G20 Summit: Waste-to-art installations come up in Delhi

These installations will carry messages of “One Earth, One Family, One Future” and “Welcome to Delhi: World’s Largest Waste-To-Art City”.

Ahead of the G20 Summit in the Capital in the second week of September, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is installing a series of waste-to-art themed art installations, sculptures and murals in public spaces.

The installation at Mahipalpur roundabout in New Delhi. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

A senior municipal corporation official said that such installations are being placed at key locations such as near the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Pragati Maidan and major avenue roads.

“The Mahipalpur roundabout is being redeveloped with 15-foot-high scrap sculptures of five musicians playing Indian classical musical instruments. As soon as tourists and delegates exit from the IGI airport, they will be greeted by these massive installations which have been entirely made of discarded metallic scrap materials. We are in the final stages of the installation work and the entire roundabout will be landscaped soon,” the official said.

The giant human replicas at the installation will be accompanied by instruments such as the tabla, sitar and harmonium, among others.

Similarly, the civic body’s horticulture department has placed a 10-foot-tall and 12.6-foot-wide “winged unicorn” structure near Bhairon Marg near Pragati Maidan — the main venue of the G20 Summit which will take place from September 8 to 10. “The structure depicting a leaping unicorn attempts at depicting India as an emerging ‘unicorn’ destination,” a second municipal official stated. The term “unicorn” is used for those companies valued at over $1 billion.

Moreover, two-dimensional panels showcasing Indian classical and folk dances have also been placed along the Indraprastha Marg and Bahadurshah Zafar Marg in central Delhi, respectively, officials said.

“We have already developed three waste-to-art theme parks where more than 700 tonnes of scrap have been used for developing various replicas of monuments and key personalities. Three more parks are in pipeline. No other city has taken up this concept at this scale,” the official said, adding that the installations will carry messages such as “One Earth, One Family, One Future” and “Welcome to Delhi: World’s Largest Waste-To-Art City”.