For over a week , a hollow spot right in the middle of the Promenade Beach, has been the cynosure of all eyes. A blue figure with protruding horns, rising amidst the rock, invites curious glances. Some come up and read the lettering pinned up, others go around it like some deity, and there are those who fish out their smartphones and strike a pose in front of the figure.
The sculpture is a collaboration of three artists from three different countries — the eight feet metal frame has been crafted by metal artist D. Saravana and the fine mesh was put up by Perine Angly from France. Conceptualised by Mexican artist Leyla Brashka, the figure is fashioned like a drishti mugam. Only instead of the typical, red and black, this has been painted in the colours of the ocean tipped with surf- blue and white. For horns,
Leyla has affixed rags, broken glass and torn slippers on to the horns and face of the figure. “The sculpture is a metaphor for guardian of the ocean, to keep litter at bay,” says the artist.
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The sculpture is a culmination of the one-week beach clean-up campaign that collected junk strewn in between the rocks on the Promenade, an area untouched by the municipality. The bags of litter collected by the volunteers were piled around the sculpture till Wednesday. “We were asked to remove it when people complained of stench. What they don’t realise is this garbage was lying around them all the time; it just became obvious when it was collected in one place,” says Kirti Chandak, founder, TASMAI, who supported the project.
The sculpture has been built with a slit for the mouth to direct people to dispose of the trash in the bins near them instead of all around them.