Bhubaneswar’s ‘Waste to Art’ museum inaugurated by Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik

It is the first open-air museum of waste-to-art where noted artists from 14 countries have come to participate and made different sculpture from waste materials and scraps.

The First International Public Art Symposium (IPAS), jointly organised by the Artist Network Promoting Indian Culture (ANPIC), the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on Tuesday.

IPAS is the first open-air museum of waste-to-art where noted artists from 14 countries have come to participate and made different sculpture from waste materials and scraps.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said, “I wish to congratulate the artists for their wonderful exhibits which are being miraculously made out of junk. I congratulate them all from the bottom of my heart.”

ANPIC Managing Trustee Sashank Mohapatra said, “Art, that is not only a delight for the eyes but also sends out a strong social message is the need of the hour. This first Waste to Art Open Air Museum which is going to be a great tourist attraction would also create awareness on various environmental issues such as wildlife conservation. The initiative is also going to boost socio-cultural art in Odisha and would encourage young artists to come up with new ideas.”

Minister Tourism and Odia Language, Literature and Culture, Ashok Chandra Panda, MP Prasanna Patsani, BDA VC Krishan Kumar, Member Enforcement, BDA Bhabani Sankar Chayani and local Councilor Dilip Kumar Majhi joined as guests of honour.

“Augusto Daniel Gallo from Argentina has created one of the lions standing back to back in the National Emblem of India out of junk metals. Similarly, Donald Buglass from New Zealand has created a flying eagle out of iron waste, Anita Maria Wilhelmina de Harde from Netherland has created the Royal Bengal Tigress Sundari, Daniel Perez Suarez from Spain has created Head of Lord Buddha, Jeetender Kumar Ojha from Baroda, India has created a vanity sculpture symbolising women empowerment. Similarly, Paddy Bloomer from Ireland and Matteo Baroni from Italy have created kinetic sculptures promoting different theories of science,” an official statement read.

The sculpture museum aims at creating awareness amongst people of Odisha about the environment, climate change and reuse of waste materials etc. The artworks which are made mainly from waste material and scrap metal propagate the eco-friendly message.

“Focus has been made on alarming issues like global warming, flood, and also protection of our wildlife species, especially which are endangered from natural calamities, road kill, hunting, poaching etc. It has also put a spotlight on species like the Odisha Olive Ridley Turtle, Indian /Odisha Elephant, the Indian Rhino, the Nilgiri Tahr, the Bengal Tiger, the Blackbuck, Snow and the Lion-Tailed Macaque to name a few,” the statement added.