Dre Urhahn: This theater is built on Copacabana, which is the most famous beach in the world, but 25 kilometers away from here in the North Zone of Rio lies a community called Vila Cruzeiro, and roughly 60,000 people live there. Now, the people here in Rio mostly know Vila Cruzeiro from the news, and unfortunately, news from Vila Cruzeiro often is not good news. But Vila Cruzeiro is also the place where our story begins.
Dre Urhan: Ovaj teatar je sagrađen na Kopakabani, najpoznatijoj plaži na svetu, ali 25 kilometara odavde, u severnom delu Rija, nalazi se zajednica, zvana Vila Kruzeiro i otprilike 60.000 ljudi živi tu. Ovde u Riju, ljudi uglavnom znaju za Vilu Kruzeiro iz vesti i, nažalost, vesti iz Vile Kruzeiro često nisu dobre vesti. Ali Vila Kruzeiro je takođe i mesto na kome počinje naša priča.
Jeroen Koolhaas: Ten years ago, we first came to Rio to shoot a documentary about life in the favelas. Now, we learned that favelas are informal communities. They emerged over the years when immigrants from the countryside came to the cities looking for work, like cities within the cities, known for problems like crime, poverty, and the violent drug war between police and the drug gangs. So what struck us was that these were communities that the people who lived there had built with their own hands, without a master plan and like a giant work in progress. Where we're from, in Holland, everything is planned. We even have rules for how to follow the rules. (Laughter)
Jerun Kolhas: Pre deset godina došli smo u Rio kako bismo snimili dokumentarac o životu u favelama. Naučili smo da su favele neformalne zajednice. Nastajale su godinama, kako su emigranti sa sela dolazili u gradove, tražeći posao, one su poput gradova u gradovima. Poznate su po problemima poput kriminala, siromaštva i nasilnih ratova zbog droge između policije i narko bandi. Ono što je nas zapanjilo je da su ove zajednice, koje su ljudi, koji žive tu, sagradili sopstvenim rukama, bez urbanističkog plana, ona su poput džinovskih dela u nastajanju. Tamo odakle smo mi, u Holandiji, sve se radi planski. Mi imamo uputstva kako da pratimo uputstva. (Smeh)
DU: So the last day of filming, we ended up in Vila Cruzeiro, and we were sitting down and we had a drink, and we were overlooking this hill with all these houses, and most of these houses looked unfinished, and they had walls of bare brick, but we saw some of these houses which were plastered and painted, and suddenly we had this idea: what would it look like if all these houses would be plastered and painted? And then we imagined one big design, one big work of art. Who would expect something like that in a place like this? So we thought, would that even be possible? So first we started to count the houses, but we soon lost count. But somehow the idea stuck.
DU: Poslednjeg dana snimanja smo završili u Vila Kruzeiru, sedeli smo i pili piće, i posmatrali ovo brdo sa svim tim kućama, a većina njih je izgledala nedovršeno, sa zidovima od gole cigle, no videli smo da su pojedine kuće izmalterisane i okrečene, i iznenada nam je sinula ideja: kako bi izgledalo kada bi sve ove kuće bile izmalterisane i okrečene? A onda smo zamislili jednu veliku kreaciju, jedno veliko umetničko delo. Ko bi očekivao nešto takvo na ovakvom mestu? Pa smo razmišljali, da li je to uopšte moguće? Prvo smo počeli da brojimo kuće, pa smo se ubrzo zabrojali. Ali zamisao je ostala.
JK: We had a friend. He ran an NGO in Vila Cruzeiro. His name was Nanko, and he also liked the idea. He said, "You know, everybody here would pretty much love to have their houses plastered and painted. It's when a house is finished." So he introduced us to the right people, and Vitor and Maurinho became our crew. We picked three houses in the center of the community and we start here. We made a few designs, and everybody liked this design of a boy flying a kite the best. So we started painting, and the first thing we did was to paint everything blue, and we thought that looked already pretty good. But they hated it. The people who lived there really hated it. They said, "What did you do? You painted our house in exactly the same color as the police station." (Laughter) In a favela, that is not a good thing. Also the same color as the prison cell. So we quickly went ahead and we painted the boy, and then we thought we were finished, we were really happy, but still, it wasn't good because the little kids started coming up to us, and they said, "You know, there's a boy flying the kite, but where is his kite?" We said, "Uh, it's art. You know, you have to imagine the kite." (Laughter) And they said, "No, no, no, we want to see the kite." So we quickly installed a kite way up high on the hill, so that you could see the boy flying the kite and you could actually see a kite. So the local news started writing about it, which was great, and then even The Guardian wrote about it: "Notorious slum becomes open-air gallery."
