Brazilians in both urban and
rural areas tend to display a raw, spontaneous creativity. This usually
reflects the national culture or more regional concepts. I have collected
various scenes from both road and street excursions in Pernambuco.
While many societies tend to
look down upon graffiti, it is an art form that not only appears in most
Brazilian cities, but also seems to be embraced, or at least tolerated. Some of
the painters are very talented. Here are some glimpses of a 750-meter stretch
of wall on the outskirts of the coastal Recife skyscrapers.
Images of faces with the Brazilian Flag
The writing says: “Chegou sua vez Brasil...Vamos juntos fazer história!”
“Your turn has come Brazil…Let’s make history
together!”
Each component of the flag
symbolizes one of the country’s strengths:
· Green
represents Brazil’s productive pastures and fertile forests.
· Yellow
represents monetary wealth.
· The blue
globe in the middle has 27 stars representing the states and federal district.
· The
white band reads: “ORDEM E PROGRESSO,”
or “Order and Progress.”
(http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/flags/countrys/samerica/brazil.htm)
During the recent protests,
the media reappropriated the message of the flag and changed it to “Ordem em Progresso,” or “Order in Progress.” I saw posts on Facebook
accompanied by images such as:
(Image:
http://www.webcitizen.com.br/newsletter/marco_civil/images/marco_civil.jpg)
It was rather clever.
Below are some more snapshots
of the wall:
An abstract representation of the Brazilian
flag colors
Soccer players pop up in several locations.
The snail with the houses on its back is cute.
“Copa
Favela” – “Cup of the slums”
“Paz” – “Peace”
“Amor”
– “Love”
Despite Brazil’s wealth in
culture, history, and natural resources, the socioeconomic divide is still very
large. I have seen joggers donning new sportswear on one side of the road and a
one-legged man crawling on the other. The poor do what they can to eke out a
living.
A young man and woman washing cars
A small boy decorating a side mirror with
flower petals, and our embellished car
Despite the destitution, many
show quite a bit of skill and ambition. During an evening walk in Porto de
Galinhas, two young men approached us. One gave me a flower he had fashioned
out of a palm leaf. Then, his friend asked me if I wanted to see “minha arte.”
I responded in Portuguese that I would.
He pulled out a case with a
few colors of oil paint and selected a ceramic tile out of the three he had.
Using his fingers, some paint, and an etching tool, he produced a beautiful
image in less than five minutes. I bought it from him – he asked for very
little money, “Enquanto eu não estou
famoso” – “While I’m not famous.”
Making palms into art and art into a palm
Creativity
Ironic sterility
Two sides of one coin
No comments:
Post a Comment