We’ve heard about recyclers in South Africa, who turn waste into money, right? But how many times do you get to hear about creatives turning waste into jaw-dropping fashion pieces? Creatives have learned to advance their skills and save the environment while doing what they love. We’ve recently seen a growing trend of them recycling discarded items into desirable fashion pieces — and sending a strong message against throwaway culture within their local industries
One creative who’s caught our attention at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2023 is Maurice Mbikayi who uses electronic waste to redefine fashion. According to TWYG, Maurice Mbikayi questions society’s growing dependence on technology and how African mining industries, such as cobalt mining, power the production of technological devices.
We peeped into his website to better understand what he does and how he does it, and we were amazed to learn that his work goes beyond just making a fashion statement, but also has a lot of philanthropic elements to it.
”My work interrogate the environmental hazards associated with information technology, specifically in a Congolese context. As information technology advances and proliferates across the globe, the world becomes all the more dependent on African mining industries – such as gold, cobalt, and coltan – to engineer and power its computers and smartphones. These mines are not only detrimental to the environment but pose serious health risks to labourers and their families” writes Maurice.
Maurice uses this e-waste to create artworks and sculptures that speak to the harmful effects of the industry. But, Maurice’s work is not pessimistic. Instead, he imagines a world where e-waste is not dumped, but creatively recycled.
Depicting figures who have created radical change and reinvention amid social and climate catastrophes, Maurice hopes to use his work to create inspiring images of hope for a better future.
Main Image: Frame Magazine
