The Portuguese Cork Association (APCOR), in partnership with ACTEP – Portugal China Travel Association, has been launching a cork stopper recycling initiative at the Portugal-China Tourism Garden which is currently staged at the Yangzhou International Horticultural Expo 2021 in China. APCOR has set up a coupled of cork stopper collection boxes at the Garden. From now till end of October, visitors are encouraged to donate used pieces of used cork stoppers for redeeming nice cork souvenirs. The collected stoppers will be used to make gigantic pieces of cork mosaic artwork for display at the exterior walls of the Garden’s key construction.
Emerging Chinese artist CAO Ying and interior designer MENG Na are invited for the design of these cork mosaics. An intriguing part of their masterpieces is that they “grow and thrive” – As more cork stoppers are being collected, the artists could then enrich these mosaics and their appearances evolve!
CAO Ying shared her experience in using cork for artistic creation as follows: “I feel that cork is a highly adaptable material. Because of its thickness, cork plank is ideal for sculptural arts especially relief sculpture. The light weight of cork is a tremendous advantage when making large-scale artworks, solving the issue of bulkiness and making them more convenient for transportation. In addition, we can treat cork plank as a special canvas for painting which provides a special textural effect. Cork is a natural and environmentally friendly material. Combining cork with artists’ creativity, I think the finished products could deliver a unique aesthetics impact. I encourage my peers to try and use cork for their works.”
