Street Art Thrives In Sao Paulo Despite Pandemic

Sao Paulo, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Aug, 2020 ) :Perched atop a platform swaying in the air 10 stories high, Paola Delfin is putting the final touches on a giant graffiti mural in the sprawling concrete jungle of Sao Paulo.

The Brazilian mega-city is known as a world street-art capital, and not even the coronavirus pandemic has stopped graffiti painters.

Delfin and 14 other artists are painting 12 giant murals on the facades of a series of buildings around a square in the chic neighborhood of Pinheiros.

The work is part of the NaLata urban art festival, an event that had to be mostly canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic -- except for the murals.

Together, they cover 3,689 square meters (40,000 square feet), the biggest ensemble graffiti work in Brazil.

Because of coronavirus stay-at-home measures, "we decided we would only feature artists who were already in Sao Paulo," said the festival's curator, Luan Cardoso.

"The festival was originally going to have a series of public activities, but we had to cancel them to avoid crowds. With these paintings, though, this part of the festival is happening in the street. It's totally democratic," he told AFP.