Withthe assistance of Tatiana Ribeiro from Fuentes de Paz, we did a participativewall painting with the children from Projeto Girasol in a favela in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil. This intervention was a good learning experience. ProjetoGirasol is an ONG that looks after toddlers during the day, proposingactivities, a meal and most vital, maintaining them off the dangerous streets. The logistic were challenging since we had to arrive after the police rounds inthe morning and before sunset when the streets get violent. This left us withvery little time to work with the babies, so being arranged and working at afast pace is a crucial issue.
The walls in the day care centre are in a verybad state and the premise was to permit the little ones to specific themselves andbrighten up their atmosphere. Most of these children have event violenceand are afraid of doing the rest that they aren’t told to do, so they needed alot of assistance and reassurance before they could make a colorful mark on thewall. Iarrived with a deliberate sketched for the wall and portray materials but as Idiscussed with them, we determined to remodel the sketch and make a wall ofsunflowers, that is their logo and the identity of the day care centre. Irealized that flexibility and flexibility is key when doing this type ofproject. I drew on the wall after which painted it with the youngsters.
The feeling oflove, pride and empowering that these children showed when the wall was beingpainted was astounding. I drew on an alternative wall and left it for them to finishcolouring it in order that it’ll allow them to continue the project and we will becollaborating extra even with the gap. The smile on the children faceswhen searching at their bright, colorful wall and the sensation of empowermentthey had, made me observe that the Solidarity Wall Painting task must bedeveloped additional. It may be an easy small action in looking to make theirdaily life better, but is completely worth doing it. A great example is the case of the city of Heerlen NL that is marked by a couple of degenerated areas due to the crumble of the mining industry in the Limburg region. To foster social and urban regeneration in these areas the municipality uses neighborhood art as a tool to have interaction with communities and enhance the image of depressed neighbourhoods.
All murals were created through neighborhood engagement, through which citizens, entrepreneurs and artists co created and took co ownership in the works. This builds durable and reciprocal social engagement. Moreover, the circulation contributes to Heerlen’s valuable city image both inside and outdoors: The city is now capable of attract increasingly guests. My initial interest was to assist artists and inventive people in different disciplines to let them produce work freely in an inventive environment. My analysis journey took me to explore collaboration, residencies, workshops, query space, time, and creative environment… However, my real attention is mostly to facilitate and foster the artist’s creativity. Several facts go towards free creation: the art market, restricted space, but mainly the financial need.
Artists need supplies to be capable of focus on their inventive technique.
