South American artists build statue of Hindu goddess out of 150kg of plastic waste


In a city in northern India, a group of around 40 artists from different South American countries have collectively built a 2.5 metre tall statue of a Hindu river goddess using 150kg of plastic waste.

The city of Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state hosted the statue of Yamuna Maiya (Mother), made from plastic retrieved from the Yamuna river, which runs through much of the state, in video filmed on May 10.

According to one of the artists this is an innovative and artistic way to motivate people to keep the Yamuna river clean. The group wants to install this statue at the banks of the river in Vrindavan.

The group is a collection of ardent devotees of the Hindu god Krishna and belongs to Vrindavan-based NGO Braj-Vrindavan Act Now. The artist are all from different parts of South America including Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina.

According to the NGO it took them two months to make this statue, collecting the 150 kg of plastic waste including polythene, bags and plastic bottles.

According to Juliana, one of the artists, they want to raise awareness for people about dumping waste into the river water.

Juan Camilo Hernández, 30, the Colombian sculptor of this statue and main mind behind this initiative, says that they will send a proposal to administration to seek approval of making a similar statue which would be 30-metres-tall.