Back to Rio

4 October -  29 October

Haas&Hahn

Between 2005 and now, the favelas of Rio de Janeiro have provided the inspiration and locations for several public artworks that Haas&Hahn painted together with local community members. Each new project being larger than the last, they now aim to realize their ultimate dream; to plaster and paint an entire hillside favela. With your help they will return to Rio to create this community artwork of unprecedented scale: A monument that will radiate the pride and energy of the people who live in a community that they built with their own hands.

Haas&Hahn
Haas&Hahn is a duo of two Dutch artists, Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn. Their collaboration started when they filmed a documentary for MTV about hiphop in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and São Paolo. Inspired by this journey they started the Favela Painting project 

Art is a unique messenger, crossing borders and building bridges. If implemented in an intelligent way it can be powerful weapon to catalyze social change. This is the main objective of the Favela Painting Project, founded by Haas & Hahn. Turning public urban spaces in deprived places into inspiring and monumental artworks.

Offering local youth education- and job opportunities, while making their community a nicer place to live in. A strong social acupuncture that could unlock local potential, boost the pride and self esteem and send a strong positive message to the outside world.

The Favela Painting Project started in 2005 in Rio de Janeiro. A series of projects was set up in Vila Cruzeiro and quickly spread to other places like Santa Marta. Together with local youth they created amazing results that became monuments in Rio’s urban landscape, changed public opinion and attracted massive coverage by international media.

Favela Painting is not about cosmetically ‘camouflaging’ an area but aims at creating lasting effects. Using creativity and imagination to rethink, redesign and thereby rebrand a community as a whole.