By
Evans Dakwa and Misheck Shambare
When
you open your soft drink and throw the bottle top away or when you finish
drinking your beer from a can and throw it away, have you ever thought that
these seemingly obsolete materials can be assets that can be used productively by
other people?
In
bars, cafes, restaurants and even on the streets cans and bottle tops can be
seen scattered all over the place yet some people have mastered the skill of
breathing life into the supposedly useless materials through Art.
Mabvuku
Disability Art and Craft Centre have managed to come up with the concept that
could come in handy towards achieving a cleaner environment using recycling
art.
Using
discarded materials like bottle tops, beer and soft drinks cans and the
notorious bron cleer empty bottles, they have managed to come up with beautiful
art pieces that have captured the attention of international buyers. Their innovation
has brought together waste management and art, making significant strides
towards a clean environment in the process creating employment for less
privileged people in the society.
The
eight member group which has disabled people amongst its ranks has made an
array of artifacts including rubbish bins, handbags, light bulb chandeliers,
kids’ toys, tables and chairs using apparently useless materials.
Royt
Bisiwasi who is the Director of Mabvuku Disability Art and Craft Centre which
showcased their art pieces at the just ended Harare International Festival of
Arts (HIFA) said the innovation was inspired by the massive littering in the
city and the desire to reduce the scourge by using litter productively.
“Initially
we started our art using wire but we then merged with waste materials found
scattered everywhere, an idea which received strong support from art passionate
people encouraging us and from then on we never looked back,” he said.
Bisiwasi
who has been actively involved in Art since 1994 said they get most of the
materials they use from restaurants, bars and individuals whom they pay for
bringing rubbish materials to them.
On
working with disabled people, Bisiwasi said it was proper to include them as he
understood their plight in society since his leg was amputated after an
accident and to also prove that disability does not necessarily mean inability.
Although
there are some local customers, Bisiwasi credited foreigners as the major
clienteles of their products.
“The
majority of our customers are from the United States of America (USA) and
France as most Zimbabweans do not appreciate such type of art coupled by the
liquidity crunch in the country,” he said.
He
however thanked HIFA for the exposure and going out of their way to link them
with new customers as they recorded brisk business during the course of the
festival.
The
group has taken recycling art to a new level as they have gone to make roof
tiles from cans.
“We
have managed to make a roof that is made up of empty soft drink and beer cans
as tiles at a house in Milton Park suburb of Harare,” said Bisiwasi.
It
seems recycling art is gaining popularity in Harare as more artists are coming
up and incorporating the idea into their works.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigj3vwNrGXZOYlNeCjjbn2oxqI_OTx1GdilgfIwrPriFygCbbQHp0BG0u_Ou6-Lrw_vqoWQVGrnDbRjrmZ0x097p5_UkPKACC1N2TKhXtkWRwKkJVvav52nwRhZU1_B7WBMDzGeJPtoP0O/s1600/Farai+Chimusidze+of+Jesa+Arts+second+from+right+explaining+the+chimney+they+made+using+old+video+cassettes+at+HIFA+2014+to+journalist+Evans+Dakwa.+Picure+by+Misheck+Shambare.jpg)
“We
saw it fit to turn to recycling Art as a way of keeping our environment clean
by using waste material productively whilst making money from less capital by adding
value to what some people call useless material,” they said.
Booker
Sipeyiye who is Jesa Arts Director under a project dubbed Sunshine Zimbabwe
which they are running from Sam Levy’s Village has been at the fore front of
training youths as a way of empowering them with skills in the process of creating
employment for young people.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXR808viwhw13EYmICPTScwcCHx_E7pOvs8KiRISTzglm-ZtftnCC2gWLagwhb99qQZbrAyhbO77LHgvSI9QzrnLQ5MtCYTLaM7QeP_1sFV0lhNcj6IKVVJJouc3EFrRQ927pxHrKbBjTW/s1600/A+rubbish+bin+made+by+banned+alcoholic+cough+syrup+bron+cleer+at+HIFA+2014+by+Mabvuku+Disability+Art+and+Craft+Centre.+Picture+by+Misheck+Shambare.jpg)
“We
need as many people as possible to come on board,” he said.
Environmental
Management Agency (EMA) Public Relations Officer Steady Kangata appreciated
recycling art as it goes an extra mile towards their quest to for a cleaner
environment.
“We
are really thrilled by the efforts of these artists in coming up with such
initiatives as they go a long way in the cleaning of the environment as well as
saving the resources of the country,” he said.
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