Science in the spotlight in three exhibitions

Trash, life!

Waste generally gets a bad rap. Slag from our consumption habits inherited from the industrial revolution, the approximately two billion pieces of waste produced each year in the world are accused of dirtying and endangering our health, that of future generations and even the planet. But there is no inevitability. This is what this exhibition seeks to demonstrate in three stages.

The first, entitled “Apogee of waste”, opens with a curtain made up of 6,000 corks: in fact, we are submerged in waste. A historical fresco shows the evolution of this tsunami since the 18th century and how, with the development of plastic (notably the appearance in 1965 of the single-use polyethylene bag), things went from bad to worse. The trend towards “disposable everything”, the planned obsolescence practiced by many manufacturers and the growing problem of space debris are also discussed. Having passed this alarming observation, the “Waste Potential” invites greater optimism, in particular with the presentation of unexpected wonders produced by young designers from objects collected in landfills, relegated clothing or other electronic residue. Examples: sneakers made from fishing nets drifting at sea; a mirror made from mussel shells from human consumption; tableware created using the skin of sugar beets…

In the third part, utopia invites itself, projecting a future without waste in the hypothesis where humanity adopts new ways of life. The beginnings of this ideal world are made up of new experimental soluble materials which would replace current plastic or paper packaging, clothing made from algae or this revolutionary black fabric created from rice husks which has the capacity to purify the air. To set an example, the exhibition is itself a recycled product, the French adaptation, as curator Dorothée Vatinel points out, of an exhibition initially designed by the Design Museum in London and presented in the British capital. in 2021-2022.

In order to reduce the carbon footprint, the displays used are old doors recovered from demolition sites in the Paris region and the dozen video screens have already been used in previous exhibitions. Proof that with a little will and ingenuity, a new world is possible where a beautiful second life awaits discarded objects. Eyoum Nganguè.

Precious waste, City of Science and Industry, in Paris. Until September 1st. From 15 years old.