JK: Imali smo prijatelja. On je rukovodio jednom NVO u Vila Kruzeiru. Ime mu je Nanko i njemu se svidela ideja. Rekao je: "Znate svi bi ovde, više-manje, voleli da im kuće budu izmalterisane i okrečene. To je znak da je kuća završena." On nas je upoznao s pravim ljudima, a Vitor i Mauri su postali deo naše ekipe. Izabrali smo tri kuće u središtu zajednice i tu smo počeli. Napravili smo nekolika nacrta i svima se svideo ovaj nacrt, dečak sa zmajem. Počeli smo da krečimo, a prvo što smo uradili sve smo okrečili u plavo, i mislili smo da to već izgleda veoma dobro. Ali bilo im je odvratno. Ljudima je to bilo odvratno. Rekli su: "Šta ste to uradili? Okrečili ste nam kuću u istu boju kao što je policijska stanica." (Smeh) U faveli to nije dobro. To je i boja zatvorske ćelije. Zato smo brzo nastavili i naslikali smo dečaka, misleći da smo gotovi bili smo uistinu srećni, ali ipak nije bilo dobro jer su nam prilazili klinci i govorili su: "Tu je dečak koji pušta zmaja, ali gde mu je zmaj?" Rekli smo: "Hm, to je umetnost. Znate, morate da zamislite zmaja." (Smeh) A oni su govorili: "Ne, ne, ne, želimo da vidimo zmaja." Te smo, na brzinu, postavili zmaja skroz tamo na brdu, kako biste videli dečaka koji pušta zmaja a ujedno biste uistinu videli i zmaja. Lokalne novine su počele da pišu o tome, što je bilo sjajno, a potom je i "Gardijan" pisao o tome: "Zloglasne barake se pretvaraju u galerije na otvorenom."
JK: So, encouraged by this success, we went back to Rio for a second project, and we stumbled upon this street. It was covered in concrete to prevent mudslides, and somehow we saw a sort of river in it, and we imagined this river to be a river in Japanese style with koi carp swimming upstream. So we decided to paint that river, and we invited Rob Admiraal, who is a tattoo artist, and he specialized in the Japanese style. So little did we know that we would spend almost an entire year painting that river, together with Geovani and Robinho and Vitor, who lived nearby. And we even moved into the neighborhood when one of the guys that lived on the street, Elias, told us that we could come and live in his house, together with his family, which was fantastic. Unfortunately, during that time, another war broke out between the police and the drug gangs. (Video) (Gunfire) We learned that during those times, people in communities really stick together during these times of hardship, but we also learned a very important element, the importance of barbecues. (Laughter) Because, when you throw a barbecue, it turns you from a guest into a host, so we decided to throw one almost every other week, and we got to know everybody in the neighborhood.
JK: Ohrabreni ovim uspehom, vratili smo se u Rio zbog drugog projekta, i nabasali smo na ovu ulicu. obložena je betonom kako bi se sprečila klizišta, a mi smo nekako videli nekakvu reku u njoj, i zamišljali smo da je to reka u japanskom stilu, sa šaranom koji pliva uzvodno. Pa smo odlučili da naslikamo tu reku i pozvali smo Roba Admirala, koji je tatu majstor, specijalista za japanski stil. Pojma nismo imali da ćemo provesti skoro čitavu godinu slikajući tu reku, zajedno sa Đovanijem, Robinjom i Viktorom, koji su živeli u blizini. Čak smo se i preselili u komšiluk kada nam je jedan od momaka iz ulice, Elijas, rekao da možemo da živimo u njegovoj kući, s njegovom porodicom, što je bilo fantastično. Nažalost, baš u to vreme novi rat je izbio između policije i narko bandi. (Video) (Pucnji) Saznali smo da se za to vreme ljudi u zajednici čvrsto drže jedni drugih, tokom ovih teških vremena, ali smo takođe naučili i nešto veoma bitno, značaj roštiljanja. (Smeh) Jer kada organizujete roštiljijadu, preobraćate se iz gosta u domaćina, te smo pravili po jednu skoro svake druge nedelje i tako smo se upoznali sa svima iz komšiluka.
JK: We still had this idea of the hill, though.
JK: I dalje smo imali zamisao o brdu.
DU: Yeah, yeah, we were talking about the scale of this, because this painting was incredibly big, and it was insanely detailed, and this process almost drove us completely insane ourselves. But we figured that maybe, during this process, all the time that we had spent in the neighborhood was maybe actually even more important than the painting itself.
