Chibuike Ifedilichukwu produces colorful life-size portraits of amazing quality, using old tin cans or plastic waste. His artworks are a powerful statement: Waste is not just a problem, it’s also a valuable resource.
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00:00This is not your everyday clean-up mission.
00:06Chibuike Ife Dilichuku is collecting discarded cans and there's no shortage of them littering the streets.
00:15He's going to turn them into pieces of art, large-scale images of iconic figures and celebrities.
00:23If we don't use these beverage cans, I believe it's part of waste.
00:31It's going to cover the surface of earth one day.
00:34It might cause harm to aquatic life, it can cause harm to humans.
00:40The artist uses up to 1,000 fragments of cans, depending on the size of the artwork.
00:47First, he rinses and disinfects the cans he's collected.
00:51Then, he cuts them into strips and weaves them into portraits.
00:57Some 50 to 60 million tons of aluminum waste are generated globally every year and several hundred thousand in Nigeria alone.
01:07But it's also one of the most recycled materials.
01:11Chibuike's art has even attracted attention within the drink industry.
01:15This portrait was commissioned by the Managing Director of Unilever in Ghana, Chris Wolf-Caesar.
01:21He supports Chibuike's upcycling mission as a way of reducing waste.
01:26Cans need to be disposed of once they are used in the right way.
01:31And so please do not just litter the environment with it, please dispose appropriately.
01:38Chibuike Ife Dilichuku describes himself as an environmental artist
01:43and his creative process as a form of solidarity with the suffering of the planet.
01:50It's still part of the journey.
01:52The pain our environment would have conceived or taken, I'm taking it to save the environment.