Zimbabwean artist Moffat Takadiwa on BBCNews

[00:00:00]Let's now also cross over to Ivory Coast, where the capital Abidjan struggles with 4,500 tons of uncollected waste every single day. Now, that staggering figure comes from the methane emissions from landfills project. But for Zimbabwean artist Moffat Takadiwa, this pollution provides the raw materials for powerful art that is featured in global hubs in Venice, Paris, and São Paulo. That prolific artist recently wrapped up a weeks-long showcase in West Africa. The BBC's Nicola Negus with that report.

[00:00:33]>> On a continent facing huge environmental challenges, a new generation of artists are turning waste into powerful messages.

[00:00:41]Zimbabwean Moffat Takadiwa turns discarded objects into artworks that question consumption, colonization, and Africa's ecological future.

[00:00:51]>> By retrieving and giving them this another life and giving them hope, giving them value, it's an essence of uh building maybe hope in hopeless situation.

[00:01:04]>> During the showcase of his work at the Rotonde Factory Gallery in Abidjan, Moffat used discarded keyboards to brushes, bottle caps, and plastic packaging. Every object carries a story.

[00:01:16]>> Some of these materials speaks of our everyday routine, what we do everyday when we wake up.

[00:01:22]We brush our teeth, we comb our hair, we make ourselves look beautiful, but this is not just uh doing. It's a culture which was also forced on us through colonization.

[00:01:35]>> One of his installations was created using nearly 16,000 chocolate small bags collected in the streets of Abidjan. The audience was amazed.

[00:01:43]>> I love when artists use like the the lack of keys on their art. And like if you look at all the pieces, like to me it looks like when you have like um gentlemen and you cut them and like you see them open with all the little elements, the light. I think it's really interesting and like it goes well with this theme of like talking about the nature and how we pollute nature.

[00:02:03]>> Today, Moffat is really an artist that the world is looking at for what he's creating.

[00:02:11]His art is a universal language and he's all talking about very important topics such as ecology, but also he's sending us political messages.

[00:02:27]>> Even though African artists are getting more international recognition, many still struggle to access global art markets and opportunities.

[00:02:35]Moffat says the exhibition of his work at venues like the 36th Sao Paulo Biennial and the 60th Venice Biennial will present a greater appreciation of art from the continent.

[00:02:47]>> As an artist coming from Zimbabwe, you normally find myself very secluded from the international art market and it has been very difficult to connect with the international art peers and global art world.

[00:03:04]Uh I guess this is the case also with many other African peers because we normally don't have art infrastructures ready in the continent and we're a bit far from the art capitals.

[00:03:20]>> From here, Moffat travels to Brazil for his first solo exhibition, carrying the same message of turning Africa's waste crisis into global artistic conversation.

[00:03:30]Nicola Nikollas, BBC News, Abidjan.