R.U.A. Amsterdam - Streetart and Graffiti Expert Meeting

On Tuesday September 27th, Caramundo organizes an Expert Meeting in NoLIMIT Amsterdam Zuidoost. With this meeting Caramundo wants to create a  dialogue about the possibilities and positive influences of street art and graffiti in a city environment, and demonstrate how other cities in the world already integrate street art in their urban planning. In Brazil, graffiti and street art are used to uplift neglected urban areas  and stimulate safety in those areas by involving local residents and by stimulating creativity. In the Netherlands it seems that we can learn from these Brazilian experiences.

In Brazil it is common to see street art projects in all sorts of neighbourhoods, and municipalities invest in big projects to stimulate art in public space. Caramundo is inspired by the Brazilian approach and believes this approach can be developed more in the Netherlands.

Professionals from the Dutch work field such as artists, social workers, urban planners, policy makers and geographers are invited to participate in this dialogue with experts from Brazil who will share their vision and methodologies.

Programme Expert Meeting

We invited a diverse group of Brazilian professionals to tell us about the use and development of street-art in Brazil. With these inspiring examples we hope to provoke a debate about the possibilities and necessity of (street-) art in public space in general and in the Netherlands in particular.

Guests
Regina Monteiro, director of SP Urbanism, sector of urban planning in São Paulo introduced the law  “Lei Cidade Limpa” in the city of São Paulo, which caused many changes in the visual landscape of the city. The law prohibits billboard marketing in the city, which means that São Paulo is now a paradise for mural art and graffiti. The integration of graffiti art in the revitalisation of big parts of the city is one of the policies now inserted in São Paulo urban politics.

Rio de Janeiro architect Ludmila Rodrigues worked as a coordinator at the institute Galpão Aplauso where graffiti was one of the means to support youth of low social backgrounds to develop their skills. Ludmila will tells us about her experiences as a coordinator. Graffiti artists Gais (RJ) and Dalata (BH) who both participated in the first edition of R.U.A. in 2009, will give a short presentation of their lives and work as graffiti artists and how graffiti plays a role in their career.

From Europe we invited Matze Jung working at the Archiv der Jugendkulturen in Berlin. He did socio-geological research about street culture and graffiti in Rio de Janeiro and will briefly present us his findings from a geographical point of view. Angelo Bromet, partner in organizing the meeting, will tell us about his work as the initiator of Hotspot Heesterveld and founder of F.L.A (For the Love of Art), a platform young artistic talent which supports youth of Amsterdam Southeast to develop their skills as professionals. Architect Onno Vlaanderen is experienced as a former member of the amenities committee of the municipality of Amsterdam will explain about the laws and restrictions of art in public space in Amsterdam.

R.U.A. History

The first edition of R.U.A. – Reflexo on Urban Art took place in Rotterdam in 2009. It soon became known as one of the biggest open-air art exhibitions ever done in these proportions. With R.U.A., Caramundo showed urban and contemporary Brazilian street art to a local audience that normally doesn’t frequent museums. R.U.A. managed to refute the negative idea about graffiti into a positive understanding in the Netherlands and turned into an impressive addition to the collections offered in the museums freely accessible to anyone at any time of the day. 

R.U.A. at Brasil Festival Amsterdam 2011

In October and November 2011 Amsterdam is celebrating Brasil Festival Amsterdam. As one of the partners in this festival Caramundo is happy to announce that we will realize the second edition of R.U.A. - Reflexo on Urban Art in Amsterdam.
After the Expert Meeting on September 27th we will start with Open Air paintings on the walls of various buildings in the city. Organizing the second edition of R.U.A. – Reflexo on Urban Art in Amsterdam, Caramundo wants to show the importance of free art in public space. Caramundo believes that culture – and art in public space in particular – are important for the unity and social cohesion of a city. Our goal is to address the community in a direct way with art and offer it to citizens for free, to stimulate their sense of solidarity.
Our experience with R.U.A. in Rotterdam showed that inhabitants of the neighbourhoods where the art work was created and exposed, developed a strong care for both the artist and the work produced during the month. Many would pass by and check the process every day and neighbours would gather around the artwork and discuss it.  It caused new personal relations between neighbours who had never spoke to each other before. We see this as a positive development in the process of creating a more tolerant society where unity and care for the environment is far more important then its differences in social background and nationality.

For more info: www.reflexonurbanart.org