THE LARGE octopus photo board from Southbourne Revival festival has found a new home in an eco-aware tapas bar to raise awareness of plastic pollution and helping the environment.
‘SoBoctopus’, as it has since been named, was designed by talented spray paint artist Miroslav Lucan as part of the festival, which held on the 27th and 28th August, and quickly became synonymous with the event.
The photo board has been relocated to Terroir, a global tapas bar in Southbourne that focuses on limiting waste and being environmentally friendly.
Tony Hughes, one of the organisers of the Southbourne Revival festival, said: “Before the festival, I took Miro down to the park and walked around with him, explaining the idea I had for his artwork.
“I told him ‘I want you here and to show people what you do’ and he was on board with it straight away.
“After the festival, we had a photoshoot with it on the beach and put a post out on Facebook asking people what they wanted to octopus to be called and where they wanted it to be put.
“We got a lot of great suggestions for names but ‘SoBoctopus’ was an obvious choice. Loads of people asked for it to be put on Boscombe train station or on the bandstand on Fisherman’s Walk but, because its fragile and we don’t want to see it tagged or vandalised, it just wasn’t going to work in an urban area.
It was then agreed that the octopus would be located in Terroir on Southbourne Grove. The restaurant has a very environmentally friendly approach, using renewable energy in its kitchen and in the restaurant, as well as reusing dish water to flush its toilets.
The business also helps raise money for Water Aid by charging one pound for filtered water, with all the proceedings going to the charity.
Miroslav Lucan, the designer of ‘SoBoctopus’, has created many different paintings of sea animals, including a ‘Giant Squid’ street art piece on Boscombe Precinct as part of the council's Leave Only Footprints campaign.
He said: “It’s not only a fun interactive photo board, but it also joins in with a recent series of sea creatures I have painted to celebrate our local and diverse marine life, but also to highlight the issues of sea pollution.
“As for its new home, it is only fitting, as he is an Octopus Chef after all, but it also fits with the ethos of the restaurant, where all they do is about recycling and sustainability.”
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