R.U.A. Amsterdam ZO - Brazil Exchange 

2012

 

During the 2011 / 2012 R.U.A. edition the Brazilian artists were hosted in the Heesterveld Creative Community in Amsterdam Southeast. This community offers housing to a diverse range of creatives from the region with the intention to provoke new cooperations and projects in particular in the region. Hosting the Brazilian artists in the community was the best thing that could happen to R.U.A. Lifetime relationships were built, gatherings, events, workshops and creative experiments emerged. And let's not forget the painting of Dalata - "the one of the fish" as locals use to say when they refer to the painting.  That painting was the one that paved the way for R.U.A. in the H-Buurt and marked the times coming after...

 

After all experiences with the Brazilians it was time for some of the Heesterveld inhabitants to get to know the roots of Brazilian street art and visit iconic locations, meet our artists and learn from the source...to bring their knowledge back to Southeast and implement activities based on their inspirations. Time will tell...

Workshop Derlon at the foot of his building

2012

 

“What is that art for?” could be a reasonable question of the kids living in or around the building Derlon will soon start to paint. “Why should we have art in our block?”, “Is that graffiti?!”, “Isn’t graffiti illegal?” and “when is it allowed?” Those, and many other questions will be answered during a workshop program R.U.A. developed in cooperation with Tropenmuseum Junior around Derlon’s wall.

The focus of the workshop is for kids in the age between 7 and 13 years to discover the positive side of art, and the positive role graffiti art can play in their community. And of course to learn that public space is theirs as well, which means that they can take their responsibility to make something nice of the community they live in.

Kids of the area participated in making their own design, based on tricks and techniques Derlon revealed during the q&a of the kids. Many designs were made and Derlon had the difficult task to choose the best one to be reproduced in the exhibition "Mix Max Brazil" in the Tropenmuseum. 

The workshop also contained a high pressure water spectacle in which kids could clean the dirt of the sidewalks making a negative image of Derlons little 'cordel' creatures. 

 

Colorful Experiments on the Westergasfabriek 

2011

 

After arrival in Holland, Gais and Dalata seemed to have their hands itching. What they never did before, now already turned into a colorful experiment on the ground of the Westergasfabriek. The experiment is a cooperation between the Affordable Art Fair which was taking place between the 26th and the 30th of October, the Westergasfabriek and R.U.A. It was quite a hassle to find out which paint would hold for a nice period in rain and with people walking over it. It had to be biodegradable and easy to remove. We found it! Eco-Logic paint with a basis of linseed oil.

 

When the two artists started their work, almost naturally, kids that were passing by, made their parents stop, asking them to have a closer look. Those short stops ended up in kids packed in white overalls, painting blocksof colours on the ground of Westergasfabriek. A colourful experience!

 

EVENTS

We like to share our expertise and inspire others with our initiatives. We give consult to local authorities, cultural centers, creative cradles or any other institute or group interested to learn from us. Artists connected to R.U.A. are compromised to share their ideals, skills, techniques and artistic views with a next generation young creative minds in workshops and trainings.

With debates and lectures, we share our views in order to refute prejudiced opinions about graffiti and street art. This way we hope to pave the way for others and create opportunities and facilities for young artists to collaborate with their art in their own community.

 

Workshop in Heesterveld

2011

 

For the 2011/2012 edition, Gais and Dalata were invited to share their teaching experiences in Brazil with us in Holland. In Holland graffiti is seen as very illegal vandalism and the relationship between art and graffiti is difficult to find in the minds of any average person. With the workshop in Heesterveld we hoped to inspire those who did not yet form an opinion about it, and prepare Zuidoost to turn into a lively open air art gallery somewhere in the future.

Expert Meeting Graffiti as Positive Intervention in Public Space

2011

 

On September 27  we organized an 'expert meeting' on Brazilian and Dutch street art and policy. The debate was the kick off to the 2011/2012 edition of R.U.A. in Amsterdam.

Brazil is renown for its lively and vibrant street art culture and the government has a relatively open attitude towards graffiti for the decoration of public spaces and as a form of ‘public art’. Regina Monteiro, the director of SP Urbanism, sector of urban planning in São Paulo, was one of the main invitees with the purpose to speak about the law Lei Cidade Limpa she introduced in the city and pass her knowledge and experience on to Dutch policy makers in the public domain. The law prohibits billboard marketing in the city, which means that São Paulo is now a paradise for mural art and graffiti and radically changing the visual landscape of the city.