the other week i went to a conference entitled “the arts as a tool in the fight against poverty” which had presentations by a variety of ngo’s that use music or acrobatics or art to impact society. They had a variety of approaches, such as teaching classical to youth from marginalized neighborhoods or giving “poor” people the chance to create a the content for a locally broadcasted tv show.
One group I found particularly interesting was Grupo Escombros – artistas de lo que queda (artists of what remains). They describe themselves as a “group that intervines in the public space, generally in those cast-off places….they work in the margins, in the street, in the abandoned places.” So through their work, they seek to call attention to “…la socided fracturada, al hombre roto” (the fractured society, to the broken man). And so as a result, “El arte se vuelve una forma de conciencia del ser social” (Art becomes a social conscious form of being). I really found their method and message to be powerful. So often society tries to close its eyes to the pain of the “least of these” and so this is a small step to begin to see.
You can check out their website at: www.grupoescombros.com.ar
Mural Text:
. Sangre de los desocupados abandonados a su suerte.
. Sangre de los adolescentes que no tienen futuro.
. Sangre de los chicos de la calle condenados a la intemperie
. Sangre de los enfermos que no tienen acceso a la medicina.
. Sangre de los desnutridos que mueren de hambre.
. Sangre de los jubilados humillados por un sistema previsional injusto.
. Blood of the unemployed abandoned to their luck.
. Blood of teens who have no future.
. Blood of the kids in the street facing the weather.
. Blood of patients who have no access to medicine.
. Blood of the malnourished starving.
. Blood of humiliated retirees by a unfair pension system
Wandering Joy 