Women Are Heroes is a project carried out between 2008 and 2009 in different cities in Africa, Brazil, India and Cambodia by French artist JR, winner of the TED Prize in 2011.
The project recognizes and highlights the social role of women in these areas of conflict, celebrating their heroism from an expressive and optimistic approach. Stunning portraits of local women make their unfortunate stories come to light and become the protagonists of the urban landscape to which they are linked. In this way, the interventions seek to support the resilience of the female community and achieve social awareness.
“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”.
“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”, pointed out JR regarding the intervention in the Moro de Providencia favela in Rio de Janeiro.
Finally, all these experiences were collected in a documentary and a book.
