Recycling: Recreating Art from Rubbish!
Mixed Ideaz – A recycling intiative is born
Godfrey Dambuleni, founder of Mixed Ideaz Wire Art in Saltriver Cape Town is a man with a recycling vision. He arrived in Cape Town 25 years ago with nothing except the clothes on his back and the burning desire to not only provide for himself but to help others in need.
Work was difficult to find, but Godfrey did not, like so many others, give up on his dream. As a little boy growing up in Zimbabwe, Godfrey used to make wire cars for himself and his friends from bits of discarded wire. Why not do the same in Cape Town? Use those skills towards recycling something from what most of us regard as trash. Mixed Ideaz was born.
Recycling as a Provision for the Future
Today, Godfrey not only provides for himself and his family but also takes in persons off the street and enable them to provide for themselves. In his studio in Saltriver discarded bits of metal, tins of all shapes and sizes and wire are transformed into extraordinary art pieces. Rhinos, Elephants, Wild-dogs and many other animals take shape and form as the wire is twisted and shaped and then clad with anything from a cut up Coke can to beer bottle tops.
They don’t use photos of animals as the reference as they twist and shape and hammer the wire and cut up cans. “We look at the picture of an animal till it takes form in our spirit,” says Godfrey. Then we just give it form with the cans and other bits of rubbish we collect from recycling what is available.
Not only do we help to recycle but we also want people to help protect the environment. Why display the head or skin of a dead animal when you can leave them in the wild where they belong by displaying one of our recycling creations instead.
Are you involved in a great recycling initiative and would like to spread that message with South Africa and beyond? Share your story on the Eco Explore Africa platform by getting in touch today.
“To bring something out of nothing, to make mean things take on beauty, until the world becomes an enchanting place” – Is not this the business of all art?
Godfrey can be reached at his studio at 122 Cecil Road, Salt River, Cape Town. Cell 083 562 2224. Email : Mixedideaz@webmail.co.za.Tags: eco travel, ecotourism, recycle
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