COCOONS, 2023

Sculptures created by Sandro Masai in collaboration with Ghana Venskab under the theme “Expressing Sustainability” in 2023.

Photo: Simon Bendix Borregaard

The COCOONS are sculptures and interactive art installation created by Sandro Masai with the participation of the public in a few art festivals in Denmark.

Production history:

Gejst Festival 2023, Horsens

Undersolen Festival 2023, Himmerlandsbyen

Kulturmødet Mors 2023

Undersolen Festival 2024, Himmerlandsbyen

Undersolen Festival 2025, Himmerlandsbyen

COCOONS consists of a series of sculptures made of re-used bubble plastic and the active participation of the public in workshops

Artist’s statement:

“This plastic is not going to fall in a river.

It is not going to fall in the ocean.

It is going fall in a museum!”

The sculptures COCOONS ARE dedicated to Oshun, the goddess of the rivers and waterfalls in the Afro-Yoruban culture. COCOONS are macramé sculpture made of re-used donated and repurposed plastic. Macramé is a form of textile produced using a traditional knotting technique. The reused plastic was donated by several people in the cities of Aalborg and Horsens. This installation is a development of my previous artwork WATERFALL (2022) and it is my attempt to make my art installation more interactive to the public. This artwork is a continuation in my attempt to prevent the plastic waste to end up polluting  Nature, while also proposing a reflection about the use of plastic in our daily lives.

In the Afro-Yoruban tradition Nature is sacred, as well as all elements of it. Many gods are personifications or representations of Nature itself. Oshun is the goddess of rivers and waterfalls and she is also the water itself. She is the movement and the properties of the water herself. Oshun also represents fertility, femininity, beauty, purity and love. Several myths exist concerning Oshun and her significance as a Yoruba deity. In most Yoruba stories, Oshun is generally depicted as the protector, saviour, or nurturer of humanity. Oshun has also been described as the maintainer of spiritual balance or mother of sweet things. Oshun is so important in the Yoruba religion that without her humanity would not exist. Oshun is the water. I wish that all traditions could see water as sacred, as a part of god and as a part of ourselves. I wish that  we all would not allow any waste in Nature.