Call Parade is an ongoing public art project in São Paulo sponsored by Brazilian telecommunications firm Vivo, that paired 100 artists with 100 street-side phone booths giving them free reign to transform the peculiar hooded fixtures into anything imaginable.
You can see a gallery of all 100 phones here.
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On Sunday night here in London, the Olympic Games ended with closing ceremonies that reminded the world that, yes, a lot of popular music has come from Britain.
London was never going to out-Beijing Beijing, and the wisest decision was not even to attempt it. Instead, the organizers of London 2012 decided that Beijing could not out-Britain Britain, and that there was something of value for the Olympic movement and the world in that distinction.
The past 17 days have proven them right.
They have proven that the Olympics did come to their spiritual home in Britain – where rowing and fencing and tennis, not to mention the sporting ideals that underlie the entire Olympic movement, began.
They have proven that their city’s history and charm was more than enough to compensate for the lack of signature venue like the Bird’s Nest or Water Cube. Could any other city match the scenes at Horse Guards Parade or Wimbledon or the Mall?
But more than any of these things, London 2012 has proven, beyond the remotest doubt, that much if not most of Britain truly did want these Olympics in the end. Not for national pride, though that was in present in good regulation, but because it was a bloody brilliant time to be British.
“These were happy and glorious Games,” said International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge at the closing ceremonies, quoting a line from the British national anthem.
Now we wait four more years to see what Rio will bring us.
Theme song of Rio 2016 Olympic Games
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Brazilian artist Gustavo Sousa has reinterpreted the five Olympic rings as a series of infographics, comparing statistics across the five continents on his Tumblr oceaniaeuropeamericasafricaasia.
Statistical data according to this legend: (Oceania: blue, Europe: Black America: Red, Africa : yellow, Asia: green).
Sousa has also made a video version, which sees the rings morph into each infographic in a rather pleasing way.
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2012 Summer Olympics kicked off with a huge Opening Ceremony in London’s new Olympic Stadium, an event watched on television by an estimated 1 billion viewers. Performances paid tribute to British heritage and culture, from agrarian beginnings through pop culture successes like the Beatles and J.K. Rowling. Contingents from more than 200 nations marched in the athletes parade, and the evening was capped off by the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron, a performance by Paul McCartney, and a huge fireworks display. Collected below is just a glimpse ceremony, as the 2012 Olympics are now underway.
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Whether you are 10, 12, 15, 17, or any other age, you probably don’t think adults are going to listen to you. Maybe you have a cause you are passionate about, but you don’t think anyone will listen to what a kid or teen will have to say. You’re wrong! You may be young, you may not have all the answers, but you are truly never to young to make a difference in this world. Take for instance a young girl, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, who was able to speak to the entire United Nations Assembly when it met in Brazil several years ago. At that point in time, she was only twelve years old, and what she would say there in front of leaders from all over the world would silence the entire world and make them think.
At the age of twelve, Severn had raised the money needed to travel to Brazil to attend the UN Assembly. From Canada, this was about 5,000 miles from home for her – a long way for a 12 year old to travel and it was a lot of money for a 12 year old to raise, but she did it. She was convinced that she had something worth saying that the leaders of the United Nations needed to hear, and she was determined to use her words in a powerful way.
In her speech to this delegation, she addressed a variety of different issues (SEE the video of her speech at the end of this article). She talked about pollution, the extinction of animals, ozone layer depletion, forest devastation, starving children, and more. These were big issues, but she wasn’t afraid to tackle them. She admitted, she didn’t know the answers or how to fix these problems herself, but she wanted to challenge world leaders to start finding the answers and to stop causing the problems.
Another topic that Severn addressed was the topic of sharing. She spoke of how many children go without on a daily basis, yet so many have more than enough – even throwing items away. Instead of sharing with others, people hold onto the wealth that they have when they could help others around the world. As a child she said she was taught to clean up after herself, to be kind to others, to share, and to take care of what she had, yet she felt that adults didn’t do these very things that they were teaching children. Severn wondered why adults didn’t clean up after themselves, why they didn’t take care of what they had, and why they didn’t share and help others. Definitely great questions to be asking!
Believe it or not, this speech was given many years ago – back in 1992. While the speech was definitely relevant then, it’s still relevant today as well. Many of these issues are now being addressed and greater attention has been brought to these issues. Some of those leaders at the UN Assembly may not have paid much attention to anyone else, but a young girl was able to stop and make them think. Many of the delegates there were moved to tears by her words, and at the end of her speech, she was given a standing ovation. All around the world her speech was heard, and 20 years later, people are still listening to her speech. This was one girl that decided that she could make a difference – and she did.
