A unique art exhibition, to bring awareness about the profusion of plastic and other waste to the Nilgiris, was launched at the Ninth Mile Shooting Medu, a tourist destination on Sunday. The exhibition — “Waste to Art” features three art exhibits, made from waste left behind by tourists to the area.
Two of the exhibits are made from plastic and glass bottles. One of the exhibits is of an Indian Gaur, made with plastic bottles, giving birth to a calf, made from the same waste. Speaking to The Hindu , Madhavan Pillai, the Curator of the exhibition, said that the artists who put up the exhibit of the Indian Gaur wanted to highlight that animals ingest some of the waste that is carelessly thrown away by tourists.
“The plastic gaur will make people think by showing exactly how dangerous plastic is to animals,” he said. “Trash left behind by tourists takes years to decompose, and unwary animals often eat plastic and other trash, causing them sicknesses, and ultimately leads to their deaths,” he added.
Another exhibit, is made of plastic cups, similar to a chalk outline of a corpse, spread over a marked “grave,” to highlight the existential threat faced by human beings due to poor waste management practices.
The third exhibit, more than 20-feet long, made from hundreds of discarded plastic and glass bottles, wound around a dying tree, and leading to a bin, was designed to symbolize the negative footprint humans leave behind when they litter. “Each piece of trash sucks the life out of nature, and humanity,” said Mr. Pillai.
The exhibits were designed and put up by six artists from the Government Arts and Science College in Chennai, to “talk about humanity’s over-reliance on plastic and their exploitative behaviour over Nature.”
The initiative to put up the exhibits was taken by The Nilgiris Mountain Arts Initiative (TNMAI), the All India Radio in association with the Rotary Club of Ooty Town, Ninth Mile Eco-Development Committee and The Make Ooty Beautiful Project.
The art installations were set up on the brow of the hillock in the Ninth Mile Shooting Medu, where visitors could easily spot them. The exhibits will continue to be up till the end of the week.
