Nepali craftsmen transfigure Everest waste into contemporary art

With an objective to enhance the aesthetic value of the waste collected from the top of the world and to take forward an environmental campaign "Saving Mount Everest," Da Mind Tree Nepali organization specializing in art activities - organized an art andsculpture symposium here on Friday. The exhibition showcased the works of 15 finest Nepali craftsmen, who have discovered a new style of recycling garbage polluting the Mount Everest region by turning them into contemporary art. Garbage including gas cylinders, stoves, bottles and other rubbish collected from the Everest were beautifully crafted into interesting forms of art, some in the forms of sailing ships, pyramids, God Ganesh, staircases, skylines and other contemporary masterpieces. Kripa Rana Shahi, the director of Da Mind Tree lauded the responsible artists for their contributions towards "Saving Mount Everest." She also appreciated the effort endeavored by Everest Summiteers Association (ESA) in cleaning the Everest region. "This project pays homage to all the summiteers, climbers and all the other people who made this event successful," Rana said. "We received 1.5 tons waste from ESA and the waste was collected to conduct a month-long symposium with 15 visual artists to create sculptures that are presented in this exhibition." Despite the fact that the enormous increase of visitors to the Everest region has had many positive effects on local economy, the heavy pressure of tourism has also taken its toll on the environment. Large amount of waste is still being discarded along the trail and villages nearby. Thus, it has become a national obligation to sort out that garbage. Also in the same function, Depyuty Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha appreciated the art, terming it as "priceless achievement." "The efforts carried out by these capable hands are commendable," Shrestha said. "The expedition team risked their lives to clean the mountain amidst harsh and fluctuating weather conditions and successfully met the project's target. It is matter of pride for the nation that those wastes are now transformed into priceless arts." Similarly, one of the artists, Bhuvan Thapa said it was a milestone in his career that those wastes are now molded into priceless arts. "I hope we succeeded in sending a message that Everest is our crown and we should protect her," he said. The masterpieces were crafted out of abandoned oxygen cylinders, old tents, ropes, stoves, cans, glasses and remains of a helicopter that crashed in the 1970s. "It was just an abandoned oxygen cylinder then, but now it is a beautiful garden light," another artist Tara Prasad Ojha said pointing at his creation.