Junk into art:Works that scream ‘keep our himals clean’ This group of artists has just one thing to tell us: “Our mountains are supposed to be pristine and clean. Let’s keep the himals that way.” A very interesting art exhibition is on at the Imago Dei Cafe Gallery, Naxal; titled ‘Garbage Out Of Thin Air’, the creations at this exhibition have all been shaped out of junk found and collected at Everest. It’s a machine gun, but Kathmandu University student Sanjit Maharjan has made it out of wires, tin sheets, food cans, oxygen cylinders left at Mount Everest. There are more pieces like these at the exhibition which opened on April 3. A team of 20 artists from KU’s Centre for Arts and Design let their creative juices flow and wrought thought-provoking ideas in various shapes to wake all up to the problem of garbage at Everest. The debris that has been so used by the team was brought down by the Everest Expedition 2008 Team. Dawa Steven Sherpa, leader of the team, said, “Through this exhibition we want to urge people to keep the mountains clean.” Pukar Risal has transformed cans of soft drinks into a gong and has named it ‘There is more out there’. Referring to his work he said, “There are tons of garbage still beneath the ice, and the gong, which as always been used to spread news, is symbolically informing this reality to the people.” Bijaya Maharjan’s ‘Empty Tank’ includes three empty gas cylinders which has No Water, No Petroleum and No Energy written on them. This piece of work satirically symbolises the present situation of Nepal where there is scarcity of everything. Meanwhile, Sunita Maharjan has something different to say. “By adding junk we are adding unnecessary clothing on the beauty of Everest.” Her creation is named ‘Unnecessary’ and she has pasted crushed cans on a piece of black cloth. Out of one-tonne of garbage collected from Everest, only the non-degradable wastes have been used to create these works of art. All the works on display urge people to keep the mountains clean and safe by adopting proper disposal of wastes, which are thrown haphazardly. The exhibition was inaugurated by Ngawang Tenzin Zangpo, Rinpoche of Tengboche Monastery. At the inaugural, Apa Sherpa, who is an 18-time Everest summiteer, was handed over a sacred vase — Tendrel Nyesel Bumpa, to be installed at the summit of Everest during his 19th attempt this year. Rinpoche Zangpo said, “The installation of this sacred vessel is intended to restore the sanctity of the Himalayas and spiritually empower the people to cope with negative impacts of rapid social changes.” The exhibition is on till April 12.