Rio Favela Community Sculpture
We (a motley crew of artists, writers, activists, politicians, social workers, friends, poets, academics, professional, technicians and a load of people who are somehow indefineable yet their roles just as necessary to the process) are working towards creating a huge sculpture. We are going to build a 12m tall phoenix out of rocks, steel and used bullet cartridges. This idea came out of discussions in the communities in Rio. They felt a phoenix aptly describes how they feel about themselves. And it was their idea to use spent bullet cartridges and gunparts transformed into the bird's body. The wings will be made of forged steel and rocks. We are holding workshops around the city where people come and paint rocks. Each rock stands for something personal: it can be a memory for someone, a poem, a pattern, a name, a defiant scream, a declaration of love....whatever....it's up to the artist who made it. Each rock then is a 'voice', each voice is added to the other and the other until there is a visible 'presence'....from the so-called 'voiceless'.
We are working with a number of community groups, small NGO's, local artists and people from favelas all over the city of Rio de Janeiro. The project will be funded by ourselves in that we will approach businesses aswell as private funding. There are no political, religious or social affiliations. The sculpture will not belong to one community as opposed to another. No person, place or group owns it. It is an expression of humanity that is all.