Even after her speech, she didn’t stop working to make a difference in her world. She felt that while speaking to leaders was important that “becoming the change” was even more important if things were going to be accomplished. Over the past few years as she grew up and reached adulthood, she has continued to champion the changes that she spoke so passionately about in 1992. She founded that Environmental Children’s Organization when she was only nine, she’s co-hosted a children’s TV series known as Suzuki’s Nature Quest, and was instrumental in the think tank based on the web – The Skyfish Project. She is a speaker, author, and environmental activist that speaks all over the world today, urging those she speaks to, to act on the issues addressed to help preserve the future.
Her words in 1992 definitely silenced the entire world. Although she admitted to Time magazine that she was discouraged that more action wasn’t taken by the UN she addressed, she never gave up. While her confidence was a bit shaken that her speech didn’t bring about more results, she didn’t let it stop her. As a child, and now as an adult, she has continued to use her voice to make a difference in this world, determined that change will come.
It truly doesn’t matter how old you are – you can make a difference in your world today. There is never an age where you are too young to make a difference in some way. If you have a cause or idea you are passionate about, don’t think you are too young to do anything about it. Follow after the courage of Severn and find a way that you can make a difference. Perhaps you too will be able to silence the world.
Now, here is the video of this remarkable girl:
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Throughout the late 19th century up until the 1990s, these captivating and strangely painted portraits (retratos pintados) were a common practice in rural northeastern Brazil. Family portraits were retouched with a heavy hand, painting over the original image with bold brush strokes which transformed family members into the rich, healthy and beautiful… even the dead ones.
The images are part of historian Titus Riedl’s collection of the images displayed in his book Retratos Pintados. Throughout the period when these images were being created, street-traders (called bonequeiros) would commonly attract clients in remote rural villages, then with images in hand, they would travel to bigger towns where they would hand over the materials to puxadores who would enlarge the photographs. Then painters, often in small, improvised studios, would create the final image. Returning to the original village, often weeks later, the image was finally delivered to the client.
With the advent of modern technology and the lack of readily available photo paper, the unique tradition has largely died out. It has now been replaced with modern digital techniques like Photoshop and printed on inkjet printers… often with an elaborate phone card, postcard or screensaver motif as their background. For more about these unique pieces of cultural history, see the interview with Martin Parr (who wrote the intro to Riedl’s book) at themorningnews.org.
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Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores”—self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. Director Lucy Walker (DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, BLINDSIGHT and COUNTDOWN TO ZERO) and co-directors João Jardim and Karen Harley have great access to the entire process and, in the end, offer stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.
More information about this wonderful work: Waste Land
Full movie
Beautiful and Inspiring!!!
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“The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world. [...]
The WDL makes it possible to discover, study, and enjoy cultural treasures from around the world on one site, in a variety of ways. These cultural treasures include, but are not limited to, manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, and architectural drawings.
Items on the WDL may easily be browsed by place, time, topic, type of item, and contributing institution, or can be located by an open-ended search, in several languages. Special features include interactive geographic clusters, a timeline, advanced image-viewing and interpretive capabilities. Item-level descriptions and interviews with curators about featured items provide additional information.
Functioning in seven languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish – and including content in additional languages.
The brainchild of James Billington, from the US’s Library of Congress, the project has been developed by Unesco and the Library of Congress, along with 32 other partners from around the world, including national libraries from Iraq, Egypt, Russia, Brazil, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Uganda.
Enjoy this free Sea of information!
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Vila Brasilândia is a suburb (favela) of São Paulo, Brazil. Local residents have worked with Spanish art collective Boa Mistura to paint the street in bright colours. A selection of inspiring words are painted in white (amor, beleza, doçura, firmeza and orgulho – love, beauty, sweetness, firmness and pride), but can only be viewed when you hit the street from a certain angle.
Above: Love
Below: Beauty
Below: Sweetness
Below: Firmness
Below: Pride
Really beautiful and inspiring!!!
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Film director and musician Jarbas Agnelli, in partnership with photographer and filmmaker, Keith Loutit, set out to capture this amazing event on camera in a way it has never been seen before. In the five days of carnival, the pair shot 167,978 photos, then with masterful editing and a soundtrack composed by Agnelli himself, they composed a tilt-shift style video from their stills titled The City of Samba.
The final product is nothing less than amazing.
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