Recreating the Van Gogh legacy from ocean debris

"OceanArt" expo showcases upcycled marine waste into Van Gogh-inspired art, raising awareness on ocean plastic pollution.

Like an unexpected image formed when connecting random dots, an expo has been shaped by an unlikely convergence of post-impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh’s legacy, a campaign to cleanse the Arabian Sea off the Kochi coastline in Kerala, and a group of aspirational women given art lessons by a sustainability NGO.

The “OceanArt” exhibition at Alliance Francaise features marine waste upcycled into works of acrylic art, seventeen of them recreations of the Dutch artist’s famed works such as “Starry Night”, “The Harvest”, “The Church at Auvers” or “The Bedroom in Arles”.

Kerala-based NGO PlanatEarth, which is hosting only its second such show, has featured a selection of unique art work created from its two-pronged DROP (Drive to Recover Ocean Plastic) project. Working on a HCL tech grant, the NGO has been incentivising about 1,200 fishermen at the Munamban harbour to bring back nets and other waste from the ocean.

After segregating the waste, designers mentor and train a self help group of local women to create works of art from bits and pieces of the debris, mostly ghost nets, fabric scraps, plastic bottles and other discarded fishing gear .With the help of these fishermen, PlanatEarth now collects over 3,000 kilos of plastic waste retrieved from the ocean by 600 trawlers operating in the waters.

“While most of this gets recycled, the nets and ropes are often entangled making it difficult to recycle” says Liyas Kareem, the CEO of PlanatEarth.

Sensing an opportunity to create awareness about ocean plastic pollution and simultaneously tackle the threat that the debris pose to marine life, the NGO conceived the plan to repurpose them into works of art.

The Munambam SHG comprising 12 women volunteers were trained to produce exquisite art by piecing together bits and pieces of torn nets and ropes that were washed and dried. In fact, the NGO choose the works of Van Gogh for his bold strokes, emotional expressiveness and vibrant colours are the best way to get a message across.