Transcript
An art studio with no brushes or paint.
Mbongeni Buthelezi uses strips of plastic melted and glued to the canvas for his portraits.
When the South African studied art he couldn’t afford to buy expensive materials. So he found an alternative and now produces this unique kind of art.
He collects plastic bags from the streets around his Johannesburg studio and has turned recycling into an art form.
Vocabulary
melted
made soft or made into a liquid
canvas
thick and strong cotton cloth that artists paint on with oil paints
afford
have enough money
unique
(here) unusual and not made anywhere else
recycling
using waste materials again
To do
Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from news reports.
Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.
melted / canvas / afford / unique / recycling
1. Many of Kolkata’s old buildings reflect diverse European architectural styles that in time became imbued with Bengali and Marwari (or classical Rajasthani) influences, creating a blend of Indo-European design, __________ to the city.
2. Stronger powers to fine people for not _________ may be the only way to hit a zero landfill waste target by 2050, the body representing Welsh councils said.
3. A portrait artist has been working on an unusual _________ – his pregnant wife’s bump. Alex Makwana’s labour of love has seen him create 11 designs on Jo’s stomach, including Toy Story’s Buzz Lightyear and a mocked-up ultrasound scan.
4. Thousands of guns are seized in the UK every year. Most are destroyed by police, but a new project in the north of England, Guns to Goods, is trying to put them to good use.
The idea is to __________ the guns down to make metal tags for T-shirts and also create artworks to be sold to the public.
5. Kenya’s Supreme Court has said that the government should abide by a lower court’s decision to give teachers a pay rise of at least 50%. The teachers’ pay body had argued that it cannot __________ the increase awarded by the industrial court.
Answers
1. Many of Kolkata’s old buildings reflect diverse European architectural styles that in time became imbued with Bengali and Marwari (or classical Rajasthani) influences, creating a blend of Indo-European design, unique to the city.
2. Stronger powers to fine people for not recycling may be the only way to hit a zero landfill waste target by 2050, the body representing Welsh councils said.
3. A portrait artist has been working on an unusual canvas – his pregnant wife’s bump. Alex Makwana’s labour of love has seen him create 11 designs on Jo’s stomach, including Toy Story’s Buzz Lightyear and a mocked-up ultrasound scan.
4. Thousands of guns are seized in the UK every year. Most are destroyed by police, but a new project in the north of England, Guns to Goods, is trying to put them to good use.
The idea is to melt the guns down to make metal tags for T-shirts and also create artworks to be sold to the public.
5. Kenya’s Supreme Court has said that the government should abide by a lower court’s decision to give teachers a pay rise of at least 50%. The teachers’ pay body had argued that it cannot afford the increase awarded by the industrial court.