www.instituteforpublicart.org:
In the year 2012, while painting the city walls, the artist Thiago Mundano noticed a cart garbage collection that occupied the inside lane of the highway, disrupting the traffic. Instead of seeing this merely as a nuisance, Mundano researched what was going on and found that this 'unofficial' activity is commonly linked to marginalisation and has a low status in society. However, in cities where the garbage recycling system is not efficient, the 'unofficial' activity is nevertheless fundamental and necessary. For example, in the city of Sào Paulo alone, 17,000 tons of waste are generated per day, and only 1% is recycled; 90% of this recycled material is collected by 'm" people, who are nevertheless carrying out an activity of great environmental and social importance.
After this realisation, Mundano got to know the workers, listened to their stories, visited places where they congregate and fell in love with their cause. So the artist created the project "Pimp My Carroç" (an allusion to the popular MTV show "Pimp My Ride').
Mundano on TouTube:
Mundano is a self-described ARTivist. He created a project called Pimp My Carroça, inspired by MTV's Pimp My Ride, for which he paints designs with a message on street collectors' wooden carts to raise funds for them.
www.designindaba.com:
Brazilian artist Thiago Mundano has used his craft to promote the important role of the carrocas of Sao Paulo. The waste collectors' driving carts are integral to the city's recycling scheme but are critically underused. The city only recycles one per cent of the 6.5 million tons of rubbish it produces per year.
Pimp My Carroca is a scheme designed to make recycling more attractive through art and highlight the plight of the cart operators. According to the initiative's website, the cart operators are often marginalised in society despite the necessity of their work.
A team of artists and volunteers, led by Mundano, enhanced the carts by adding security installations, making repairs and adding painrom renowned artists, which aim to educate society while providing cart operators with a voice.
The entire 'pimping' process takes place during a day of cultural celebration in which the public watches as the cart is transformed. Called 'a day of public intervention', viewers are also treated to music, workshops, and opportunities to volunteer.
The initiative was funded by a successful crowdfunding campaign through Brazilian platform Catarse. It has already helped hundreds of collectors in Sào Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba.
www.instituteforpublicart.org:
To accomplish the project, Mundano set up Catarse [catarse.me], a crowd funding website, to get donations from the public. On the penultimate day for donations, the R$ 38,200 funding neede to carry out the action had already been exceeded. Even after the deadline, contributions kept coming. By 18 May 2012 , nearly R$ 64,000 (c. US$ 20,000) had been donated by 792 peo"Pimp my Carroç", was realised in early June 2012, just days before RIO + 20 (The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio de Janeiro) took place, and during the 'Virada Sustentável' (Festival of Sustainability) in the city of Sào Paulo. Selected garbage collection workers were helped by having their carts decorated with art made by professional graffiti artists, including phrases chosen by the public. During this process, the collectors and their families were offered free medical and eye examinations, along with massages. They also received haircuts, food and psychological therapy. As a finale to the project, a demonstration took place in the city centre, calling on the government to recognise, establish and maintain recycling cooperatives.
The artist believes that the workers recycling is unrecognised, not because of the nature of the service, but because of the conditions under which the workers operate. He also believes that his project does not bring a definitive solution to the problem, but promotes it among other artists and the general population. To continue the business of promotion, the "Pimp My Carroç" fundraising site is still open and the donor can take action for their own city: donors are awarded a kit for customised decoration ('Pimping') of the collection carts, along with paints and safety items.
The intent of recognising the re-cycling collectors through artistic action gives the population at large an increased level of social awareness about their work, recognising and honoring it. The rights and conditions of the workers can be improved by giving them visibility as environmental agents in Brazilian cities, and demonstrating that they are workers who are due everyone's respect.
Source: Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts.
www.ashoka.org:
hiago practiced karate from an early age, earning his black belt, which he says influenced his ethics and determination. After he stopped practicing karate, he realized that he needed a new outlet for his energy, so took up graffiti. This form of art granted Thiago a distinct perspective on the city, allowing him to get to know it from new anand took him to places where people do not usually go. He always chose messages and designs that would encourage people to reflect on their role in resolving social problems. Graffiti artists usually seek out the best places to showcase their distinct techniques, and use handwriting that is sometimes difficult to read. Thiago, on the other hand, sought to connect with the context and give voice to a social problem related to the place.
In 2007, Sào Paulo city council implemented the Clean City project, which included the removal of the city's graffiti, covering it with grey paint. Thiago began painting these grey walls, which would then be painted over the next day, writing messages for those who would remove his graffiti. When this graffiti started to have a major presence in social and other media networks, he realized that people were listening and that this could be a great communication tool to create dialogue about social problems. Known for his creativity and humor, a photo of one of his paintingswas shared on Facebook 200,000 times in one day.
As both graffiti and waste picking are activities taking place in the street, Thiago had the idea of painting a garbage collector's cart. Unlike the walls, the city could not erase the paint on the cart and it would travel around the city, further increasing the message's exposure. He realized that this art also had a positive impact on garbage collectors: it increased the interaction of these workers with other people, reduced prejudice, and improved their self-esteem, making them more happy and confident in carrying out their activities. From this starting point, Thiago began to paint carts and would ask what the garbage collectors would like have written on their carts. Through interacting more and more with garbage collectors, he realized he needed to do more than paint; he also needed to bring safety and dignity to their work. This was how he decided to expand the range of services the collectors' deserved, and also make his idea collective, thromp My Carroça. Thiago acknowledges that this is global problem, so he envisions his legacy to be a global one.
This description of Thiago Ackel Mundano's work was prepared when Thiago Ackel Mundano was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2015.
