Fashion from trash: A group of artists in Kinshasa, Congo are trying to raise awareness – See photos

A group of artists in Kinshasa, Congo brought to light through fashion the lack of recycling and the growing problem of plastics and garbage in the country. French photographer and reporter, Stephan Gladieu, was there to capture with his lens the effects experienced by the locals and fueled by consumerism.

Art collective ‘Ndaku, life is good’, founded by visual artist and performance artist Eddy Ekete, turns discarded mobiles, plastics, corks, styrofoam, pipes, fabrics, syringes, car parts, cans and other junk into costumes and armor to advocate for the urgency facing developing countries in the face of the mounting plastic and litter problem.

In the photo series “Homo Détritus”, Gladieu documented the current of Kinshasa’s artists. “The collective welcomed me for two weeks to carry out this artistic project. I stayed true to my photographic preference by choosing to do the portraits on the streets of Kinshasa… The street is the common story of these artists and their collective organizes performances on the street to raise awareness among the authorities and residents,” he explains.