creative forces

Blog # 61…September 2016

How great to hear that the Paralympics are getting such attention in Rio. I loved the opening ceremonies, especially the piece by Brazilian artist Vik Muniz.that was assembled at the end of the athlete’s parade - 500 plates shaped like jig saw pieces were carried in by the different delegations and placed to form a giant mosaic in the centre of Maracana Stadium.

Muniz first caught my attention with the 2010 film Wasteland. He visited Jardim Gramacho, the world’s largest landfill just outside Rio de Janiero where he spent time getting to know the catadores - the men and women who pick through the refuse.  They spend their days sorting it to be sold for recycling.  Muniz took individual photos and guided them in creating portraits of themselves out of recycled materials. The result was a series of pieces that were exhibited in a Rio gallery with the catadores proudly in attendance.

He spoke movingly in the film about how carefully he’d considered the experience of being subjects of an art piece and how it would affect the participants, conscious that the attention could set unrealistic expectations. Changes in their lives were generally positive, especially for one woman who chose to return to the dump to cook for the gang, realizing that she had some choices but it was important to be with her friends. Vik’s sensibility was a perfect match for the spirit of the Paralympics…as was Priscila Uppal’s when she was named Canadian poet laureate of the Games in BC and in London.  See Blog # 7.

The Paralympics themselves are incredible. I first heard about sports for people with disabilities in England when a colleague told me about the Stoke Mandeville Games (a UK centre for the treatment of spinal cord injuries) which were held first in1948 at the Olympics in London. The athletes participating were16 injured service men and women in wheelchairs competing in archery. The movement grew to the international event we recognize today...