Advertisement
Art

Street art is pointing homeless people and their dogs towards safe shelter

Five Brazilian street artists have created art to divert rough sleepers to temporary accommodation in São Paulo

For many Big Issue vendors, having a canine companion or a feline friend can offer some much-needed company while selling the magazine.

But pets can also be a barrier to securing accommodation, with many homeless shelters, hostels or private rental properties operating a strict no animal policy.

This was also a problem in the Brazilian city of São Paulo where, despite the number of homeless people swelling to 20,000, shelters were being left deserted after people opted to stay on the streets rather than abandon their pets.

Officials tackled the problem by building temporary accommodation that also featured spots for pets in kennels.

But how could they get the message out to the homeless people of the city, many of whom are without access to the internet, social media and other forms of communication?

The answer lay in graffiti. Officials enlisted the help of Nova/sb, a São Paulo-based advertising agency, to mobilise five street artists – Galo, Randal, Pixote, Thassio and René Muniz – to spray the way to the centres.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Each artist was given a pitch on the roof of a viaduct or other areas where rough sleepers gathered in the city, with the only instruction being to make it clear that the shelters were nearby and dog friendly.

From there they could create whatever design they pleased in their own inimitable style to get the message across.

“The main goal is to talk to people when they go to sleep, when this is the scenario they see: the roof of the viaducts. It’s like using the public space as a new way of communication, and specific to talk with our target: the homeless people,” said Átila Francucci, creative vice-president of Nova/sb.

Advertisement

Become a Big Issue member

3.8 million people in the UK live in extreme poverty. Turn your anger into action - become a Big Issue member and give us the power to take poverty to zero.

Recommended for you

Read All
Fin DAC: 'As a creator of public murals, I aspire to leave spaces brighter than I found them'
Fin DAC
Fin DAC

Fin DAC: 'As a creator of public murals, I aspire to leave spaces brighter than I found them'

'It's art for people': This one-man kayak project shows the beauty of slowing down
Lying down flat in a kayak offers a rarely seen view of the UK’s waterways
Art

'It's art for people': This one-man kayak project shows the beauty of slowing down

'I cried my eyes out making this': Meet the artists in homeless exhibition backed by Prince William
david tovey
Art

'I cried my eyes out making this': Meet the artists in homeless exhibition backed by Prince William

Superstar Arts: This charity gives people with learning disabilities the chance to create
Art

Superstar Arts: This charity gives people with learning disabilities the chance to create

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue