Unconventional methods of dealing with environmental problems: protests, installations and performances at the Brazilian summit "Rio + 20"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Rio de Janeiro - not only a city of carnivals and fancy holidays. In 1992, for the first time under the auspices of the UN, a summit called "Planet Earth" was held here, at which a plan was developed to combat poverty and protect the environment at the beginning of the 21st century. World Development Program got the name "Rio + 20" and was calculated, respectively, for 20 years. This year, Brazil hosted the final congress of scientists and politicians from 135 countries of the world. Local residents have timed many demonstrations and protests to coincide with the summit.

The summit in Rio de Janeiro brought together not only politicians and scientists, but also the indigenous people of local villages who are doomed to live below the poverty line. Many installations were presented, one of the most memorable being plastic fish on Botafogo beach. Plastic waste has inspired not only environmental activists, but also the Brazilian artist Vik Muniz. Working on the installation "Landscape", he managed to recreate the image of the Guanabara bay from the garbage. The model of the statue of liberty was also devoted to environmental disasters and the problem of social inequality.

A life-size mock-up tank covered with bread also caught the eye. It was installed in the slums of Santa Marta during the "Bread not Bombs" action. The creators of the "rich" tank assure that the funds spent on the maintenance of the army can be redirected to help the starving regions. The performance of the non-governmental organization "Rio de Paz" ("World of Rio") was also devoted to the problem of hunger. Volunteers set up a long table with empty plates and flags of impoverished countries.

During the summit, Brazilian activists organized all kinds of flash mobs. The most popular was a live banner, built of several hundred people, on the Flamengo beach. From a bird's-eye view, it read "Rios Para a Vida", which translated from Portuguese means "Rivers for life." The purpose of this action is to protest against large hydropower plants on the Amazon River, since their construction poses a real threat to the river itself, and also leads to the flooding of forests.