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Can marginalized art stand up for marginalizedpeople? Renowned Brazilian graffiti artist PanmelaCastro is using paint to reclaim public spaces forfemale bodies – and training a generation of feministactivists to demand respect.

Věřǿňįčǻ Mǻřqųěș Jųň, 07 2016 Ǻppřǿx. 5 mįňųțěș

Ňěvěř mįșș ǻňųpđǻțěȘįģň ųp fǿř ǿųř ňěẅșŀěțțěř țǿ řěčěįvěẅěěķŀỳ ųpđǻțěș ǻňđ fěǻțųřěđ įňșįģħțșǻș ẅě čǿvěř ǿňě ǿf țħě mǿșț čřįțįčǻŀįșșųěș ǿf ǿųř țįmě.

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Brazil’s Graffiti Queen DemandsRespect

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Panmela Castro found two tools to get ideas about women’s rights

into the everyday lives of ordinary Brazilians: a can of spray paint

and a wall.

An internationally renowned graf ti artist and feminist activist,

Castro lls public spaces with paintings that highlight gender

Čřįșěș ǻňđ Čǿňfŀįčțș

Pǻňměŀǻ Čǻșțřǿ ẅǻňțș ħěř ģřǻffįțį țǿ čǿňțřįbųțě țǿ țħě ǻẅǻķěňįňģ ǿf ẅǿměň ǻňđ ģįřŀș țǿ fěmįňįșm. Photo by

Panmela Castro portfolio

Țħě Ěųřǿpěǻň řěfųģěě čřįșįș įș jųșț ǿňěřěčěňț ěxǻmpŀě ǿf ħǿẅ čřįșěș ǻňđ čǿňfŀįčțșčǻň đěșțǻbįŀįżě ŀįvěș ǻňđ břįňģ ħǻřm țǿẅǿměň ǻňđ ģįřŀș ǻș țħěỳ fŀěě țřǿųbŀěđ ǻřěǻș.Ẅě ěxǻmįňě țħě đěěp șǿųřčěș ǿf țħįșųpħěǻvǻŀ.

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inequality and challenge patriarchal norms in sexism, sexuality and

power.

She got her start a decade ago when Brazil passed its landmark

Maria da Penha Law on domestic violence against women in 2006 –

the country’s rst law to give teeth to protections for women.

Castro was inspired to use her art as activism.

Since 2010, she has been founder and president of Rede Nami, a

feminist group that uses urban art forms to promote women’s

rights. Rede Nami runs graf ti workshops that have had more than

5,000 participants learn the art form and create works that confront

racism and violence.

“As soon as we schedule a graf ti workshop and announce that the

theme is women, women’s registrations soar,” Castro says. “Graf ti

is a good time and people like that, but in these workshops,

women’s presence feels more accepted – more acceptable.”

Castro spoke with Women and Girls Hub about changing Brazilian

attitudes and actions toward women.

Women and Girls Hub: Rede Nami combines graffiti –an art form that historically has been marginalized –with feminism and women’s rights. Where does this

with feminism and women’s rights. Where does thisconnection come from?

Panmela Castro: I was a victim of domestic violence. Through the

hip-hop scene, I became aware of human rights and feminism;

before that, there wasn’t anyone in my life who introduced those

ideas to me. When I discovered graf ti, I saw that within it there

was a discussion and a dialogue about these issues that I’d never

noticed before.

As I became a graf ti artist and a feminist, I resolved to use my art

and my knowledge to contribute to awakening others. To help other

girls discover these ideas, I founded Rede Nami – and it really grew.

As soon as I started calling my female friends, they called their

female friends, and it took off.

Women and Girls Hub: How did you begin focusing onmaking graffiti paintings of women?

Castro: In the beginning, my graf ti was very masculine, Because of

that, I earned respect in the scene: There was “boy’s graf ti” and

“girl’s graf ti” – the latter composed of owers and dolls. I made

graf ti that people called boy’s graf ti, so I ended up being

accepted. Once I was accepted, I realized what was happening: The

boys told me that my graf ti was “so good that it didn’t seem like a

woman made it.”

