The Global Warning exhibit has opened at the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery, and it provides a powerful statement about the state of garbage collection in current society.
Each piece in the collection was constructed using just garbage, gathered by the students and repurposed into material. It is impressive what they were able to procure for the project.
One piece uses a broken Smartboard as a base for a collage of garbage materials. A patio umbrella serves as the structure in another piece. Another thoughtful piece uses discarded electronics — an old TV, a computer monitor, discarded charging cables, and so on — to depict how technology dependence is creating waste.
This is the sixth year the exhibit has been featured, as a collaborative project organized by the AXIS Committee and the Youth Advisory Committee here in the city.
“It's all about collaborative efforts and really showing how if we come together, we can change things . . . and create amazing things out of something that's not so good,” said Lucas Dyck, a student from Central Collegiate on the Youth Advisory Committee.
It's a fun experience for the students as well, added Nikola Orescanin, who is a student at Peacock Collegiate and also a member of the Youth Advisory Committee.
“It's a really good thing, them getting to see that their work is appreciated,” said Orescanin. “[Taking part in this,] it’s kind of putting the idea of really good disposal of garbage in their heads. It helps for the future.”
Several awards were handed out, including the Youth Advisory Committee Award, given to Caronport Elementary; the Junior Best Overall, given to École St. Margaret; Senior Best Overall, given to Riverview Collegiate.
This is the first year that Caronport has participated, and they took home the trophy for Most Garbage Collected — an exciting moment for the kids involved.
Both Dyck and Orescanin hope to see the annual exhibit continue, and maybe even expand to include more of the community.
“We're really impressed and we're really humbled by our community. A lot of effort does go in to create these pieces and it's not like it takes a day; it takes a long time,” said Dyck. “So we really hope over the next few years it's going to just keep going, keep growing.”
“We don't want the garbage on our streets. We want it to be disposed of in a proper way,” said Dyck. “And to create something out of that, using people's creative abilities, I think it really has a lot of potential to become a community spread, widespread event people can take part in.”
The Global Warning exhibit will remain in the lobby of the MJMAG from now until June 20.
