MUSEO DE LA BASURA
Sian Ka’an, Mexico
What is the Museo de la Basura?
Museo de la Basura (Museum of Garbage) is a long-term artistic and environmental initiative by Alejandro Durán that transforms plastic debris collected along the coast of Sian Ka’an, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Mexico, into installations, photographs, exhibitions, films, and public encounters that reveal the global circulation of waste.
Developed over more than fifteen years, the project began with Washed Up, a photographic series in which international plastic debris gathered from the shoreline was reassembled into site-responsive interventions embedded within the coastal landscape. Over time, the work expanded beyond photography into immersive installations, educational programming, community participation, and documentary filmmaking.
Each object collected from the coastline carries traces of larger systems: tourism, trade, petrochemical production, migration, convenience culture, and the environmental consequences of mass consumption.
Rooted in Sian Ka’an yet connected to the world, the project functions simultaneously as an artwork, archive, public platform, and ongoing act of environmental witnessing.
Participate
Museo de la Basura is an evolving long-term initiative that continues to grow through artistic production, research, public engagement, environmental stewardship, and collaborative exchange.
The project invites participation through exhibitions, conversations, educational programming, beach cleanups, community collaborations, and the ongoing collection and transformation of debris gathered along the coastline of Sian Ka’an.
Each recovered object becomes part of a larger reflection on global consumption, ecological interconnectedness, and the material traces of contemporary life.
Support helps sustain the continued development of installations, films, educational initiatives, future exhibitions, and the long-term vision of Museo de la Basura.
Please reach out through the Contact page to learn more about collaborations, exhibitions, speaking engagements, or ways to support the project.
Future Vision
Museo de la Basura continues to evolve as an expanding platform for artistic production, environmental reflection, public engagement, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Future iterations of the project include immersive exhibitions, educational programming, documentary filmmaking, and the long-term development of a living museum shaped by the materials and stories carried to the shoreline by global systems of consumption.
As the archive continues to grow, the project seeks to create new forms of encounter between people, place, material culture, and the environmental consequences embedded within everyday objects.
Rooted in Sian Ka’an yet connected to a global audience, Museo de la Basura aims to foster deeper awareness of our relationship to waste, ecology, and the interconnected landscapes we collectively shape.
Work from the Washed Up / Museo de la Basura project has been exhibited internationally and presented in museums, educational institutions, and public forums including the World Trade Organization and the United Nations.
