Peace of Art repurposes waste for Ocean of Hope initiative

THE artwork titled Whispers of the Deep has its roots in the Indian Ocean.

An abandoned sculpture that was once part of a resort’s discontinued project for an under-the-sea exhibition, it is now the connection that led non-profit organisation Peace of Art to partner Asia Dive Expo (Adex).

The bust was meant to be the “skeleton” that corals would grow from, said founder of Peace of Art (POA) Eunice Yeo. It was abandoned and partially destroyed after the resort’s project in Maldives closed until Yeo chanced upon it. 

She said: “The corals could not grow due to rising water temperatures. The project was then scrapped and the sculpture was discarded, around five years ago.”

When she found the bust, it was covered in graffiti and paint. Nevertheless, she saw it as a symbol of resilience, and decided to give it a new lease of life – with other forms of waste and recyclable materials such as discarded wood and natural crystals. 

She added: “When I brought this piece back (to Singapore)… I (wanted) to make it into something beautiful, because beauty captures attention and communicates a message.”

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And that it did, as the sculpture caught the attention of Adex, organiser of the longest-running dive show when it was on display at The Centrepoint. 

It decided to sponsor POA with a booth at the Adex Ocean Festival, which took place from Friday (Apr 12) to Sunday, where the sculpture was on display.

Besides displaying artworks such as Whispers of the Deep at the booth, POA’s initiative, Ocean of Hope, made use of the opportunity to raise awareness for sustainability and raise funds for children in need.

Volunteers from Methodist Girls’ School (MGS) and underprivileged children supported by Singapore Red Cross’ Young Hearts programme collaborated to create artworks using waste materials such as discarded glass, scrap wood and old toys. The artworks were created at a live demonstration at POA’s booth.

John Thet, chief executive of Adex, said POA’s mission and cause struck a chord with him as showing children what can be reused and recycled sets a “good example” for the next generation.

Scrap wood was used as a base, with old toys attached to it. The periphery of the artwork was covered in coloured pieces of glass to create a gradient. As a whole, the artwork resembles corals, which Yeo described as “vibrant and resilient, but vulnerable”. 

“Just like our underprivileged children – if you nurture them, if you support them and they grow up into healthy, happy and well-rounded individuals, they can contribute back to society,” she added.

These artworks will be auctioned at the Sustainable Kids Market held at Marina Square from May 25-26, with an aim to raise S$100,000. All the proceeds will go towards supporting children living in public rental housing under Singapore Red Cross’ Young Hearts programmes.

About 30 MGS students participated. They were keen to do so after hearing about POA’s objectives and goals, which made it more meaningful for them, said Diana Goh, the school’s vice-principal.

When asked about the initiative’s impact and accountability, Yeo said that POA partners only “IPCs (Institutions of a Public Character), as there is accountability and they do provide us with an impact report”.

Push for sustainability

In addition to repurposing waste, POA wanted to be as sustainable as possible. For its Adex booth, POA partnered Fraction, which reuses and redesigns discarded materials and structures for exhibitions.

For example, the pedestal that the 50-kg Whispers of the Deep sculpture was placed on was created from heavy-duty cardboard with a honeycomb structure. The cardboard is in its first tier of its recycling life – it can continue to be recycled and reused until it becomes the lowest-tier paper, when it can no longer be recycled.

Hence, POA will reuse some of its display at the Sustainable Kids Market in May. For this event, it is targeting the “democratisation of philanthropy” – instead of donations mostly coming from corporates such as the Christmas market, it will focus on raising funds from the ground up. Additional reporting by Vivien Ang