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28 timeout.com/sao-paulo April 2012

Created by the Spanish collective

Boa Mistura, Luz nas Vielas, light in

the alleyways, has brought colour to

Vila Brasilndia, and a wave of global

attention. Claire Rigby reports

WORDSTREETON THE

O

nce again, news of Brazils favelas whirledaround the world last month, makingheadlines in the Washington Post and onthe BBC, on sites in English, Spanish andGerman, and on countless blogs, Tumblrsand Pinterest boards. This time, though, ina change from tales of devastating land-slides or armed police operations, it wasgood news. Lettered in white against vividlycolourful backgrounds in alleyways deep in-

side Vila Brasilndia, a favela in So Paulos north-western periphery, thewords Love, Pride, Beauty, Sweetness and Firmeza (firmness, stabil-ity) swept across the web in a perfect storm of beautiful, highly engagingimages, urban art, international collaboration, and curiosity about favelas.

The site-specific artworks were created by Boa Mistura (good mix-ture), a collective of five Spanish artists with backgrounds as diverseas architecture, graphic design and engineering. With artistic interven-tions in South Africa already under their belts, plus a portfolio of tastefulcommercial work from which they earn a living, the five were invitedby the Spanish embassy in Brasilia to come and create an artwork oftheir choice in Brazil. A fortuitous meeting in So Paulo with the youngmusician and cultural activist Dimas Reis led them to his home in VilaBrasilndia, and they knew they had found the place.

We went straight back to the hostel where wed been staying andcollected our backpacks, says Pablo Purone, speaking by telephonefrom Madrid. The group moved in with Reis and his family, and spent aweek getting out and about and talking to residents before deciding on

their approach, which uses an ingenious bit of typographical trickery(anamorphosis), so that the words are only fully legible from a certainvantage point. Enlisting the help of residents of the favelas warrenlikealleyways becos and vielas, the latter having steps the group spent thesecond week plotting out and then painting the works, which are scat-tered around the immense settlement, home to almost 300,000 people.

Paved roads crisscross the hills (morros) on which the community isbuilt, busy with shops and small businesses in parts; but its the maze ofwinding alleyways that thread between the roads, twisting and turningthrough the higgledy-piggledy blocks, that are the heart and soul of theplace. Theyre where all the life goes on, says Purone. Thats where thedoors to peoples houses are, where the children play, and they link thewhole place together. We found it beautiful the sense of community, thelinks between people, and even the landscape. As a result, the words they PH

OTOSBOAMISTURA/PRESSIMAGE

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April 2012 timeout.com/sao-paulo 29

ALLEY UP Clockwise from this page,the words Beauty, Pride, Firmness,

Love and 'Sweetness light up thebecosand vielasof Vila Brasilndia

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