Our world has many superheroes.
But they have the worst of all superpowers: invisibility
For example, Catadores,
workers who collect recyclable materials for a living
Catadores emerge from social inequlity
unemployment, and the abundance of solid waste
from the deficiency of the waste
collection system
cat adores provide a heavy, honest and essential work
that benefits the entire population
but they are not acknowledged for it
here in brazil, they collect
90 percent of all the waste
that's actually recyclced
most of the catadores work independentally
picking waste on the streets
and selling to junk yards
at very low prices
they may collect over 300 kilos
in their bags, shopping carts
bicycles, and cajosas
cajosas are carts built from wood or metal
and found in several streets in brazil.
much like graffiti and street art
and this is how i first these marganizalised superheroes
i am a graffiti artist and activist
and my art is social, environmental and political
in nature
in 2007, i took my work beyond walls
and onto the cajosas
as a new word of support for my message
but at this time, giving voice to the catadores
by adding art in humor to the cause
it became more appealing
which helped call attention
to the catadores
and improve their self esteem
and now they are famous on the street
on mass media, in social
the thing is,
i plunged into this universe
and have not stopped working since
i have painted over 200 cajosas
in many cities
and have been invited to do exhibitions and trips
worldwide
and then i realized that cat adores in their invisibility
are not exclusive to brazil
i met them in argentina, chile, bolivia south africa, turkey
and even developed countries such as
united states
and japan
and this was when i realized
that i need to
have more people join the cause
it's a big challenge
then, i created a collaborative movement
called pimp my carroja
A large crowd fund event
(Applause)