São Paulo, Brazil – Corona beer, together with Parley For The Oceans, took a big step in its project to generate awareness about marine plastic pollution: an open-air gallery in the Paulista Avenue area with reproductions of public-domain artworks made by artist and activist Eduardo Srur. The pieces were later made available for auction.
With the motto “What legacy are we going to leave the planet?”, the initiative recreated artworks over 100 years old, such as the Mona Lisa and The Scream, using nothing but plastic bags. This way, the stunt can show that the raw material used in the artworks remains in nature as much as masterpieces in the history of art – and how this material negatively affects the environment.
On the busy Paulista Avenue people can find Srur’s creations inspired by Hokusai’s “The Great Wave of Kanagawa”, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Monalisa”, Paul Cezanne’s “Kettle and Fruits”, Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”, Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and Monet’s “Water Lilies”. Everything was intended to raise awareness and involve the population of the largest city in the country, as well as its visitors, in the fight against the incorrect use and disposal of plastic. Annually, more than eight million tons of plastic waste is dumped into the sea and rivers worldwide, impacting the entire marine ecosystem.
“São Paulo is the most populous city in South America and receives thousands of visitors daily, and we know the potential that this represents for fighting plastic waste. And this partnership with Eduardo Srur is the first step for these people to get even more involved with the cause, as people from São Paulo also play a key role as change agents to help protect our paradise,” says Bruna Buás, Corona’s Marketing Director.
“If these artworks are present in the history of civilization for more than 100 years, the plastic you throw in nature will be too. The ocean is the mother of all rivers, so the plastic we throw on the streets of São Paulo will go to our polluted metropolitan rivers that flow into the sea,” says Srur.
After the end of the exhibition, the artworks will be auctioned and all sales’ profits will be donated to Pimp My Carroça, a movement that has been working since 2012 to steer waste pickers away from invisibility – and increase their income – through art, awareness, technology and collective participation.
The project is a creation from agency Soko and Mutato for Draftline.
