Artist presents works at Creative Macau, calls for environmental protection

An Angolan-born local artist has been picking up what people consider trash at Hac-Sa Beach and turning it into artworks to remind people about protecting the environment.

Tchusca Songo, who was born in Angola in 1978 and arrived in Macau in 2006, is hosting an exhibition from now until Jul. 15 of the works she has made from materials collected at the local Macau beach. Many of these materials, according to her, were nearly brand-new. She was completely stunned by the disposal of these materials.

“In Angola, of course, we have trash. But in Macau, there is fancy trash, as you can see, all these toys are still new,” Songo lamented.

She could not understand how people in Macau throw away materials that appear very new. “In Angola, you don’t see this. It breaks down, you fix it several times [until it’s unfixable],” she said.

She also expressed unhappiness with the expansive use of disposable items. “In Macau, there are a lot of single-use item – a lot of Taa-pao (takeaway), we use them and we throw them away. This is not good. We can use takeaway containers at home,” she suggested.

“I have also seen people playing at Hac-Sa. When they finish, they pack up but leave the toys there. I remind them of the toys, and I was told that they were dirty and would get the car dirty too,” she recalled.

When asked if Macau’s wealthy lifestyle had worsened the wasteful situation, she declined to comment, but she wondered what kind of attitude towards resources adults are conveying to their children.

“Hac-Sa is a place for family fun and afterwards you [dispose of all your toys]? I don’t think it’s good,” she commented.

The artist, who works at The International School of Macau, emphasized that the exhibition is not about money. “It’s about the environment,” she said. AL