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| Mariane lives in an abandoned building- turned squatter's housing where many families live in extreme squaller. |
Ignored by society and considered nothing more than thieves and drug addicts, street children and teens are a common sight in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Through street poetry and painting, the "Street Art With Street Kids" project aims to give these youth the opportunity to express their thoughts, dreams, and their humanity to their fellow citizens, defying the stereotypes against them. This year I organized a series of 8 workshops with street youth as well as teens from nearby favelas (slums) in Rio's northern zone, where the project took place. They wrote poetry relating to their lives, expressed themselves through drawing and painting, and had discussions about a variety of social topics, culminating in the creation of 3 works of public art. I partnered with 2 poets and the youth NGO São Martinho. The project was filmed by British documentary film maker Tristan Daws, who will create a short documentary focused on the project and the kids' lives. This was a pilot project, intended to lead to a much larger project in size and scope in 2012 and beyond, including a full length documentary that will explore the world of street children in Rio and accompany my journey with them as we learn together and create art on the streets with the help of guest poets, artists, musicians, and filmmakers.
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| One of the kids painted himself on the left; he depicted himself a king with a crown on his head. Another painted his mother, which can be seen in the cheek of the portrait. |
A woman walks by this piece on the street, which features many drawings and poems created by the youth on the subject of freedom and their dreams for the future. The large faces are portraits of two street youth who participated in the project.
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writing street poetry
"Listen here, I will speak if you want to see me, the goal is to speak on the subject of freedom.
You become free with your money in your hand without becoming involved in trafficking, drugs or conspiracy.
My mother always taught that I must have the strength of will if I want my freedom.
Drug dealing kills, listen as I speak, my example is my father, who my grandma didn't want to listen to.
Although my grandma spoke, her son left this world two days later,
She struggled."
You become free with your money in your hand without becoming involved in trafficking, drugs or conspiracy.
My mother always taught that I must have the strength of will if I want my freedom.
Drug dealing kills, listen as I speak, my example is my father, who my grandma didn't want to listen to.
Although my grandma spoke, her son left this world two days later,
She struggled."
--Richardson Dyonisis dos Santos, age 14
teenage participants who live on the streets of Rio, facing many challenges.
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| After developing their ideas in the classroom, the youth got to work on the wall, writing their poems and expressing themselves with drawings and abstract painting. |
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| The artistic expressions filled the entire background of the piece, in a approach that I call "Expressive Group Painting." |
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| me with the kids and staff from São Martinho |
