The World Environment Day, June 5, was marked in Famalicão by the inauguration, this afternoon, of the "Shrew" in the city centre, a sculpture by Bordalo II built from plastic waste gathered with the contribution of 1188 children from 18 pre-school and primary schools of Vila Nova de Famalicão.
"We are destroying the animals' habitat with the waste we produce and using these materials to pay tribute to the characters who suffer from this, and which also affects us as a species, is a way of drawing attention to the problem and the importance of recycling and reuse," said Bordalo II.
The Mayor, Mário Passos, reinforced the note saying that "the sculpture is a way of reminding us of the countless potentialities of old materials when it comes to sending them to the rubbish (…) alerting in a creative way for the environmental sustainability and for the preservation of biodiversity, alluding to the circular economy".
The artistic creation is installed at the South top of D. Maria II Square, a central space of the city. The work is part of the "Big Trash Animals" series and the choice of animal was not random. The shrew is one of the smallest mammals in the world, is fast and, like children, is playful and owner of an inexhaustible energy.
"As this project had a strong participation from children, it made perfect sense to choose a tiny, energetic and fun animal, just like them. Because of its round appearance and peculiar face, we believe that the children will really enjoy this small figure, now transformed into a huge sculpture - just like them, who are also growing and one day will become big", explained the artist.
Artur Bordalo, grandson of the artist Real Bordalo, was born in 1987, in Lisbon. As a tribute to his artistic family roots, he chose the name Bordalo II. He is known for using the rubbish from the streets for his artistic productions, namely plastic, metal and electronic materials. The choice of these materials is Artur Bordalo's way of alerting people to waste, materialism, consumerism and the urgent need for sustainability.