol and soda cans that were thumped flat by old-age pensioners before being fastened onto a metal rhino skeleton made from broken desks and chairs at the Ingubo daycare centre.
“The rhino will be left where it was built in the hope that it will help empower people and create awareness about the need to care for the environment.
“The people who worked on the rhino will care for it, they are so proud of what they achieved.”
The collaboration with Koijck, who has done similar waste art installations in Morocco, Brazil, America and Europe, came about after the Holland-based Saam Werk Foundation was approached by Stenden South Africa – an international hospitality university that has a campus in Port Alfred – to help create a community art project that would inspire Nemato residents to dream big.
Although Saam Werk has worked in other parts of the world, founder Hilly Bijl said the Port Alfred community art installation was the first time they had done anything like this in Africa.
She said a major aim of the foundation was to get people together to discuss and tackle issues like unemployment, alcohol, women and child abuse through art, theatre and dance collaborations.
“The foundation believes that art can be used to get people talking about social issues where they live.
“Art is a very strong thing.”
The initiative also provides inspiration for marginalised people who have the potential to express themselves through the arts but not the means.
Saam Werk member Sandrina Scholte said the collaboration was made easier thanks to in-depth research into township demographics by Stenden South Africa students.
In an area where unemployment was rife, schoolchildren often felt like there was no hope for a better future – until Koijck and Saam Werk came along.
Eleven-year-old Liyabona Mkalipi, who was given a special medal of honour made from scrap for her efforts getting kids to collect cans, said she still could not believe art was made from rubbish.
“I really loved doing this, we cleaned the streets and made a beautiful rhino for everyone to come and see.”
Although sceptical in the beginning about the idea, Ingubo teacher Rose Daweti said she changed her mind when she saw the rhino and how making it inspired and united young and old.
“When I first saw Maria using a grinder on the scrap metal skeleton of the rhino, I thought she was crazy to come all the way here to do something like this.
“Now that it is finished, all I can say is, wow, it really is a great piece of art.” — davidm@dispatch.co.za
Giant rhino crafted from trash inspires community
Dutch artist Maria Koijck said she hoped the unique collaboration with Nelson Mandela Township (Nemato) schoolchildren and old-age pensioners would inspire people to work together to save the environment by turning trash into art.
“Working together to collect rubbish and build the rhino has been an amazing experience for everyone,” she said.
Koijck said enthusiastic schoolchildren – including the disabled – scoured the streets for discarded alcohol and soda cans that were thumped flat by old-age pensioners before being fastened onto a metal rhino skeleton made from broken desks and chairs at the Ingubo daycare centre.
“The rhino will be left where it was built in the hope that it will help empower people and create awareness about the need to care for the environment.
“The people who worked on the rhino will care for it, they are so proud of what they achieved.”
The collaboration with Koijck, who has done similar waste art installations in Morocco, Brazil, America and Europe, came about after the Holland-based Saam Werk Foundation was approached by Stenden South Africa – an international hospitality university that has a campus in Port Alfred – to help create a community art project that would inspire Nemato residents to dream big.
Although Saam Werk has worked in other parts of the world, founder Hilly Bijl said the Port Alfred community art installation was the first time they had done anything like this in Africa.
She said a major aim of the foundation was to get people together to discuss and tackle issues like unemployment, alcohol, women and child abuse through art, theatre and dance collaborations.
“The foundation believes that art can be used to get people talking about social issues where they live.
“Art is a very strong thing.”
The initiative also provides inspiration for marginalised people who have the potential to express themselves through the arts but not the means.
Saam Werk member Sandrina Scholte said the collaboration was made easier thanks to in-depth research into township demographics by Stenden South Africa students.
In an area where unemployment was rife, schoolchildren often felt like there was no hope for a better future – until Koijck and Saam Werk came along.
Eleven-year-old Liyabona Mkalipi, who was given a special medal of honour made from scrap for her efforts getting kids to collect cans, said she still could not believe art was made from rubbish.
“I really loved doing this, we cleaned the streets and made a beautiful rhino for everyone to come and see.”
Although sceptical in the beginning about the idea, Ingubo teacher Rose Daweti said she changed her mind when she saw the rhino and how making it inspired and united young and old.
“When I first saw Maria using a grinder on the scrap metal skeleton of the rhino, I thought she was crazy to come all the way here to do something like this.
“Now that it is finished, all I can say is, wow, it really is a great piece of art.” — davidm@dispatch.co.za
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