Following the Droog Dakar exhibition in 2007, the Dutch Embassy took the initiative to organize a competition on designing trash cans for the island of Gorée. This Spring, the embassy selected eleven Senegalese designers/artists for the project.
In close collaboration with Droog, a list of demands that the trash cans should meet has been formulated. In July, Droog has selected five proposals that had to be worked out in technical drawings, suitable for prototype production. The jury, under chairmanship of Droog co-director Gijs Bakker, had the following members:
- Hans Jansing, Ambassador
- Augustin Senghor, Mayor of Gorée
- Abdoulaye Sy, representative of the Gorée Department of Sanitation
- Meïssa Tounkara, representative of the Gorée Collectif des Associations
Selected design
The jury came together on September 25th to see the five proposals that were executed life-size by a local manufacturer. The members of the jury unanimously chose Moussa Sakho’s design: an oil drum with a funnel-shaped plastic cover. This design has been selected because:
- it re-uses an existing oil-drum.
- every year the oil-drum can be re-painted by local artists.
- the re-painting becomes a yearly ceremony.
- the funnel-shape looks inviting.
- the funnel-shape works fire-delaying.
- once vermin is in the funnel-shaped trash can, it can not go out again.
The official prize-giving ceremony took place on September 26th. The Dutch Embassy funds the installation of two hundred wastebaskets on Gorée.
