fancier

Back in the summer I posted an image from the Women are Heroes project, which I didn’t know much about aside from a short description and the incredible photos of women’s eyes pasted onto the walls of a favela overlooking Rio de Janiero. Last month The New Yorker’s Raffi Khatchadorian profiled the conceptual artist JR (behind the paywall) who was the main force behind the Morro da Providência project. It’s inspiring to find out the story behind it. He went to Brazil after hearing about an incident where three young men from the favela were killed, and the community rioted upon learning that it was likely the Brazilian Army at fault.

For years, they had been living in near total social isolation; taxis did not go up the hill, nor did ambulances, not even the police. Half a dozen buses were destroyed during the riots, but afterward an uneasy calm took hold, and that is when the eyes began to appear.

JR had traveled to Brazil and established himself in the community before proposing the project, as a way to say, “Hey, we are there, we are right there in front of you, and you pretend that we don’t exist.” And it worked, finally bringing media attention to Morro da Providência; but as journalists sought out the artist JR, he stepped back, “forcing [them] to talk to the favela’s inhabitants.”

Part of his furtiveness is due to the illegal nature of the work, but it also seems like he considers himself more of an instrument that can highlight other people’s struggles than he is an Artist. He manages to remove most of the exploitative undertone this sort of work can have. Though it’s clear from the article that he still grapples with his role and influence.

Since winning the TED prize in 2010, he’s been focused on the Inside Out project, which is a global initiative along the same lines as Women are Heroes.