A unique art object has appeared in Murmansk as part of the All-Russian public project "Clean Arctic"

An unusual Christmas tree has appeared on the territory of the Container Hall Youth Cultural Center in Murmansk. It was created by artists and volunteers of the All-Russian Public project "Clean Arctic" and the Unified Volunteer Center of the Murmansk region from materials that activists often find during harvesting in the Arctic.

At the opening ceremony, Governor Andrey Chibis thanked the volunteers for their contribution to the ecology of the Arctic.

"This is not just an art object. Ecoel is distinguished by the work of volunteers, artists. It's great that the materials used, which polluted nature, turned into a unique project. It is noteworthy that such an object appeared in the Container Hall - the center of attraction for young, creative Northerners. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who took part in the creation of the project, especially the organizers of the Clean Arctic," said Andrey Chibis.

The head of the region noted that the work of volunteers changes people's consciousness, forms a careful attitude to nature.

The basis for the art object were used pallets and slats, buoys and marine attributes, old fishing nets, garlands made by volunteers from plastic bottles.

Installing an eco–roof instead of a traditional artificial one is a great way to show the possibilities of reuse of materials, explains the head of the Unified Volunteer Center Evgenia Chibis.

"I am sure that none of the volunteers who participated in the clean-up this year with the United Volunteer Center and with Clean Arctic could have thought that packages, bottles, cans and remnants of nets could become a source of creative inspiration for artists. I would like to express my gratitude to the talent of the residents of the Container Hall: they managed to create an original art object that makes you wonder how much more work needs to be done to clean up the Arctic from garbage," said Evgenia Chibis.

Chairman of the Russian Ecological Party "Greens", head of the project office of the ANO "Clean Arctic" Andrey Nagibin stressed that the Murmansk volunteers boldly and unusually approached the task of recycling the collected waste.

"All initiatives within the framework of the Clean Arctic project will start in the Murmansk region. To solve environmental problems, it is important to find new formats for involving young people in eco-tourism, and the art object is an excellent and illustrative example of volunteers helping the nature of the Arctic. I thank the regional government for supporting the projects," Andrei Nagibin stressed.

Corporate volunteers from Rosatom, a partner of the Clean Arctic project, also helped decorate the eco–hotel with festive garlands.

"People living in the most fragile ecosystems need knowledge about ecology. It's great to install a spruce tree without cutting down the forest and abandon plastic Christmas tree toys, the production of which takes environmental resources. By making toys out of garbage, we thereby draw attention to the need to comply with the rules of waste management and take more care of the Arctic nature," said Oksana Gerashchenko, a volunteer at Rosatom State Corporation.

The authors of the art object held master classes and creative workshops for everyone right on the site of the Container Hall.

12 polar artists took part in the creation of the five–meter eco–tunnel: members of the Union of Artists of Russia - Veronika Vologzhannikova, Dmitry Novitsky and Yuri Shachnev, as well as young artists - Pavel Savchuk, Ekaterina Ishbuldina, Evgeny Urbanovich, Ilona Goluda, Igor Kolobov, Anna Moloshnikova and Kira Shiryaeva, the curator-artist of the project together with Maria Mikhailenko was Polina Malyshkina.

Ecoel is the result of the joint work of the Clean Arctic public project, the Unified Volunteer Center of the Murmansk Region and residents of the Murmansk Container Hall. The art object will remain in Murmansk until the end of the New Year holidays, then all the decorations created at the events of the art space will be disposed of according to all the rules, the organizers said.

Source: Ministry of Information Policy of the Murmansk Region