NIFT-TEA India students upcycle aluminium waste to create artwork of highest standards

The recently ended craft exhibition at the NIFT-TEA College of Knitwear Fashion in Tirupur, India, saw art connoisseurs and buyers pouring in huge numbers to own a piece of art among a host of other on display, mostly created from waste paper, scrap aluminium, and other used materials.

Of the creations that got maximum attention of the visitors was the craft work by D. Prabhu, a sophomore at the Institute. He created a portrait of Lord Ganesha using waste aluminium foil, powdery iron rust and varnish. The portrait was lauded by all and fetched a premium sale price of INR9000 on the opening day on August 30.

As many as 120 students, all pursuing undergraduate studies in costume design and fashion at the NIFT-TEA Institute, turned up to create around 1,100 craft works through creative reuse of wastes or discarded clothes, papers, bottles and even powdery iron rust in the two-day exhibition-cum-sale hosted by the Institute.



G. Vasumathi, head of the Costume Design and Fashion Department at NIFT-TEA Institute said, ““We are thinking of ways to sell any unsold items from the fair through commercial shops situated in the city.”

Aluminium recycling and upcycling, rather recycling of any waste, has taken off only very lately in India. New-age entrepreneurs are gradually coming forward to establish start-ups based on the concept of aluminium recycling. Initiatives such as these, through which recycling or upcycling is encouraged, will surely boost the drive further helping the industry as well as the economy achieve sustainability targets set globally.