April 22, 2021 – Plastic sea pollution is one of the key environmental problems globally, including Croatia. To highlight this problem and raise public awareness, the Ocean Alliance Conservation Member (OACM), with Oikon as one of the partners, has launched the Plastic Sea Turtle Exhibition project. It is a touring exhibition of a sea turtle sculpture made from plastic waste collected from the Adriatic Sea.
The exhibition is officially opened, symbolically, on Earth Day, April 22, 2021, in Varaždin’s Stančić Square, where it will be available for the next month, after which it will move to Vukovar. By the end of the year, the Plastic Sea Turtle Exhibition should have toured entire Croatia.
The sculpture of the sea turtle was made by students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb under the guidance of the young artist Manuela Pauk. In addition to the sculpture, visitors have the opportunity to see an exhibition of photographs, a film about the cleaning of the sea and a lecture “The story of water” by assistant professor Lovorka Gotal Dmitrović from University North.
“The problem of pollution of the sea, water, and even air, with microplastics is increasingly recognized by the public, but still insufficient. Plastic does not decompose. It turns into particles of microplastic and as such enters marine organisms, which we, among other things that are wrong and bad in this story, still consider a ‘healthy’ source of our diet. The problem of plastic in the oceans and the seas is a problem that can no longer be ignored. It must be addressed no matter how long it takes to reach the solution,” said Dalibor Hatić, Director of Oikon, adding: “Therefore, we considered it important to support the OACM’s project and we hope that it will help raise the awareness of our citizens about this serious problem that affects all of us – our environment, our nature, and our health.“
