FAVELA ON BLAST – HAAS & HAHN

Rio De Janeiro is a city undergoing great transformations. This growth is most visible to those who visit her for an extended period of time, and to those who live at the bottom of the morros, but less obvious to those who choose to look at the houses perched on top of steep slopes.

These are the people who live isolated from their own society, surrounded by the prettiest views of the Brazilian metropolis. And then there are European artists who see this city as fertile ground for experimentation. In 2008, Jeroen Koolhaas (son of the famous Rem) and Dre Urhahn, two Dutch artists of Haas & Hahn, felt the urge to paint the unstable buildings set between the electric wires of lighting and television, in the Santa Marta favela civilizada, near the Botafogo district. They hired a lot of young locals to work on the project, and together they created a rainbow square. Over time, this has become a national attraction and tourist spot, has encouraged social relations (and probably pushed away crime) and has helped the small shops nearby to thrive.

What do the inhabitants think about this artistic operation?

One of the leaders of the tourist committee, while eager for foreign travelers, says that the Favela Painting has not had a huge impact on tourism (especially not in comparison to the construction of the cableway.) In reality, not that many tourists come to visit and the ones that do venture out here are more attracted by the Michael Jackson statue than by Haas & Hahn’s work. The most positive aspect is the stimulus it had on social activities: old men come out to play cards, the favela’s samba school now has a theatre space for choreography and performances and live concerts are held based on forro` and cui`ca.

This is the case in June 2011, we’ll see at the end of 2014, after the World Cup and Olympic Games, if art will win over folklore.

text by Maria Azzurra Rossi / interview by Elena Geppetti