From the sandy shores of Rio de Janeiro's wealthy beach areas to the darkest corners of its shantytowns, vibrant graffiti can be found decorating various buildings. A graffiti artist is painting on Leblon beach.

 

　　"Because Rio de Janeiro is a very joyful city, there's this tropical thing. The colors, the sun and graffiti are colorful. There's a very strong expression. I think that sometimes without even having great effects, the color is enough to send a message. Personally, I think that graffiti and Rio de Janeiro go hand in hand. Rio de Janeiro has its grey areas that we try to color to change that image."

 

　　Kledison Barbosa, who lives on the outskirts of Rio, says graffiti can help change the stereotypes of the city's slums.

 

　　"This is for communities that really need graffiti. The concept takes away the idea that these communities are places you cannot venture into. There has to be some kind of art to attract people's attention."

 

　　In 2010, when the Christ the Redeemer statue was spray-painted with signatures and symbols, a type of graffiti called "pichacao" in Portuguese, Rio de Janeiro's secretary for conservation and public services officials decided to stamp out such vandalism.

 

　　Carlos Osorio, the city's current secretary for conservation and public services, explains.

 

　　"What we are trying to do is encourage graffiti and at the same time decide with the graffiti artists what is acceptable and what is unacceptable from an urban point of view. The communities have been immensely affected by the pichacao (graffiti tags) issue, and graffiti art is starting to turn this around."

 

　　Two years later, the Brazilian city has again been covered in graffiti—but this time with the city's endorsement.

 

　　Gallery owner Andre Brettas is a member of a street art gang who has connections to the office of the secretary of conservation and public services.

 

　　"They called me to find out who had done it. Instead of repressing the pichacao, I suggested we create a pro-graffiti movement."

 

　　After that phone call, Brettas set up the R.U.A. Institute for Urban Artistic Revitalization. The institute allows street artists to formally work hand in hand with city authorities on projects that replace ugly graffiti tags with vibrant artwork. It is unusual to be able to walk for more than two blocks in Rio without seeing some kind of street art.

 

　　Here is Carlos Roberto Osorio, Rio de Janeiro's secretary for conservation and public services, again.

 

　　"Our perception of graffiti has changed. The communities used to suffer immensely from the pichacao issue, and now graffiti is turning this game around."

 

　　Rio is a major centre for the Art Deco style of architecture. And the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado is considered a classic example of Art Deco work.

 

　　However, even this iconic statue was vandalized. After that, the city in partnership with the R.U.A. Institute and other private sponsors facilitated several urban art projects. The artists were provided with paint and security guards and given an assurance that their graffiti would not be removed.

 

　　In 2012, a gigantic wall next to a train station in a slum, was painted by 15 street artists during a weeklong project approved by the city at the request of the train station.

 

　　In the past, these artists would have been chased away or arrested.

 

　　Graffiti artist Bruno Big has seen several positive examples of how graffiti has revitalized formerly abandoned areas of the city.

 

　　"When I started painting here in Rio I felt a lot of freedom and interaction with the public with the people living here as well. Nowadays, we get to know people. Here they know me by my name. One of the most interesting things about graffiti is this exchange that we have when we paint in the streets."

 

　　Big, who is more successful abroad than in Rio, sells his work in Paris and New York. Still, he comes back to Lapa every now and then to fulfill graffiti requests by residents.

 

　　He says graffiti artists here don't paint for themselves; they paint for everyone. That's what makes graffiti the most democratic form of art in Rio de Janeiro.

 

　　For CRI, I am Zhang Wan.