Converse ’city forests’ create cleaner cities and inspire change

DURBAN - Legendary sneaker company Converse has launched a "Converse city forests“ initiative where artists from around the world paint murals in their cities using environmentally friendly paint.

The paint used in the murals are Graphenstone’s ecological air purifying paint, which strips away harmful substances such as carbon dioxide and other gases from areas around the murals.

During the drying process, the lime-based paint used in the murals acts in a similar manner to a tree, absorbing carbon dioxide.

Converse launched the project in August 2019 and it has been making progress ever since.

There are currently two city forests in South Africa.

The first is located in Johannesburg and was painted by local artist Seth Pimentel aka African Ginger.

The mural is dedicated to South African women.

“A lot of my behavioural patterns, my beliefs, the core fundamental aspects of myself come from my mother, and she has passed that on through to me.

“I wanted to highlight so many different cultures and races in our country, but also unify them through feminine beauty, which is the Women of South Africa,” Pimentel explained.

The second city forest is situated in Kloof Nek, Cape Town, and was painted by female artist Nardstar.

Nardstar’s inspiration behind the city forest was gender and racial inequality in South Africa.

“As an artist I am committed to the representation of women of colour in my work because I feel that this is my contribution to the fight against gender inequality.

“It does make a difference when women see themselves represented in art, especially in a large public mural, it is empowering,” the Cape Town artist said in a statement over the weekend.

African News Agency