Prayer flags made out of 1,000 discarded beer cans and printed with real and fictitious mantras to bring attention to the waste problem in the mountains
“We collected 1,000 discarded beer cans to build an installation in front of Sagarmatha Next, 500 m. above Namche Bazaar, the gateway to the Everest region, to bring some attention to this problem to the world, or at least to the 1000s of tourists who pass by it every month”.
Reinhold's Mess
Valleys full of plastic bags, river beds full of excrements, mountains of tin cans and indefinable wild garbage dumps of all kinds. Even in the Mount Everest region, the roof of the world, the Western prosperity model is taking its toll. Tons of thousands of trekking and mountaineering tourists take home plenty of photos to show off but leave behind trash that can hardly be removed.
Reinhold’s Mess represents prayer flags made out of 1,000 discarded beer cans, to bring raise awareness on the waste left behind in the mountains.
In April 2022, the German artist Rocco and his brothers, stayed at Sagarmatha Next during his visit to the Everest Region.
With the help of the local NGO Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) and the Waste Lab facilitated by Sagarmatha Next, he made the first art installation at our site.
Aluminium prayer flags, printed with real and fictitious mantras, which, true to the original model, may bring some attention to this problem in the world. At least to the 1000s of tourists who pass by it every month.
Rocco and his brothers
Born in the 1980s, Rocco and his brothers have been part of the local graffiti scene since 2000. Autonomous art-making and the appropriation of space gave rise to socio-political art actions and satirical works.
In January 2016, the collective “Rocco & his brothers” was founded to realise larger installations in public space. Their very first work, the “Berlin Underground Room”, had an enormous media echo.Since then, they have made many actions and exhibitions at irregular intervals.
