Upcycling Waste to Art

VB: What’s most inspiring about your efforts is the blurring of the boundaries between art, urbanism and activism. How did you come to this notion of using art as a socio-political catalyst?

SK: Art has the power to communicate important socio-cultural ideas. I consider myself a politically and environmentally conscious artist and activist. The land I come from, Goa, is a beautiful part of India with a high literacy rate. But despite this there is litter everywhere. People throw plastic bottles and other plastic waste, one of the issues closest to my heart. So, I decided to work with plastic waste, to draw attention to the litter lying around. 

I am a student of Mahatma Gandhi. He was very innovative when he launched his satyagrahas (non-violent agitations) – the Salt satyagraha for example. So, when I started thinking, what satyagraha would Gandhi launch today, I realised that he would launch an ‘anti-litter’ satyagraha, because this country is full of litter. The litter we see in our environment is a reflection of the litter inside the mind. The environment can be clean only when the mind is clean and healthy. Anti-litter is one of my major art projects. 

Art is not just decorating walls and halls. It is about decorating the soul and enriching your life

Your anti-litter projects do not just result in works of art, they also educate people about environmental degradation and engage in communal processes that clean the city. Can you elaborate on the projects that are innovative tactics towards urban renewal?

I collected about 1,50,000 plastic bottles from the roadside with the help of my friends, volunteers and school students and created this huge artwork, called ‘Carpet of Joy’. The project attracted attention. Lots of school children came to see it and I requested the teachers to make the students take a pledge: ‘We shall not litter’. I have created such artworks in other parts of the country too, including Mussoorie, a hill station in the Himalayas. Using 1,50,000 plastic bottles is not really going to rid the country of litter. But the message has been spread.

For the last two years, I have created many drawings on materials I found on the seashore. I used to go for walks on the beach with my father every day from the age of six to sixteen, and that habit has continued. When I go for a walk early in the morning, especially during the monsoons, I find a lot of materials, pieces of wood, pieces of old boats and many other things, which are washed ashore by the ocean. I put them in the backpack I carry and bring them to my studio. I clean and dry them, treat them with anti-termite solution. Sometimes they also need a little bit of repairing and cutting. And then I draw on them. I have done hundreds of these drawings and will continue doing them since I enjoy creating on my random finds. The textures that the ocean has created on these pieces of wood are divine and difficult to replicate. I think these works of mine are collaborative works with the ocean. The ocean is my partner in art making. 

I have also created artworks using truck tyres. I found this material in Jaipur. There was a shop next to Hawa Mahal, which was selling recycled truck tyres, strips, sheets that were used for making slippers for poor people, baskets for the construction industry. I found the stuff interesting and have used it to create various works, ‘Flying Carpet’ is one. I have even used this material to create walls in my museum. One of the art pieces is created with thorns of triphala trees. I created lungs with a lock and covered the lungs with big thorns of the triphala tree, suggesting pathological lungs. This is representative of the Covid times, since death during Covid has been basically due to damage to the lungs. So, this work is in response to Covid.

I have done many other works too in response to Covid, like suspending one of the branches of the triphala tree upside down and calling it ‘Bronchial Horrors’.

What made you start Museum of Goa?

I started Museum of Goa in 2015. I realised that in a country like India, with a population of 1.3 billion, not more than one lakh people connect with contemporary art. The idea that my work would be seen by a very small percentage of Indians, started bothering me. I understand there is a huge cultural divide in our country. Most people – and I am not talking about farmers and labourers but about educated people – have never had an opportunity to connect with contemporary art. I find this pathetic and believe that everyone has the right to enjoy creative work. Art is not just decorating walls and halls. It is about decorating the soul and enriching your life. 

One of the most important functions of art is to transform societies to make people see and think plural

I decided that I must democratise art. When I decided to start Museum of Goa (MOG) with my own resources, most of my friends laughed at me. They said ‘you are going to go bankrupt soon’. I had some money; I was 55 years old and I had a plot of land. People asked me to put the money in the bank and retire happily. But I decided to use all the money to create the museum and it has proved to be extremely successful. Before Covid, we had 300 people visiting the museum every day and 90% of the people who visited MOG had never been to any contemporary art space in their life. Their sense of wonderment and joy was palpable. And social media has further expanded my constituency of art appreciators. My decision to create the museum, democratise art and break the cultural barriers was the right decision.

How do you see the deeper potential of art as a transformative agency in social, political and cultural renewal?

Art has many functions. One of its most important functions is to establish a kind of symbiosis between yourself and your environment. Art makes you at peace with yourself and the world. Art makes you empathise. In India particularly, we are going through this crisis of polarisation of communities. Today there is a lot of hatred. One of the most important functions of art is to transform societies to make people see and think plural. Because art tells you that there is not only one point of view, but there can be many points of view, there can be many interpretations. This reminds me of a beautiful poem by Rumi, who says that beyond the field of right and the field of wrong, there is another field, let us meet there. I think art also helps guide you to that field. This is one of the most important functions of art. Art is also the universal language of mankind. Art does not belong to one particular country, race, religion or sect. Art belongs to everybody. It makes people believe they are citizens of the world.

How do you see the relationship of art and the city?

I think the richness of a city should be calculated not just by the number of buildings it has, but what art the city has, what is the quality of that art. And in that sense, I would say that India has been a little bit unfortunate in terms of public art for the last almost 200 years. This does not mean that we do not have artists, we have a lot of good artists in this country. But somehow the political will to create public art is lacking. This is because most politicians do not understand art. They are not trained in art. They actually belong to that group who have no connection with contemporary art. So, it is very important to take public art seriously because it definitely enriches a city. Art is the sign of how civilised a city is. Art is the thermometre of civilisation.

Art is the sign of how civilised a city is. Art is the thermometer of civilisation

What projects are you currently working on?

I am working on the ‘Indian Ocean’ project, where I will visit about 25 ports along the Indian Ocean. I will work with old pieces of boats and other artefacts connected with navigational history, because the Indian Ocean has a rich navigational history. Much before the new world was discovered, the Indian Ocean was buzzing with trade and even during the Harrapan Civilisation (2,500 BC), we had Arab ships coming to the Indian Coast. I want to relive this history using art. 

One of my plans is to create an object using old ship material (wooden pieces), and then throw it in the ocean so that these sculptures will eventually find themselves on new shores. I will use a GPS system for monitoring their movement in the ocean. I also have an idea of creating an island, as a work of art, where soils from all countries of the world will be deposited. We could have a sculpture area and a community hall where young people could come and think of universalism and one peaceful world.