MAR-ECO was here!

Art is an important aspect of the public outreach work in MAR-ECO. The ways of communicating science through art vary, some have particular appeal to the younger public. MAR-ECO is being profiled all over the world, now with graffiti in Brazil.

If you take a walk in Arambepe in the suburbs of Salvador in Brazil, you will find a huge graffiti painting on a wall in the village street. Fishes, cephalopods, medusa and other deep-sea organisms are artistically woven in between the colourful, huge letters.

by Jo Høyer (picture to right by Trond Ola Tilseth)

Our former colleague in the MAR-ECO PO group, Anette Petersen, has never forgot her MAR-ECO mission. In her new job as an advisor at the College of Ålesund, she recently visited, Brazil. There she met Roderigo Vitoriio Libsboa Souza, a graffiti artist and a communal, social worker helping young drug victims in the area. Anette decided to take advantage of the opportunity to use her former experiences as a passionate graffiti artist by working in collaboration with Roderigo. The result of their work is this spectacular graffiti illustration on the wall.

Some discussions had to be done with the owner of the wall before they started. The owner was understandably sceptical in the beginning, but was convinced when it was presented as a contemporary art project.

“If you want to communicate, you also have to present important messages in new forms … for the next generation. Graffiti is one way of doing it,” says Anette.

The result was spectacular. The owner of the wall apparently clapped her hands enthusiastically when she saw the psychedelic deep-sea expressions on the Brazilian wall.

Go to Brazil and see it for yourself!

picture by Anette Petersen