Art Rua 2014 Festival Celebrates Street Art in Rio

By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Complete with expositions, live graffiti demonstrations, and live music, the third edition of Art Rua will take place in the Centro Cultural Ação da Cidadania (Cultural Center of the Citizen Action), located in the neighborhood of Gamboa. From Thursday, September 11th through Sunday, September 14th, Art Rua highlights the best of street art and urban culture in Rio and from around the world.

The main exhibition of Art Rua 2014 will be seven giant graffiti panels created by Brazilian and international artists; The London Police from England, Seth Globe Painter from France, Ana Marietta from Puerto Rico, and Brazilians artists, Ramon Martins, Toz , Bicicleta Sem Freio and Rodrigo Branco. The murals will be on display on the first floor of the Cultural Center of the Citizen Action.

The center of the event is an approximately 14,000 m2 two-story space. Built by André Rebolledo in 1871, it became the first warehouse in the Port Zone of the city. Reformed in 2002 by architect Hélio Pellegrino, the building joined many other structures in that area of the city, that have undergone major renovations during the last two decades.

The perception of street art, like that of  Rio’s Port Zone, has also undergone a major remodel during recent years. Graffiti in Rio moved from simple tags, to more elaborate and colorful murals filling the city’s walls to social activism through art, to commercial art and product branding to becoming contemporary art pieces chosen for major gallery exhibits and events.

To celebrate the growing art form in the city, the Art Rua festival began in 2011. Created by the Instituto Rua with the help of Visionartz, the event grew during its first two editions and this year approximately 30,000 people are expected to pass through the event.

For this edition, event organizer Andre Bretas wanted to take the festival further, by emphasizing the commercial aspects of and the growing market for street art. To help accomplish that goal, approximately twenty national and international galleries were invited to exhibit during the festival.

The exhibitors include; French gallery, Galerie Itinerrance, São Paulo galleries Choque Cultural and A7MA ; Pernambuco gallery Nuvem, Belo Horizonte galllery Quarto Amado; and Rio galleries Huma, Movimento and Galeria 95, among others. Artists including, Antonio Bokel and Acidum Project will also run individual stands during the festival.

Additionally during the festival attendees will have the opportunity to watch street art being created live around the Gamboa neighborhood. Demonstrations will include the creation of wall panels by international artists: El Seed (France / Tunisia), Inti (Chile), DOES (Netherlands) and Tec (Argentina).

For two nights from 10PM to 6AM, the festival will hold after events with live music presented by the MOO party. First, on Friday, September 12th, MOO will hold a special “Discoland” edition of its party with special guest, Argentinian musician and DJ Ana Helder will perform and spin. DJs Diogo Reis, Dionysus Jr., and Badenov will also take to the decks during the night.

Then, for the party on Saturday night, very special guest, rapper Black Alien will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the launch of his release entitled, Babylon by Gus vol.1. DJs Tamenpi, Pathy Dejesus, Pedro Piu and Michell will also spin during the event.

Once again the festival is running parallel to the larger fair for contemporary and modern art, ArtRio, as well as the Arte de Portas Abertas in Santa Teresa this year. For more information and the complete Art Rua 2014 program see the festival’s website.

What: Art Rua 2014
When:September 11th-14th. Opening on 11th from 6PM-12AM. Friday, September 12th-Sunday, September 14th 12PM-8PM with after parties 10PM-6AM
Where:Centro Cultural Ação da Cidadania, Av. Barão de Tefé 75, Gamboa, Tel: (21) 2233-7460 / 2253-8177
Entrance: FREE from 12AM to 8PM; After hours events R$60-R$240