The Embassy of Switzerland in Qatar and Expo 2023 Doha announced the completion of a thought-provoking sculpture created by Swiss artist Etienne Krähenbühl at the Swiss Pavilion at Al Bidda Park.
The artist created a mobile sculpture depicting a 4-metre high water bottle, made of hundreds of plastic bottles collected and painted by students from Shafallah Centre and Qatar Academy.
This work, apart from its aesthetics, is aimed at questioning basic issues linked to water and plastic, as well as to the waste generated by plastic consumption.
Krähenbühl met with the students at the Swiss Pavilion on Wednesday to discuss the environmental issue at hand, present his artwork, and express his gratitude for their collaboration.
The exchange provided a unique opportunity for both the artist and the students to engage in meaningful dialogue about the impact of plastic pollution on our planet.
In the afternoon, Swiss ambassador Florence Tinguely Matli visited the pavilion to meet with Krähenbühl and Fatima Mohamed, a Qatari artist whose exhibition "Wasteland" also addresses the issue of plastic pollution. Both artists presented their works to the Swiss ambassador and pledged to continue their efforts in the fight against plastic pollution.
Krähenbühl’s other work, "Plastiques”, a lithographs series, also sheds light on the issue of plastic pollution. In a year, the artist collected all the daily plastic food waste of his family in Switzerland and used all food packaging and plastic grocery bags to make 730 prints over the year.
He followed a strict protocol, considering among others the daily exterior temperatures. In so doing, he curated a summary of his personal use of this material over the course of a year and created a universal message on ecology and climate, visible as a colourful ‘fresco’. Part of this series can also be viewed at the Swiss Pavilion until the end of Expo 2023 Doha.