Eswatini

When artists from across Africa were asked to show the colour of their country, glassblowers in Eswatini chose sand.

Glass is usually made from sand, but the glassworks in Eswatini uses no new sand. It melts down old soft drink bottles, collected by people all over the country and paid for by the kilo.

To show their country, the glassblowers made a cow of glass. Inside its head, river sand lies in many colours. Rivers carry sand down from the mountains through the country, past homes, cattle and fields. In Eswatini, cattle are a measure of wealth and standing.