A crib of creativity

RAMANDEEP KAUR | NT BUZZ

For years, Savio Fernandes built medium-sized Christmas cribs using store-bought figurines. This year, during a Christmas vacation in Saligao from Dubai, he decided to change this by creating a life-size, eco-friendly Nativity scene entirely from backyard scrap and unused household items.
Fernandes, who works in the travel sector and also pursues photography, creative writing and cartooning, describes the installation as an extension of his creative passions.
The walk-through crib was completed in 10 days with the help of his wife, Lizann. “The concept was in my head but it all came together as we went along,” he says. “We’d find a bent pipe and realise it made the perfect elbow. It was like the pieces were just waiting to be found.” He adds that the process felt guided by faith.
He says that no thermocol, Plaster of Paris or newly purchased plastic was used. Even the net for a soldier’s armour came from an old chicken coop. Fernandes repurposed helmets, pipes, stones, scooter parts, utensils and old shoes to create characters, armour and accessories.
The camel, he notes, was the most challenging. “We saved it for last. It’s a big structure made from a blue drum, utensils and shoes but it turned out beautifully.”
He also took care when designing female figures like Mother Mary and the angel to ensure they looked graceful rather than cartoonish.
“It’s all about giving waste a second life,” he says, adding that cribs today can be flashy and distracting. “We wanted to show the beauty in imperfection and keep the focus on the traditional story.”
The star was made from used paper cups, straws and plates, all items originally meant for service, which inspired the theme of the installation ‘Service to Humanity’.
The crib begins at the roadside and winds through the compound to the balcony, narrating the Nativity story with kings approaching from different directions, guarded sentries, shepherds, angels and a camel.
Fernandes hopes the crib inspires others to reuse materials and reconnect with tradition. “There’s so much waste that can be reused. I want parents to encourage their kids to create, not compete. Tradition is something we inherit. If we break that chain, it doesn’t move forward.”

The crib will be on display until January 10, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at his residence in Nig Vaddo, Saligao (Mater Dei School Road) and may stay longer if visitors continue to come.