On Tuesday, 2 July, in the park in Školjić, during the Tobogan Children’s Festival that is held as part of the Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture event, a conversation took place with the Spanish artist Francisco de Pajaro, who had been staying in Rijeka since 27 June and made several public art installations, which have the distinction of being made from rubbish.
While conversing with the citizens with the assistance of the translator Jasna Skopljak, Pajaro pointed out how his first waste installation was a product of pure necessity. It happened in Barcelona in 2009, during the economic crisis, when galleries were not expressing any interest in his work. Since then, waste has become his primary medium and only means of artistic expression.
He has breathed new life into discarded items in Rijeka, which have become short-lived artworks and are being displayed beneath the Trsat staircase in Školjić, at the bottom of Žrtava Fašizma Street, near the Nikola Tesla Primary School, in Tito Square (at Konto) and by the Rječina River (on the Andrija Kačić Miošić walkway)
During his conversation, Pajaro revealed how he creates his highly expressive art installations from the waste he finds on the streets of Barcelona. However, since this is his first time in Rijeka, the companies Čistoća and Metis aided him in obtaining the material. He is also grateful to the Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture volunteers for helping him find his way around the city.
Pajaro’s exhibitions are named Art is Trash (Umjetnost je smeće) because, as he puts it, he needed an attention-grabbing title. After all, he considers his art trash because it mostly winds up in landfills unless someone decides to buy them. – I deem it perfectly natural for my art to end up in landfills. This nullifies my artistic ego, which sets me apart from other artists, Pajaro stated during his conversation with the citizens in Školjić, after which he took the visitors on a walking tour of the art installations he left in Rijeka and wished everyone a good time at the Tobogan (Slide) Children’s Festival taking place as part of the Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture event.
