A giant portrait made of discarded materials set up at Nirmala College in Muvattupuzha as a tribute to football stalwarts Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Junior.
When the FIFA World Cup kicked off at the legendary Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 12, thousands of miles away at Nirmala College in Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district a giant portrait was unveiled as a tribute to stalwarts Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Junior, who are probably playing their final World Cup.
The artwork, spanning around 1,000 sq ft and displayed on the college basketball court, is also a message on converting “waste to wonder,” as the portrait was created using discarded materials, including 1.06 lakh soft drink metal caps.
“We had created an artwork during the last World Cup as well. This time we wanted to attempt something unique while conveying the message of how waste can be tastefully used. Members of our arts club, Varnasala, took keen interest in the project,” said P.B. Sanish, faculty member of the Department of Sanskrit.
The idea of a giant portrait was proposed by college alumnus Ajay V. John, who pursues art as a passion alongside his consultancy job at a private company in Infopark. He began planning the work six months ago, starting with a computer-generated image of how the final product would look, and reached out to his alma mater, which wholeheartedly embraced the idea. The biggest challenge, however, was sourcing enough metal caps, which took nearly two-and-a-half months after tapping diverse sources.
“I personally collected caps from shops near Infopark and also approached soda manufacturers. When even that proved inadequate, we reached out to even bars and scrap shops,” Ajay recalled. Collecting Plaster of Paris boards from construction sites was the next step.
Once the metal caps were fixed on individual boards, students began painting them, a paintstaking process that took around 7-10 days. On the day of the World Cup kick-off, the boards were arranged in sequence on the basketball court, giving birth to the giant portrait featuring the three football stalwarts in their national colours.
For Ajay, it was another cherished moment, having earlier created a giant portrait of Messi using chart papers during the last World Cup.
Published – June 13, 2026 05:07 pm IST