DU: Da, da, razgovarali smo o razmeri toga, jer je ova slika bila neverovatno velika i nenormalno detaljna, i čitav proces nas je skoro potpuno izludeo. Ali smo shvatili da je možda tokom ovog procesa, sve vreme koje smo proveli u četvrti, da je možda zapravo i važnije od same slike.
JK: So after all that time, this hill, this idea was still there, and we started to make sketches, models, and we figured something out. We figured that our ideas, our designs had to be a little bit more simple than that last project so that we could paint with more people and cover more houses at the same time. And we had an opportunity to try that out in a community in the central part of Rio, which is called Santa Marta, and we made a design for this place which looked like this, and then we got people to go along with it because turns out that if your idea is ridiculously big, it's easier to get people to go along with this. (Laughter) And the people of Santa Marta got together and in a little over a month they turned that square into this. (Applause) And this image somehow went all over the world.
JK: Dakle, posle svega, ovo brdo, ova ideja je bila tu, pa smo počeli da pravimo nacrte, modele i nešto smo shvatili. Shvatili smo da naše ideje, naši crteži moraju da budu malčice prostiji nego kod prethodnog projekta, kako bismo mogli da slikamo sa više ljudi i da obuhvatimo više kuća, istovremeno. I pružila nam se prilika da to pokušamo u zajednici, u centralnom delu Rija, koja se zove Santa Marta i napravili smo nacrt za ovo mesto, koji je izgledao ovako, onda smo naveli ljude da se uključe jer se ispostavilo da ako imate smešno veliku ideju, lakše je navesti ljude da je prate. (Smeh) Ljudi iz Santa Marte su se okupili i, za nešto više od mesec dana, pretvorili su ovaj trg u ovo. (Aplauz) Ova slika je nekako obišla svet.
DU: So then we received an unexpected phone call from the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, and they had this question if this idea, our approach, if this would actually work in North Philly, which is one of the poorest neighborhoods in the United States. So we immediately said yes. We had no idea how, but it seemed like a very interesting challenge, so we did exactly the same as we did in Rio, and we moved into the neighborhood and started barbecuing. (Laughter) So the project took almost two years to complete, and we made individual designs for every single house on the avenue that we painted, and we made these designs together with the local store owners, the building owners, and a team of about a dozen young men and women. They were hired, and then they were trained as painters, and together they transformed their own neighborhood, the whole street, into a giant patchwork of color. (Applause) And at the end, the city of Philadelphia thanked every single one of them and gave them a merit for their accomplishment.
DU: Onda smo primili neočekivan poziv od Filadelfijskog programa za umetnost murala i pitali su nas da li bi ova ideja, ovaj pristup, da li bi to zapravo funkcionisalo u Severnoj Filadelfiji, koja je jedno od najsiromašnijih naselja u SAD. Mi smo istog časa pristali. Pojma nismo imali kako, ali nam se činilo kao veoma zanimljiv izazov, pa smo postupili identično kao i u Riju, doselili smo se u četvrt i počeli da roštiljamo. (Smeh) Bile su nam potrebne skoro dve godine da završimo projekat. Napravili smo zasebne nacrte za svaku kuću u aveniji koju ćemo oslikati, a nacrte smo osmislili zajedno sa vlasnicima lokalnih radnji, sa vlasnicima zgrada, i sa timom od desetak mladića i devojaka. Unajmljeni su, a potom i obučeni da slikaju i zajedno su preobratili sopstvenu četvrt, čitavu ulicu u ogromno šarenilo boja. (Aplauz) A na kraju je grad Filadelfija zahvalio svakome od njih i odao im zasluge za njihovo postignuće.
JK: So now we had painted a whole street. How about we do this whole hill now? We started looking for funding, but instead, we just ran into questions, like, how many houses are you going to paint? How many square meters is that? How much paint are you going to use, and how many people are you going to employ? And we did try for years to write plans for the funding and answer all those questions, but then we thought, in order to answer all those questions, you have to know exactly what you're going to do before you actually get there and start. And maybe it's a mistake to think like that. It would lose some of the magic that we had learned about that if you go somewhere and you spend time there, you can let the project grow organically and have a life of its own.
JK: Dakle sad smo oslikali čitavu ulicu. Kako bi bilo da to uradimo i sa ovim brdom? Počeli smo da tražimo finansijere, ali smo samo nailazili na pitanja tipa: koliko kuća planirate da oslikate? Koliko je to kvadratnih metara? Koliko boje planirate da koristite i koliko ćete ljudi da zaposlite? I godinama smo pokušavali da izradimo planove za finansiranje i da odgovorimo na sva ta pitanja, ali onda smo shvatili, da bismo odgovorili na sva ta pitanja, moramo tačno da znamo šta ćemo da uradimo pre nego što i počnemo da radimo. I možda je takvo razmišljanje pogrešno. Izgubili bismo deo magije koju otkrijete kada odete negde i provedete vreme tamo, kada pustite da se projekt prirodno razvija i da razvije sopstveni život.
