Philippines – “Benguet Houses turned into Colorful Mural”
Houses in Barangay Balili in La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines were turned into a colorful mural, reminiscent of Brazil’s favelas. Photo courtesy of Department of Tourism – Cordillera Administrative Region.
“The project was adapted from the favela paintings in Brazil.
The project is a first in the country, and is designed by the Tam-awan Village artists. The main theme of the mural is the sunflower…
Over 18,000 square meters or 150 houses will be painted.
…The residents themselves are the ones painting the houses along with other volunteers, like students and members of the police.
The paint is free and the residents recognize the economic benefits they will gain from the project.
Some of them are looking forward to expanding their businesses.”
Read more about it here
Mexico – “Mexican Government Let Street Artists Paint 200 Houses To Unite The Community”
Read more about it here
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What do we do about social perception towards marginalized communities?
To quote the original video that you can find here: “…although these communities cover nearly every hillside of the city, this somehow did not seem to be considered a legitimate part of it. They were feared, endured constant negative portrayal in the media, and suffered under heavy conflicts between drug gangs and police. Self-built and self-organized, to us the favela seemed to be full of creativity and hope. This made us think, then suddenly we had a crazy idea. What if we could paint all these houses in the communities into unifying designs. It could make the neighbourhood look more beautiful and as for attention: in a positive way. You could make people stop and look…and show the outside world what proud and vibrant communities favelas really are.”
Here’s a good talk about that.
https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/haas_hahn_how_painting_can_transform_communities.html
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Check out Haas & Hahn’s page here
And their Twitter here
And their Instagram here
Check out the Ted page here
…by Shalak Attack (from Chile based in Toronto, ON), Bruno Smoky (from Sao Paulo, Brazil, based in Toronto, ON), and Fiya Bruxa (Chile, currently based in Toronto, ON)
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Met Shalak Attack and Bruno Smoky at a coffee shop. I was doodling and they approached me (“Oh I think she’s an artist too!”). We briefly talked about art and communities in the city. They just got in the city from Cuba but have been traveling all over Canada, making art and getting involved in projects.
There’s not a lot of female street artists and from what I’ve gathered, and read, so it was pretty cool to have met one.
For those of you wondering where in Toronto it is, it’s right at Lawrence and Caledonia
Check out Shalak Attack’s site here
And her Facebook here
And her Instagram here
Check out Bruno Smoky’s site here
And his Facebook here
And his Instagram here
Check out Fiya Bruxa’s site here
And her Instagram here
Find out more about Essencia Art Collective here
And an interview with Shalak Attack
…by Doctor Nativo (Guatemala)
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Check out his site here
And his Spotify here
And on iTunes here
And his Bandcamp here
…directed by Diplo, as Wesley Pentz (USA) and Leandro HBL (Brazil)
“For 20 years, a subculture has emerged in Brazil under society’s radar. It is the culture surrounding ‘funk carioca’, a musical rhythm which mixes the American electronic funk of the 1980’s with the most diverse influences of Brazilian music. ‘Baile funk’ is one of the most interesting musical movements in the world, but it comes from what is at times, one of the most violent and poorest places in the world: the slums of Rio de Janeiro (favelas). this music is the personalization of the raw element. Bombastic rhythms coming from the American Miami Bass and samples are fused with powerful rap vocals using Brazilian slang. This documentary tells stories of sex, love, poverty, and pride among Rio’s marginalized people. They have their own language, style, and heroes. It’s a film that’s fast, heavy, and violent like the city itself.”
– Written by Mad Decent
favela on blast – us version – with english subtitles from joonspoon on Vimeo.
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Check out Mad Decent’s (Diplo) site here
And Mosquito Project (Leandro HBL) here
And check out the flick’s IMDB page here
…translated “In the balance of the Canoe”
…a track by Maga Bo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) from the album “Quilombo du Futuro”
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You can buy the album on Bandcamp here
Check out Maga Bo’s site here
And his Soundcloud here
…is a flooded cave system located north of Tulum, on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The exploration of Dos Ojos began in 1987 and still continues.
– Wikipedia
Playa del Carmen is only a few hours ride away from several Cenotes in Tulum, Mexico.
img courtesy of Every Steph
We went diving in it and there was a rope line to guide divers around. There was sunlight in many parts but there were also plenty that was so dark, we needed our flashlights.
It made me feel… irrelevant. It reminded me that I’m just another speck of dust in this world: a state of being that I am constantly on the lookout for, which is one of the reasons why I do these things.
Anyway, there’s also this thing called the halocline effect (density of saltwater changing or, in this case, saltwater and freshwater meet but don’t mix), which was happening at many points in the cave. Some parts were blurry like looking through a translucent, textured glass, whereas some parts look like a different body of water in itself. The divemaster warned us about the latter because of the illusion of “coming out from the water” and apparently some people had taken off their masks. We kept ours… but it was pretty unreal.
The Yucatan peninsula doesn’t have any lakes or anything for freshwater so this is where the Mayans got their supply 500 years ago. It’s insane. There are apparently spots where you can squeeze (when you push yourself through narrow gaps in between rocks); we didn’t do that but I think there’s that option for technical divers, which is a different route from the recreational one.
(If you’re interested in seeing more: Planet Earth, Ep. 4.)
DO NOT dive here if you have claustrophobic tendencies. The divemaster compared the large openings to the size of the gas truck. I’d say it was bigger and those bits were easy enough to navigate but there were spaces that were really narrow.
My buoyancy is not bad for ocean diving but for this, you have to be really steady.
I kept hitting the stalactites & stalagmites. It was a hassle, not mention a hazard (to the cave, your equipment – your life support – and therefore, yourself).
The divemaster held on to me during those parts to minimize the damage.
img courtesy of Cold Water Kitty
Either way, this is still most definitely worth checking out. You can go swimming, snorkeling… the view alone from its shallow waters are well worth the several hours’ ride.
We stayed in an all-in hotel thing so it was good to get out of the resort too. I like staying in bamboo-things and hippie stuff places when I’m in tropical areas but all-ins are great if you’re pressed for time and/or you’re literally just there to dive and care about nothing else.
Belgian guy: “What does Heineken and the beach have in common?”
What?
Belgian guy: “It’s both close to water.” (Laughs)
Isn’t Heineken, Belgian?
Belgian guy: (insulted) “No!”
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From then on, we called him “Heineken.”
…as in, “OK, Heineken. Whatever you say.”
Note: Heineken is Dutch.
…is dubbed the “underwater river” in Mexico. It goes straight down around 200 ft, you can dive until about 30m/100ish feet.
It’s about an hour ride away from Playa del Carmen.
Cenote Angelita
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This site was about a 15-minute walk from where you park. So, you have to walk there with all your gear, including your tank(s), in your damp, neoprene wetsuit.
It’s nothing glamorous at all but if you like the movie, Sleepy Hollow, you will like this site.
Sleepy Hollow = 1%
All the hassle + hydrogen sulfide, which will shave years off your life = 99%
Read more about Cenote Angelita here
Gelene 