São Paulo – The Tunisian Jean Paul Ganem is a landscaper, fine artist, and a dreamer. He dreams of a better, more colourful world. After having worked and travelled around a lot, he developed the concept of Landscape Art, by which he alters the landscape of a given site to build a work of art using gardening techniques. He has made over 50 rural and urban interventions in various regions of France and Canada. Now it is the turn of Brazil, a country that he has known for twenty years. The “gardener” artist wants to turn what formerly was the Aldeinha slum into a park and a space for artistic performances. (View a video on the project below the article)
The plan, which is being carried out by the team of production company Brazimage, consists of reproducing, with flowers and grass, the architectural plan of the site that once housed the slum. The area of roughly 17,000 square metres is located in the east side of São Paulo, on the Marginal Tietê avenue, near the Julio de Mesquita Neto bridge. More than 500 families that used to live there have been transferred to other neighbourhoods, such as Itaim Paulista and Água Branca, something that had already been planned prior to the project’s implementation.
The gardens are going to make reference to the old inhabitants of the place. The small houses and alleys will be redrawn using plants and flowers, allowing for a re-reading of the old environment and for a debate through art. “My work is more like life’s eyes. It is a way of thinking about life. An artist needs to think in the moment and sow a transforming seed inside people’s heads,” says Ganem. “I create the skeleton. The muscle, the strength is up to the rest of the group,” he claims.
The inhabitants of the region themselves, along with former slum dwellers, are going to maintain the work. For such, they will attend professional training workshops in sewing, gardening and woodworking in July and August. “The beauty of people’s work lies in altering the environment in which they are settled. In looking at a place that used to house something completely contaminated and devastated and seeing something beautiful works as an agent of change. This alone improves self-esteem, influences the cultural aspect and the social perception of those people,” he explains.
“We are concerned about the human part of the project. If we manage to change the lives of some people, that alone will make us happy. The formation of people is the key to the real world,” he adds.
In partnership with the Secretariat for Culture of the São Paulo City Hall and the Social Service for Trade (Sesc), the premises should host an intense schedule including music, circus, street theatre, and dancing. The site will include an exhibition space and several modalities of street art, such as graffiti, plus a space for picnics, an area for skate, and another for educational games for children.
According to the artist, some of the park’s structure will be made using recycled materials, such as the marquee of cardboard and varnish with a roof of toothpaste tubes, to be built by Brazilian artist Nido Campolongo.
Arab heritage
Jean Paul Ganem was born in Tunisia, but migrated with his parents and brother to France at only eight years of age. As a child, the artist used to spend his holidays in July in his homeland, which led to some great memories. “I used to play football on the street and on the beach with my cousins, and Arab food has always been present in my house,” recollects Jean, who acquired a taste for cooking and eating couscous, kofta and ragout (a dish made from vegetables or meat).
According to him, having experienced the Arab and French cultures has led him to become a citizen of the world. “It is amazing how I am able to feel at home anywhere,” he claims.
The Bloom Project Aldeinha has already received support from Brazilian personalities and artists such as the musician Tom Zé, who was also the star of a guests-only show at Sesc Pompéia, in November 2009, and allowed his instrumental song “Toc” to be used as soundtrack to videos on the project.
You can also participate
In order to ensure the economic feasibility of the project, which is still in a fund-raising phase, companies and natural persons may collaborate by purchasing virtual plots. The minimum cost of each plot is 100 Brazilian real (US$ 57) and buyers will receive a numbered photograph, signed by the author.
Contact
Bloom Project Aldeinha
http://www.bloomproject.org.br
Brazimage
http://www.brazimage.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
