28 Millimètres

In order to pay tribute to those who play an essential role in society but who are the primary victims of war, crime, rape and political or religious fanaticism, JR pasted huge photos of the faces and eyes of local women all over the outside of the favela, suddenly giving a female gaze to both the hill and the favela.

“It’s a project made of bric-a-brac, like the favela itself. We had to adapt to this world where the roofs of houses are made of plastic and children’s revolvers are made of steel. We managed to get by in spite of the steep streets, the unsteady houses, the unpredictable electric cables and the exchanges of gunshots where the bullets sometimes go through several houses at once”, says JR.

This image is the first pasting of JR’s action in the Favela Morro da Providencia in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August 2008 for the Women Are Heroes project.  Installed on the main staircase, it represents Benedita Florencio Monteiro, who lost her grandson the same year, kidnapped by the armed forces and sold to a rival favela.