In the year 2012, while painting the city walls, the artist Thiago Mundano noticed a cart garbage collection that occupied the inside lane of the highway, disrupting the traffic. Instead of seeing this merely as a nuisance, Mundano researched what was going on and found that this 'unofficial' activity is commonly linked to marginalisation and has a low status in society. However, in cities where the garbage recycling system is not efficient, the 'unofficial' activity is nevertheless fundamental and necessary. For example, in the city of Sào Paulo alone, 17,000 tons of waste are generated per day, and only 1% is recycled; 90% of this recycled material is collected by 'm" people, who are nevertheless carrying out an activity of great environmental and social importance.
After this realisation, Mundano got to know the workers, listened to their stories, visited places where they congregate and fell in love with their cause. So the artist created the project "Pimp My Carroç" (an allusion to the popular MTV show "Pimp My Ride').
Mundano on TouTube:
Mundano is a self-described ARTivist. He created a project called Pimp My Carroça, inspired by MTV's Pimp My Ride, for which he paints designs with a message on street collectors' wooden carts to raise funds for them.
www.designindaba.com:
Brazilian artist Thiago Mundano has used his craft to promote the important role of the carrocas of Sao Paulo. The waste collectors' driving carts are integral to the city's recycling scheme but are critically underused. The city only recycles one per cent of the 6.5 million tons of rubbish it produces per year.
Pimp My Carroca is a scheme designed to make recycling more attractive through art and highlight the plight of the cart operators. According to the initiative's website, the cart operators are often marginalised in society despite the necessity of their work.
A team of artists and volunteers, led by Mundano, enhanced the carts by adding security installations, making repairs and adding painrom renowned artists, which aim to educate society while providing cart operators with a voice.
The entire 'pimping' process takes place during a day of cultural celebration in which the public watches as the cart is transformed. Called 'a day of public intervention', viewers are also treated to music, workshops, and opportunities to volunteer.
The initiative was funded by a successful crowdfunding campaign through Brazilian platform Catarse. It has already helped hundreds of collectors in Sào Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba.
www.instituteforpublicart.org:
To accomplish the project, Mundano set up Catarse [catarse.me], a crowd funding website, to get donations from the public. On the penultimate day for donations, the R$ 38,200 funding neede to carry out the action had already been exceeded. Even after the deadline, contributions kept coming. By 18 May 2012 , nearly R$ 64,000 (c. US$ 20,000) had been donated by 792 peo"Pimp my Carroç", was realised in early June 2012, just days before RIO + 20 (The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio de Janeiro) took place, and during the 'Virada Sustentável' (Festival of Sustainability) in the city of Sào Paulo. Selected garbage collection workers were helped by having their carts decorated with art made by professional graffiti artists, including phrases chosen by the public. During this process, the collectors and their families were offered free medical and eye examinations, along with massages. They also received haircuts, food and psychological therapy. As a finale to the project, a demonstration took place in the city centre, calling on the government to recognise, establish and maintain recycling cooperatives.
The artist believes that the workers recycling is unrecognised, not because of the nature of the service, but because of the conditions under which the workers operate. He also believes that his project does not bring a definitive solution to the problem, but promotes it among other artists and the general population. To continue the business of promotion, the "Pimp My Carroç" fundraising site is still open and the donor can take action for their own city: donors are awarded a kit for customised decoration ('Pimping') of the collection carts, along with paints and safety items.
The intent of recognising the re-cycling collectors through artistic action gives the population at large an increased level of social awareness about their work, recognising and honoring it. The rights and conditions of the workers can be improved by giving them visibility as environmental agents in Brazilian cities, and demonstrating that they are workers who are due everyone's respect.
Source: Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts.
www.ashoka.org:
hiago practiced karate from an early age, earning his black belt, which he says influenced his ethics and determination. After he stopped practicing karate, he realized that he needed a new outlet for his energy, so took up graffiti. This form of art granted Thiago a distinct perspective on the city, allowing him to get to know it from new anand took him to places where people do not usually go. He always chose messages and designs that would encourage people to reflect on their role in resolving social problems. Graffiti artists usually seek out the best places to showcase their distinct techniques, and use handwriting that is sometimes difficult to read. Thiago, on the other hand, sought to connect with the context and give voice to a social problem related to the place.
In 2007, Sào Paulo city council implemented the Clean City project, which included the removal of the city's graffiti, covering it with grey paint. Thiago began painting these grey walls, which would then be painted over the next day, writing messages for those who would remove his graffiti. When this graffiti started to have a major presence in social and other media networks, he realized that people were listening and that this could be a great communication tool to create dialogue about social problems. Known for his creativity and humor, a photo of one of his paintingswas shared on Facebook 200,000 times in one day.
As both graffiti and waste picking are activities taking place in the street, Thiago had the idea of painting a garbage collector's cart. Unlike the walls, the city could not erase the paint on the cart and it would travel around the city, further increasing the message's exposure. He realized that this art also had a positive impact on garbage collectors: it increased the interaction of these workers with other people, reduced prejudice, and improved their self-esteem, making them more happy and confident in carrying out their activities. From this starting point, Thiago began to paint carts and would ask what the garbage collectors would like have written on their carts. Through interacting more and more with garbage collectors, he realized he needed to do more than paint; he also needed to bring safety and dignity to their work. This was how he decided to expand the range of services the collectors' deserved, and also make his idea collective, thromp My Carroça. Thiago acknowledges that this is global problem, so he envisions his legacy to be a global one.
This description of Thiago Ackel Mundano's work was prepared when Thiago Ackel Mundano was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2015.