The Art of Mongo

This Mongo suit was produced in collaboration with artists Rosina Possingham and Laura Wills as part of a workshop series The Art of Mongo with South African artist Francois Knoetze. ''MONGO'' is slang for garbage salvaged from streets and trash heaps. Any rubbish can qualify, whether it's edible, wearable, useful or indescribable. By definition, somebody must have thought it was worthless. Knoetze's work combines direct commentary to issues of sustainability, use and reuse as approachable and poetic art making. His practice retraces the life cycles of discarded objects and explores junctures between material and social histories. In his Mongo sculptural suits, the synthetic is welded to the human – bringing focus to the objectification of persons, through the personification of objects. This project was supported by Open Space Contemporary Arts, Sunny’s Pizza, Alpha Box & Dice, Arts SA, the City of Port Adelaide Enfield and the City of Adelaide.