14 - The Power of Art

by: Patrick, Brook and Christopher

WASTE LAND

Vik Muniz a postmodern artist who has been at the peek of his career in the past few years and is making art that is selling for tons of money. He is a very warm person who is so nice to everyone that he encounters and finds the best out of any situation. Waste land is a documentary directed by Lucy Walker, Karen Harley and Joãn Jardim. The movie follows Muniz over the spam of two years as he goes into the biggest landfill in the world that is located close to Rio de Janeiro. The landfill is called Jardim Gramach. Vik meets the workers who are there everyday picking out recyclable materials from Jardim Gramach. They can take the recyclables and sell them for decent money so they do not need to resort to stealing, prostitution, or selling drugs in the huge metropolis of Rio de Janeiro. The main characters that Vik meets here are, Tiaõ, Zumbi, Suelem, Isis, Irma, Valter and Magna.  The film goes over all of their lives and shows what they do on a daily basis and how their families are and also shows them at the landfill doing their work. It follows Tiaõ more than anyone throughout the film, because he has in own project going on to raise awareness about the pickers who are essentially the only source of recycling for the entire city.  Viks plan is to give these workers a voice and also gives them way more publicity to show what is happening in the landfill and how they are making a difference in Rio. He decides to take these people and do recreations of past art works. He makes them at a huge size and also he only uses recyclable materials from the dump to make these artworks. He uses anything that he can find in there, such as pieces of film for black lines, and other recyclables to fill in the artworks.

Vik gives these people a lot of confidence in themselves that they can do other things and get out of the landfill and have a good life. Like Isis who while making one of the pieces says to Tiaõ “I’m an artist now”. Even Tiaõ got an interview on a show to talk about his project. He really got his word out to the world and has even been told that he can run for president. Vik realizes at this point in his life that he has everything he needs and he wants to give back to something. Being Brazilian himself he decides this would be the best thing he can do. He gives 100% of the sales from his “Pictures of Garbage” and gives it to the ACAMJG  (Association of Recycling Pickers of Jardim Gramacho). He raises 250 000 dollars for them in total. This shows that art has a huge Power in our world it builds a bridge between others and us. Aesthetic Pleasure makes us feel better and alive in a different way that most things in the world.  Art gives everyone a creative potential, any human can create and use imagination for the better and create something you never thought you could. The power of art really can make a difference anywhere in the world and this Documentary really shows that well, These people were nothing but workers in a dump before Vik exposed them to the world. Anyone can do amazing things no matter what you’re past life is or where you are born.

Born Into Brothels

Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids is an American 2004 documentary that focuses on the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, India. The film is directed by Zana Briski, a documentary photographer and Ross Kauffman. The situation in the West Bengal state’s red light district was and is still one of poverty. The area is known for its prostitute clogged streets, human trafficking and dangerous sexually transmitted infections. While nongovernmental organizations are trying to maintain a safe environment for the sex workers, it is still a struggle to enforce worker rights and keep the rates of STIs below 5%.

