Working With What We Throw Away: Sameera Rasheed's Artistic Journey
Kayamkulam, Kerala: There is a saying, beauty lies in the eyes of beholder. So does art. For Sameera Rasheed, a recycle artist, her calling for rethinking plastic waste and transform into art pieces was not at all planned. Began as a helping hand for her son’s school project, she now helms Safari Handicrafts, has conducted over 25 exhibitions on recycled art pieces, generating awareness on the importance of recycling.
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Started with egg shells, and pistachio shells, over the 14 years Sameera’s artistry has grown to incorporate all waste materials and impart them a new lease of life. In her hands items such as orange peels, watch battery, bottle caps, fish scales, newspapers, magazines, vitamin e capsules, date palm leaves, discarded jeans, plastic bottles, or even cupcake wrappers and soft-drink wrappers transforms to beautiful art. A pastime activity slowly turned into responsible creation, a purpose in making art.
Hailing from Alappuzha’s Kayamkulam, Sameera and her husband Rasheed are ex-residents of Bahrain. Bahrain promotes recycling activity a lot, couple says. The positive feedbacks from her son’s school for the art project, motivated Sameera to indulge in the activity further.
image:facebook/Safari Handicrafts
“There are lots of waste materials around, especially plastic waste. These are dangerous to environment. We can transform it into valuable objects,” she says.
Awareness is her main objective. Through exhibitions Sameera conveys the potential of recycling, a creative response to environmental neglect and turning it into something to look at, and admire. Everyone can do it at home, and she wanted to inform children, and adults about the relevance of plastic recycling.
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In 2023, Sameera Rasheed’s name entered India Book of Records for creating 236 artefacts using 100 waste items. Her exhibition has also received accolades from Bahrain government. During an exhibition at Lulu Dana Mall, Bahrain held January last year, Sameera received immense praise from Indian Ambassador of Bahrain, H. E. Piyush Srivastava, her husband recollects. Her art works can be accessed through Facebook and Instagram pages, Safari Handicrafts.
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