DU: So what we did is we decided to take this plan and strip it away from all the numbers and all the ideas and presumptions and just go back to the base idea, which was to transform this hill into a giant work of art. And instead of looking for funding, we started a crowdfunding campaign, and in a little over a month, more than 1,500 people put together and donated over 100,000 dollars. So for us, this was an amazing moment, because now — (Applause) — because now we finally had the freedom to use all the lessons that we had learned and create a project that was built the same way that the favela was built, from the ground on up, bottom up, with no master plan.
DU: Evo šta smo uradili, odlučili smo da uzmemo ovaj plan i oslobodimo ga svih brojki i svih ideja i pretpostavki i da se prosto vratimo osnovnoj ideji, to jest da preobratimo ovo brdo u džinovsko umetničko delo. I umesto da tražimo finansijere, započeli smo kampanju za finansiranja, i za nešto više od jednog meseca, više od 1.500 ljudi je sakupilo i doniralo preko 100.000 dolara. To je za nas bio predivan momenat, jer smo sad - (Aplauz) - jer smo sad konačno imali slobodu da iskoristimo sve što smo naučili i da napravimo projekat koji je izrađen isto kao što su i favele sagrađene, od temelja do krova, odozdo na gore, bez glavnog plana.
JK: So we went back, and we employed Angelo, and he's a local artist from Vila Cruzeiro, very talented guy, and he knows almost everybody there, and then we employed Elias, our former landlord who invited us into his house, and he's a master of construction. Together with them, we decided where to start. We picked this spot in Vila Cruzeiro, and houses are being plastered as we speak. And the good thing about them is that they are deciding which houses go next. They're even printing t-shirts, they're putting up banners explaining everything to everybody, and talking to the press. This article about Angelo appeared.
JK: Pa smo se vratili i angažovali Anđela, on je lokalni umetnik iz Vila Kruzeira, veoma talentovan momak, koji poznaje skoro svakog tamo. Potom smo zaposili Elijasa, našeg bivšeg domaćina koji nas je primio u svoj dom i on je majstor za izgradnju. Zajedno sa njima, odlučili smo odakle da počnemo. Odabrali smo ovu tačku u Vila Kruzeiru i dok govorimo, kuće se malterišu. Dobra stvar je što oni odlučuju koju kuću sledeću radimo. Oni čak štampaju i majice, postavljaju natpise, objašnjavaju sve svakome i razgovaraju sa novinarima. Pojavio se ovaj članak o Anđelu.
DU: So while this is happening, we are bringing this idea all over the world. So, like the project we did in Philadelphia, we are also invited to do workshops, for instance in Curaçao, and right now we're planning a huge project in Haiti.
DU: Dok proces traje, mi ovu ideju predstavljamo čitavom svetu. Kao i na projektu u Filadelfiji, takođe nas pozivaju da držimo radionice, na primer u Kurasau, a upravo planiramo ogroman projekat u Haitiju.
JK: So the favela was not only the place where this idea started: it was also the place that made it possible to work without a master plan, because these communities are informal — this was the inspiration — and in a communal effort, together with the people, you can almost work like in an orchestra, where you can have a hundred instruments playing together to create a symphony.
JK: Dakle, favela nije bila samo mesto gde je ova ideja začeta, već je to bilo i mesto gde je ideji omogućeno da zaživi, da se ostvari bez glavnog plana, zato što su ove zajednice neformalne - to je bila inspiracija - i zajedničkim naporom, zajedno s ljudima, skoro da liči na rad u orkestru, gde imate stotinu instrumenata koji zajedno sviraju, stvarajući simfoniju.
DU: So we want to thank everybody who wanted to become part of this dream and supported us along the way, and we are looking at continuing.
DU: Želimo da zahvalimo svima koji su želeli da budu deo ovog sna i koji su nas sve vreme podržavali i radujemo se nastavku.
JK: Yeah. And so one day pretty soon, when the colors start going up on these walls, we hope more people will join us, and join this big dream, and maybe one day, the whole of Vila Cruzeiro will be painted.
JK: Da. I uskoro, jednoga dana, kada se boje smeste na ove zidove, nadamo se da će nam se još ljudi pridružiti, da će se pridružiti ovom velikom snu, i da će možda, jednog dana, čitav Vila Kruzeiro biti oslikan.
DU: Thank you.
DU: Hvala.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)