Zana Briski brings us beyond the socioeconomic struggles of the prostitutes by showing us the world of the children named Kochi, Avijit, Shanti, Manik, Puja, Gour, Suchitra, Tapasi and Mamuni. Her first intentions were to photograph their mothers, but she soon befriended the children and offered to teach them some photography techniques. The film gives us an insight into the perspective of the often neglected and heavily chore ridden children. The audience is taken through the children’s daily lives of housework and cleaning as they wait to be old enough to contribute financially to their families. Briski also dives into the education of the children as they work in school and develop new photography skills. We can quite literally see through their eyes as we view their photographs, and some are truly amazing. One boy, Avijit Halder was so successful that he ended up participating in a photo talent contest in Amsterdam and later went on to receive an education in filmmaking in New York University. His story as well as Brisky’s efforts to introduce a passion for art in the at risk youth have changed lives.
However, the movie is not without controversy. Some argue that the introduction of art into the lives of the overworked children will give them a dream and some hope. A dream to strive for can really make a change in a place where money is so desperately needed that young children must grow up to be sex workers. Also the money raised from the film crew’s auctions and perhaps even future auction can pay for education. After all, the charity auctions did raise a convincing $100, 000 US that paid the tuitions for the eight children in the movie. The problem is that other children that were sent to boarding schools returned home soon after. It’s difficult to break the cycle of housework, prostitution and childbirth. Furthermore, some criticise the filmmakers for portraying the children’s parents as being uncaring. The parents, and especially the mothers, simply need to make a living however they can. Without a demand for employment, they are basically forced into the sex trade. We may see it as a degrading career, but to them it is everyday life because they were most probably born because of it. That being said, it is still very easy for them succumb to alcohol and drug abuse. Yet, some say that not enough effort was taken by the filmmakers to demonstrate the great efforts that the mothers are taking to promote worker’s rights, make condoms more widely used and stop violent abuse.




Poverty can cause serious problems in a community. Calcutta is definitely no exception. At the end of the day the bills need to be paid and the children need to get an education. It’s a shame that the children will be tempted to continue the tradition of working in a sex industry. It isn’t enjoyable, it’s dangerous and the clients are often abusive as well. Briski gives a chance to the children to be heard. She also brings an element of fun into their lives. Can you imagine a childhood without playtime? Mamuni, a major character in the film, said “When I have the camera in my hand, it tickles my hand and I must take a picture right away.” Just the way she said it was lighthearted and you could tell that she and the others were overjoyed.
Overall, the film is well organised in its tracking of the children’s progression. The intent of the film was to bring an inspiration force into the children’s lives through an expression of creativity. It could provide a medium for the young ones to inform others of their problems, while making money to fund an education for the future generations. Whether it is actually profiting off the misfortune of the prostitutes, or honestly attempting to make a positive difference to the lives of the innocent children is up to you to decide.

             These films help us to understand how vast the world is and how many different societies there are. In these films we see two situations that people are stuck in with little choice, and it reminds us of how lucky we are to live in Canada. In the first film that we watched in class, Waste Land, the people we see are forced to pick through garbage for a small amounts of money. What they make in a week is probably less than what we spend at McDonald’s for lunch. We realize, or at least I did, how lucky we are to live in the society we do, where there is a minimum wage and where the government helps those who need it. We may complain that the government should do more, however when compared to other countries, our government is pretty good. We have just become accustomed to the higher standard of living that we have. If it was possible I would explain what it’d be like to have to grow up in the conditions that the kids in “Born into Brothels” do, but it’s not because no one could ever know unless they grew up in the Calcutta red light district. When you think about the people working at the Jardim Gramacho it really shows how blessed we are in north America, I mean people complain everyday about going to work and just wanting to stay in their warm home all day, and these people travel so far just to get a small sum of money to take care of their family’s. I feel as though as I write this I should never take school or work for granted again but the way our society is built, I am going to wake up tomorrow and just want to stay home in my comfortable bed all day. The closest we can get to understand these people is by watching movies like these two that really make you think deeply about how much we take things for granted

            These two movies do a good job at promoting awareness for these two niche groups of people, but also about all unfortunate communities. As maybe after seeing these movies you will not get up and donate money to foundation such as “Kids with Cameras” (http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/home/), but maybe next time you see someone shaking a Tim Horton’s cup outside the metro, you’ll decide that the least you could do, would be to give them a couple bucks to help them out. As I said, the films did a good job to raise awareness, and I think that is exactly what their goal was. I don’t think Vik decided to make “Waste Land” to promote his art or himself as an artist, but to send a message to the rest of the world about the conditions people are forced to live under.

In conclusion this film has taught us that nothing should be taken for granted even a crappy minimum wage job at subway. It also shows how much we have in the western world and how places that we rarely hear anything of, have so many problems and issues that need to be dealt with. It gives us the want to help and change the way things are going.