Creative Upcycling of Plastic Waste Materials as an Innovative Artistic Technique for Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Aesthetics and Entrepreneurial Avenues in The Kokrobite and Bortianor Communities in Accra

  • Samuel Prophask Asamoah Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
  • Dickson Adom Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
  • Steve Kquofi Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6263-615X
Keywords: creative upcycling, environmental aesthetics, environmental sustainability, plastic waste, innovations in art

Abstract

Plastic waste continues to be an environmental nuisance globally. In the case of Ghana, where only 5% of plastic waste is recycled, there is an urgent need for organizations and individuals to develop innovative strategies in creatively re-using plastic waste materials, and transforming them into valuable products. This exploratory qualitative study that utilizes a creative and arts-based research approach discusses the innovative artistic technique employed by one of the burgeoning contemporary Ghanaian artists, Samuel Prophask Asamoah who uses plastic waste materials that have been an age-long environmental challenge in the Kokrobite and Bortianor communities in Accra where he resides. The study reveals that the creative upcycling undertaken by Asamoah has opened another entrepreneurial opportunity and enriched his art practice. Interestingly, Asamoah has used his new innovative artistic technique to offer some of the local community members job avenues in the collection, cleaning, and cutting of plastic waste materials for his artistic productions. Through tactful exhibitions of his plastic waste innovative projects, Asamoah engages important stakeholders such as the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, private and public schools in the vicinity, fisher-folks, market women, and Nature Conservation and Environmental sustainability NGOs to partake in the discourses on ways of arresting the canker of plastic pollution. An immersive community sensitization exhibition that attracted a large audience, devoid of binary distinctions, was organized at the Kokrobite plastic deposit center. An exhibition organized in a panoramic style provided egalitarian attention amongst the exhibits and a platform for diverse conversations that inspired new ideas from the audience. The study asserts that when artists and other individuals take up creative upcycling projects using plastic waste materials, it will offer another layer of employment for them and many others in their communities while protecting the environment and its rich biodiversity.

Author Biographies

Samuel Prophask Asamoah, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Mr. Samuel Prophask Asamoah is a creative, versatile, and detail-oriented artist from Ghana. Asamoah was trained at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He has a unique way of expressing his artistic ideas in abstract, realism, and surrealism by exploring diverse mediums, ranging from conventional water and oil-based paints on canvas to the transformation of discarded material into innovative installations. His works bear traces of Ghanaian culture and other cultures globally, advocating for intercultural unity, and sustainability. Although Asamoah’s creative expressions, and philosophy, were influenced by Ghanaian traditional, and modernist art, his themes reflect contemporary socio-cultural issues.

Dickson Adom, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Dr. Dickson Adom is a researcher in the pluridisciplinary fields of Place Identity History, African Art ans Culture, Art Installations, and Cultural Anthropology for Biodiversity Conservation, Recycled Art, Environmental Sustainability, and Heritage Sites Conservation. He is a senior member in the Department of Educational Innovations in Science and Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He is an expert in the use of traditional knowledge systems and community engagement strategies for ecotourism projects in rural communities.

Steve Kquofi, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Prof. Steve Kquofi is an Associate Professor in African Art and Culture in the Department of Educational Innovations in Science and Technology, Faculty of Educational Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. His areas of expertise are varied and include Cultural Anthropology, History of Art, Socio-Cultural Practices, and Environmental Aesthetics. His topmost research is employing art aesthetics in environmental protection in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Published
2024-12-16
How to Cite
Prophask Asamoah, S., Adom, D., & Kquofi, S. (2024). Creative Upcycling of Plastic Waste Materials as an Innovative Artistic Technique for Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Aesthetics and Entrepreneurial Avenues in The Kokrobite and Bortianor Communities in Accra. Journal of Science and Technology, 1(2), 86- 104. https://doi.org/10.4314/just.v1i2.1925