To mark National Recycling Week, the ACT Legislative Assembly is hosting a sustainable design exhibition: the Reloved Revolution (Relo Revo, for short) – a prelude, curator and designer Candice Addicoat hopes, to an EPIC expo next year.

Relo Revo aims to show that ‘waste’ can be a viable and vibrant design material.

“It’s not really waste until you absolutely can’t do anything with it,” Ms Addicoat said. “And until you can’t do anything with it, it’s still a design material. We’ve got to stop thinking of it as waste. The great thing about waste as a design material is it’s generally free – and it’s everywhere.”

The exhibition features 25 or so local creators and designers, and more than 100 items – all taking a different perspective to stuff most of us might throw out.

Broken glass becomes bowls, and TV screens are turned into ornamental platters. Tablecloths and bedsheets are repurposed as elegant chitons. Old LPs find a new life as stools. Skateboards make shelves. Damaged library books decorate children’s stools and toy cases.

Whipper snipper cords and hard drive readers become punk jewellery. Picture frames become tessellated designs and landscapes like Japanese temple complexes. Damaged furniture, destined for the skip, is transformed with vivid pieces torn from old magazines.

Ms Addicoat herself has pioneered what she says is a world-first technique to turn polyethylene plastic, damaging to the environment, into art and household items. [1]

“I love this exhibition,” its sponsor, ACT Greens MLA Jo Clay, said.

“It’s moving away from the concept of waste and recycling. It’s looking at how we get what we need with what we already have, and how we use materials around us to make beautiful things. And it’s a real celebration, which is good fun. It’s not about doing rewarding things; it’s about looking at all the amazing things you can do in the world that we have right now.”

The exhibition is built around half-a-dozen themes: furniture and homewares; fashion and accessories; artisan and art; Indigenous design; and education and innovation. There are a Bohemian style living room (“a laidback commune feel,” Ms Addicoat says), and a garden nook in the style of Alice in Wonderland.

One section showcases work by the Yerrabi women’s group, an Indigenous collective. Butterflies from old National Geographic magazines decorate plastic bowls; old books become artworks; and damaged plastic and peacock feathers make a sea urchin. The group was recently given their own space at the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Centre.

Against one wall stands ‘Pythia’, a modern-day oracle – a fusion of 1980s jukebox and 2023 technology that gauges your views on sustainability. It is the brainchild of ANU School of Cybernetics students, instructed to use at least 50 per cent sustainable materials.

Fashion students at CIT have designed non-gendered garments from discarded white hospitality sheets. The course went down the sustainability route a long time ago, Ms Addicoat says; they have not bought new fabrics for several years.

Other artists and designers featured include Thor’s Hammer, the Green Shed, Ngaio Fitzpatrick, Funkt UpCycle, PlastiSCENE, Koori Preschool, Narrabundah College, IndiGenius, Yasmin Idriss, Bin There Done That, Steam Junk, Junk Funk, Dirty Janes, Peter Nilsson, and Junk Bots.

“We’re hoping this builds into a scene for Canberra, where we have all of our recyclers and artists coming together and creating amazing things every year for Recycling Week,” Ms Clay said.

Next year, Ms Addicoat hopes to hold an exhibition at EPIC, with 60 exhibits, a twilight bazaar selling sustainable design wares, arts and entertainment, fashion show competitions, and cosplay with sustainable materials.

“It’s not just trying to be more sustainable; it’s not just about saving the environment, reducing new materials and the carbon footprint that’s causing,” Ms Addicoat said.

“Waste can actually fill a lot of gaps in a lot of area in the community. And our cost of living, of course, is going up. But sustainable materials through engaging workshops can fill gaps for small organisations that have little funding. It’s a great resource for teachers and schools with their limited budgets …

“We have enough waste that we can create just about anything. A step we need to take in sustainability is understanding the potential of waste and organising a way so the community can use it …

“It’s doable – but we need to start with a bit of fun first.”

Relo Revo is in the ACT Legislative Assembly’s exhibition space until 2pm on Friday.

“It would be fantastic in Recycling Week if people can come along to the exhibition and can think about how we can use what we have to make what we need, and celebrate the planet we’re on and the beautiful artwork we have,” Ms Clay said.

For more information, visit: www.relorevo.com/exhibits.