São
Paulo is also known internationally as a leader in street art, from the ever expanding
tendrils of pixação that tattoo the facades of most buildings, to the world class outdoor galleries
of beautiful, comical and at times pointed graffiti that adorn highways,
bridges and neighborhoods by artists like Nunca, Mag Magrela and Paulo Ito. But unlike
most metropolises, street artists, pixadores and muralists don’t have to
compete with advertisers for space, because in the city of São Paulo …
billboards are completely banned!
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| Pixação above tags |
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| No more billboards |
After
getting a quick security briefing from Cultural Affairs Specialist Joyce Costa
and her colleagues at the U.S. Consulate (use big city sense, dengue is worse
then zika here), we were off to meet folks at Parede Viva (Living Wall), a muito
legal arts organization that would be my partner for the mural project I’d be leading
in the comunidade of Água Branca. In their animated, art-filled space, I met
Mundano, Fel, Daniela, Kaleb and filmmaker Adriano Choque.
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| Parede Viva |
In the past few years, they
had initiated a fantastic project called Revivarte in two comunidades, Parque do Gato and Água Branca. In that
short time, they had painted a dozen giant murals on the facades of buildings
throughout the neighborhoods, done workshops with local kids and started a new
campaign to address community concerns. “Our goal is clear: We want social
transformation through art,” says Fel. “Graffiti is the armed wing of hip-hop —
armed with paints and ideas. And when an idea is expressed through art, it is
much more effective. We attack the eye, the vision.”
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| Part of the Revivarte project in Água Branca |
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| Fel |
This
was a revelation for me. For so long I had been used to working in places where
there were few if any murals, and the ones that did exist were rarely there to
create “Social transformation.” To be in an environment where the culture
already supported this kind of work was inspiring. Walking around Água Branca with
Fel, Mundano and Kaleb, I got to see many of these remarkable murals. The
abundance of paintings on the walls made me wonder if the impact and
understanding of murals and graffiti is different than what I’m used to in the
U. S. In Brazil, spraypaint is
everywhere (unlike Chicago where spraypaint has been banned within city limits).
What could I possibly add to this thriving people’s art gallery?
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| Água Branca |
Later,
during a panel discussion I was on with the artist Alexandre Keto, at a cultural
space behind a eye glasses shop, someone in the audience asked, “But isn’t most
of this street art here really just for tourists?” It is a good question, and
one that I’ve been thinking about for awhile. Back in the U.S. in places like
Bushwick (New York) and Wynood (Miami) street art is being used to speed and smooth the process of gentrification. In Brazil, there are certainly areas that
have been created and maintained to attract tourists, but there are also tons
of other public paintings – many with social and political themes. The community-based
landscape designer Steve Rasmussen Cancian once advised me, “It’s not if you
paint a mural, but what the content is.” “If you’re being asked to do something
that’s just decorative, meant to enhance curb appeal and doesn’t relate to the
place or engage the people who live there, you should think twice, but if you are
working with local people on a project that supports them and doesn’t shy away
from the realities of gentrification and social equity you’re probably okay.”
Check
out my last blog post from Brazil, the Água Branca project, coming soon…
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