{"id":263385,"date":"2019-12-03T07:00:22","date_gmt":"2019-12-03T10:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=263385"},"modified":"2019-12-02T14:16:18","modified_gmt":"2019-12-02T17:16:18","slug":"morocco-replicates-brazils-handcart-art-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/morocco-replicates-brazils-handcart-art-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Morocco replicates Brazil\u2019s handcart art experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Brazilian non-governmental organization (NGO) Pimp My Carro\u00e7a<\/a><\/em> upgrades and paints up the handcarts of recyclable waste pickers. Its work has been replicated in Morocco, the Arab country in North Africa. A staple of the NGO\u2019s work is a collaborative day that sees handcarts upgraded and stamped with artwork by volunteers and artists. The same happened in Morocco\u2019s Casablanca and Mekn\u00e8s on two occasions, in 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n

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Waste pickers and volunteers get together for events<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pimp My Carro\u00e7a <\/em>Innovation and Partnerships manager Elissa Fichtler reveals that the project was brought to Morocco by the local language teacher Sonia Cooker, who watched a lecture by Pimp My Carro\u00e7a <\/em>founder Mundano and decided to do the same in her country. Sonia got help from her students.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said it was hard, because the pickers couldn\u2019t understand why someone would help them. They were really distrustful during the process,\u201d Elissa told ANBA via email. Nevertheless, she said the work was very important, and that one of the revamped handcarts has since become famous as a symbol of Casablanca. The following year, Sonia did another edition in Mekn\u00e8s. She would like to do more, but is having trouble finding the funds, according to Elissa.<\/p>\n

The NGO\u2019s work has been replicated in many countries other than Morocco before. \u201cSince our first edition, we got a lot of spontaneous press. People in other cities and countries got in touch so they could do the same in their areas,\u201d says Elissa. Since engaging society is one of the cornerstones of the organization, Pimp My Carro\u00e7a<\/em> shares its knowledge and provides full support to its replicators.<\/p>\n

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Handcarts get refurbished<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pimp My Carro\u00e7a<\/em> is the brainchild of S\u00e3o Paulo-based artist and activist Mundano, who found that pickers\u2019 handcarts were the ideal medium for his protest art. Elissa explains that the goal in slapping sayings like \u201cDon\u2019t honk your horn, just say hi\u201d onto the carts was to fight prejudice and shine a light on the human beings who spend their days picking up trash and pulling a vehicle with their bare hands. \u201cNot to mention that pickers would be prouder about their work with their carts covered in graffiti,\u201d says Elissa.<\/p>\n

Before the program even had a name, the first pimped-up carts started going around the city. The work grew in size and impact, and then Pimp My Carro\u00e7a<\/em> came into being in 2012. A major collaborative event was held that same year in S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Anhangaba\u00fa Valley. Handcarts were refurbished and got paint jobs, and waste pickers got medical attention, citizenship and wellbeing services, and plenty of cultural activities. In 2016, another NGO \u2013 Movimento de Pimpadores<\/em>, or the Pimpers\u2019 Movement<\/em> \u2013 was created to enhance the work and the fundraising.<\/p>\n

Pimp My Carro\u00e7a <\/em>has headquarters in S\u00e3o Paulo and Recife, plus two standalone units in Cali and Bogota, Colombia. The NGO relies on a 13-strong hired staff, a network of 2,500 volunteers, and over 1,100 artists, and the support of companies, city halls, individual donors, and organizations. All its actions are designed to bring recognition and a fair pay to recyclable waste pickers, using art and societal engagement as tools.<\/p>\n

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Waste pickers get personal care<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Activities come in various formats. There\u2019s a major eponymous event; a mini edition called Pimpex<\/em> \u2013 which caters to four pickers; there\u2019s Pimp Our Cooperative<\/em>, which upgrades recyclers\u2019 cooperatives; Pimp Challenge<\/em> \u2013 so people can experience what being a picker is like; and Artivist Actions<\/em>, featuring urban art interventions to spark reflection and optimize the pickers\u2019 work.<\/p>\n

A mobile app called Cataki<\/em> was also created, to connect pickers and people with need to dispose of recyclables. The app features 4,500 pickers in over 500 Brazilian cities, and was named the World\u2019s Best Technological Innovation Project by Netexplo, a digital innovation prize. It also won People\u2019s Choice at the Chivas Venture 2019, an award for technological initiatives with a socioenvironmental impact.<\/p>\n

And the NGO has plans for further expansion. New features will be added to the Cataki<\/em> app next year. Also slated for 2020 is an ambassadors\u2019 program and the final prototype for an electric-powered handcart, with backing from the Institute for Climate and Society (ICS) and the Institute for Technological Research (IPT). \u201cThe big challenge will be to develop [an electric handcart] that every picker can get access to, and maybe even buy it through their recycling work,\u201d says Elissa.<\/p>\n

Quick facts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pimp My Carro\u00e7a
\nPhone: +55 11 3034 2375
\nSite<\/a> – Facebook<\/a> – Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n

Press Release<\/div>\n
Press Release<\/div>\n
Press Release<\/div>\n
Press Release<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Brazilian organization called Pimp My Carro\u00e7a restores and paints up the handcarts of recyclable waste pickers, with the help of artists and volunteers. Similar work was done in two Moroccan cities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1455,"featured_media":263363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[12891,12889,12884,9558,12890,12887,5884,12888,12886],"class_list":{"0":"post-263385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sustainability","8":"tag-carroca-en","9":"tag-handcart","10":"tag-marrocos-sustentavel","11":"tag-morocco-en","12":"tag-pimp-my-carroca-en","13":"tag-recyclable","14":"tag-recycling","15":"tag-street-art","16":"tag-waste-pickers"},"wps_subtitle":"A Brazilian organization called Pimp My Carro\u00e7a restores and paints up the handcarts of recyclable waste pickers, with the help of artists and volunteers. Similar work was done in two Moroccan cities.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1455"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}