A Kolkata Durga Puja committee is turning discarded plastic bottles into an installation resembling sea waves, using the pandal to show how plastic waste damages oceans and human life. The project at the 71 Pally Baishakhi Sarbojanin Durgotsav Samiti in Ballygunge is being created by Dutch artist Femke van Gemert alongside Bengali artist Dhiman Sutar.
Van Gemert, who works primarily with plastic waste, has been attaching plastic bottles to blue fabric to build the wave-like structure inside the unfinished pandal. The work is taking place amid the construction materials, bamboo, plywood and other equipment being used to prepare the installation.
The organisers said the pandal will interpret the mythological theme of Samudra Manthan, or the churning of the ocean, through a contemporary environmental lens. The installation will focus on the pollution caused by plastic and its impact on nature and human civilisation. The use of bottles across the pandal is intended to represent waves carrying plastic waste and the poisoning of seawater.
Van Gemert travelled to Kolkata after being connected with the organisers through the Netherlands Consulate in the city. This is her first visit to Kolkata for a Durga Puja or any other project, according to the report. Before arriving, she had watched videos and images of the city’s large crowds during the festival and learned about the story of Durga defeating the demon Mahishasura.
“An account of a woman defeating a demon is rare,” Van Gemert said, according to the report, adding that she was especially drawn to that aspect of the festival. She also visited Digha for a day while working in Kolkata, where she observed plastic waste along the coast and the movement of waves reaching the shore. The scene helped shape the visual treatment she wants to create in the pandal.
The project is being led by a women-run puja committee. Priyadarshini Sarkar, the committee’s secretary, said the organisers did not hesitate when Van Gemert expressed interest in joining the festival. She described the collaboration as an example of people from different countries coming together through the celebration, despite language differences.
The Ballygunge installation is part of a longer history of international artistic collaborations with Kolkata’s Durga Puja. In 2013, artists associated with Karachi’s truck-art tradition worked with the Hatibagan Nabin Pally puja. In 2023, artists from the Netherlands, Martina and Benjamin, contributed to the Behala Nutan Dal puja. Other collaborations have involved pujas in Haridebpur and Ekdalia.
For the organisers, the current project connects the visual scale of Kolkata’s festival with an environmental message. The pandal’s planned waves will use familiar waste material to represent the way plastic reaches and contaminates water bodies. Van Gemert said she wanted to leave a mark through the work and in people’s minds. The installation is expected to be completed as preparations for the Durga Puja begin.
