Thursday 22 November 2012

Everest 8848 Art Project

Eight tonnes of litter left on Mount Everest has been turned into 75 works of art.

A group of artists have now turned eight tonnes of this trash - including the remains of a helicopter - into works of art and sculpture to highlight the issue of littering on the slopes of Everest. It took 65 porters and 75 yaks to carry down the rubbish from the mountain over two Spring expeditions.

The exhibition of 75 pieces commissioned for the 'Everest 8848 Art Project' is on display in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu before it moves to Pokhara next week.

Project organiser Kripa Rana Shahi said: "We thought that this would help promote the artists as well as contribute to making Everest clean. We were happy to get the trash and (the waste collectors) were happy to get rid of it."

Fifteen Nepalese artists spent a month preparing pieces for the exhibition. In one of the works, by painter and poet Sunita Rana, white shards of aluminium from drinks cans are fashioned into medals signifying the bravery of mountaineers, while black metal tent poles are transformed into a wind chime.

In another, remains of a helicopter which crashed in 1974, while carrying food for Italian climbers, are incorporated into an idol of the Hindu God Ganesh. The artworks range in price from £12 to £150,000, and several pieces have already been sold.

What an amazing idea and big question, why are climbers littering such a beautiful place??










No comments:

Post a Comment