Chennai: Rusted bolts become unblinking eyes. Scraps of metal mesh form a white beard, while discarded wires, nuts and industrial waste are assembled into the likeness of the endangered Delacour’s langur. It is one of 73 endangered species brought back to life through discarded materials in Chennai artist Kalyani Pramod’s textile and mixed-media exhibition ‘The Last Glimpse’, on view at Alliance Française Madras.The exhibition traces its origins to Kalyani’s earlier climate change-themed exhibition. While researching coral bleaching and the impact of rising temperatures on oceans, forests and mountains, she realised that human activity was threatening wildlife across ecosystems. “At different points, human interference had become so much that many species were getting endangered. That’s how the idea for this exhibition emerged, to create awareness,” she says.It features 73 endangered species, from the Great Indian Bustard and Bengal Florican to the Indian Pangolin, Ganges River Dolphin and Bengal Tiger. Kalyani, who has worked almost exclusively with discarded materials for more than three decades, says consumerism has fuelled a culture of waste. “Upcycling and recycling have become fashionable now, but earlier reuse was simply a way of life. I source almost all my materials from scrap dealers to show that even discarded objects can be viewed differently,” she says.Beyond the artworks, each installation is accompanied by information drawn from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, explaining the threats each species faces. The exhibition is also accompanied by wildlife film screenings, including ‘Turtle Walker’, ‘Nilgiris: A Shared Wilderness’, ‘Secrets of the Pangolin’ and films on the Great Indian Bustard, Amur Falcons and Red Pandas, along with workshops on making textile art, bird feeders and animal sculptures using waste materials.Kalyani says children have responded strongly to the exhibition. She recalls a 10-year-old asking whether endangered animals would become extinct like dinosaurs. “I told him they are not disappearing by chance. We are making them extinct. He walked away saying, ‘We have to do something about it.’ If even a small percentage of visitors leave thinking about what we are doing to this world, I feel I have made a contribution,” she says.The exhibition is on till July 31 between 10am to 7pm. The entry is free and open to all.