As soon as I realized that, I resolved to make graf ti that combats

violence against women. Graf ti happens in public spaces, and

those spaces are very risky for the female body. With these

paintings, we occupy those spaces and demand women be respected

within them. I came into myself as a woman and made a point to

create hyperfeminine work to put a little femininity into the street

to force it to accept me within this masculine space.

Women and Girls Hub: When you paint these women,who do they represent, and why?

Castro: People always ask me this question and I never know how to

respond, because a painting is very subjective. I don’t like to say

that it’s the expression of my own feelings or experiences, or the

experiences of the women I meet, because I don’t consider this to

Pǻňměŀǻ Čǻșțřǿ mǻķěș ģřǻffįțį pǻįňțįňģș țǿ čǿmbǻț vįǿŀěňčě ǻģǻįňșț ẅǿměň. Șħě șǻỳș țħě fųțųřě ẅǿměň ẅǻňț

“įș șțįŀŀ věřỳ fǻř ǻẅǻỳ, bųț ẅě ķěěp čǿňqųěřįňģ ǻňđ ẅįňňįňģ.” (Pǻňměŀǻ Čǻșțřǿ pǿřțfǿŀįǿ.)

be art on a wall but rather a female body in dialogue with the city: a

dialogue with everything you have to deal with, and go through,

until you reach that point on the wall. In this there are themes of

otherness and existence, but what is most important is the woman

herself who is painted on the wall, because she is only the result of

a moment of experience in that place.

Women and Girls Hub: What are the challenges interms of advancing women’s rights in Brazil?

Castro: Culture and laws come from the people who make them.

They are ways to change the way that people think. I see this in

graf ti. Brazil is the only country in which graf ti is legal and

regulated as an art. Before laws existed to regulate it, people always

liked it and we could always make it, but there was a law that

criminalized it, and the fact that a law existed made us question

changing it.

Today, the law says that graf ti is art. In practice, it didn’t change

anything, but we now can show that though you may think graf ti

is [trash], the law says otherwise.

When there is a change in the law, changing the culture is much

easier. Ten years ago it was thought that it’s natural for a man to hit

a woman. Today, with the Maria da Penha Law, every boy in this

new generation knows that it is wrong to beat a woman.

Women and Girls Hub: In Brazil there are increasingnumbers of young feminists emerging in secondaryschools and women’s collectives. How do you comparethis new generation with the one in which you grew up?What’s different?

Castro: This newest generation of women is much more aware that

there is still a need for change – that women have to be politicized

and that a woman must think critically about her position in the

world. It’s a generation that’s much more open to think about these

issues; before, fewer women were aware of these ideas. These days,

every girl has thought about feminism at some point. Even when

she doesn’t think she’s thinking about “feminism,” she is thinking

about the fundamental ideas that form feminism and staking her

claim within it.

Women and Girls Hub: For you, being a feminist is …

Castro: It’s respecting different ways of thinking about women. It’s

respecting women in general. It’s letting a woman be who she wants

to be.

Women and Girls Hub: For you as an artist-activist,what is the future for women?

Castro: The future that we want to have is still a long way off.

Ǻ Řěđě Ňǻmį ģřǻffįțį ẅǿřķșħǿp țǿ ěňđ vįǿŀěňčě ǻģǻįňșț ẅǿměň ẅǻș ħěŀđ ǿň Șěpțěmběř 3, 2015, įň Ňǿvǻ İģųǻçų,

Řįǿ Jǻňěįřǿ, Břǻżįŀ. (Řěđě Ňǻmį)

Sometimes that causes discouragement, but we can’t miss a beat.

We have to continue moving because if we compare things to the

entire history of humanity, the advances that we have made in the

last century were enormous. We know this was an achievement, but

it was also a necessity. What we want is still very far away, but we

keep conquering and winning.

Pǻňměŀǻ Čǻșțřǿ șǻỳș ħěř pǻįňțįňģș ǻřě “ǻ fěmǻŀě bǿđỳ įň đįǻŀǿģųě ẅįțħ țħě čįțỳ.” (Pǻňměŀǻ Čǻșțřǿ pǿřțfǿŀįǿ)

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