In addition to rescuing the self-esteem of residents, who identify with the graffiti on walls, houses and alleys, an open-air art initiative promotes engagement and makes the community more alive and colorful, in Vila Flávia, São Mateus district, east of São Paulo.
The interventions are part of the Favela Galeria project. Among the most recent panels are graffiti on three walls of houses in the neighborhood, which featured the work of three artists. They explored abstract, geometric and realistic techniques. On one of the walls, the portrait of a very expressive look is marked by shades of blue, green, red and yellow.
“With the pandemic, our artistic work was stopped. But we are resuming. The impact of art within the community is very strong,” said 34-year-old rapper Ezequias Jeiel Cardoso, popularly known as Catata Crazzy, about the work of artists Marcelo Ruggi Tché, Alexandre Lobot and Randal Bone. From Santa Catarina, Catata arrived in São Paulo 12 years ago. He has lived in São Mateus for three years and is involved with the neighborhood project.
According to him, the open-air gallery is the result of the efforts of artists who donate not only their art, but also materials. “We promote sporadic events. We’ve already got support for certain panels. Some residents, who can, make donations. But what keeps the work going is the donation of artists,” Catata said. He says that the aim is to publicize the importance of the work. “To show that it goes beyond graffiti on the street, as we positively affect the self-esteem of residents,” he said.
The history of the open-air gallery is related to the work of Grupo Opni, which in the 90s was already bringing urban art and culture to the community of the east side. In 2007, the São Mateus em Movimento project was created, focusing on capoeira, dance and graffiti classes. Initially called Favela Grafitada, in 2009 the project changed its name to Favela Galeria. In addition to the open-air art gallery – which gathers 3 km of graffiti – there is also the cultural space where educational activities, events and exhibitions take place.
The inspiration for the project also came from the well-known graffiti in Beco do Batman, in Vila Madalena, west of São Paulo. “We mirrored ourselves in Vila Madalena, where there are many walls with graffiti. It would be possible to do something similar in ‘our hamlet’. And we started to do graffiti and make the gallery grow.
Today it is very impactful within our community. We, who were born here, feel the emotion of the residents, who ask us to paint their houses and walls”, said Fernando Rodrigo de Carvalho, founder and president of São Mateus em Movimento. Known as MC Negotinho, he is 42 years old, 30 of which have been dedicated to cultural activities in the region. “Our goal was to change the neighborhood’s climate. And it’s curious, when we finish some work, people start to identify with each other”, said Negotinho.
From Embu das Artes, Greater São Paulo, the 25-year-old artist Stefany Lima, known as Fany Lima, became the manager of Favela Galeria. “I went to paint in São Mateus through the open-air gallery. I got closer and started to participate in more actions within the community.”
Due to the pandemic, she says that in the last two years, artistic activities have given way to social work with donations of basic food baskets and preventive guidelines on the new coronavirus. In January, social actions continued, while cultural projects began to be resumed, including urban art.
The Favela Galeria Tour, which has been in existence for 15 years, was also reopened earlier this year. “We receive people from all over the world and also many visits organized by schools. All the amount collected is destined for our projects and actions in the community”, said Catata.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Like the residents of São Mateus, those from other regions who are interested in open-air graffiti can get in touch with the creators of the project. The initiative that gives life to the neighborhood can also be expanded to other locations.
The Favela Galeria Tour, which lasts an average of 1 hour and is accompanied by monitors. is carried out following all sanitary protocols. For more information about values, contact us by phone (11) 96948-5129.
The information is from the newspaper. The State of São Paulo.
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