Learning how to paint graffiti — a form of urban art often associated with unruly adolescents — is bringing cheer and a can-do attitude to pensioners in this rural Portuguese city. Until late last century, Covilha was a thriving textile center but it now has an aged population as the industry declined and the young left to find work.
The goal of the graffiti workshop is to get the elderly away from their knitting or sitting in cafes, says Lara Seixo Rodrigues, a local woman who launched the project. She wants to break their routines, keep them active and motivated, and bring them into contact with younger generations.
And they rise to the challenge.
Seixo Rodrigues says "they completely change in a couple of hours." At the start, they complain they can't do certain things, such as use a box cutter, but with some coaxing they do.
By the time they have learned enough to start spraying on a wall, they are raring to go. "They drop their crutches and put aside their walking sticks and jump to it," she says. "They are all capable of having a much more active life."
Seixo Rodrigues got the idea when she saw how local pensioners reacted to graffiti during an art festival in Covilha, located in a range of hills about 200 kilometers (125 miles) northeast of Lisbon, the Portuguese capital.
The local elderly were fascinated by the graffiti, she says, and were full of questions about it.
The roughly 10-hour workshop is divided into four stages: lessons on the history of graffiti from the 1970s in the United States; helping participants create their own "tag," or signature; teaching them how to use stencils; and finally spraying paint onto a wall. The teaching team includes at least one young graffiti artist.
Similar courses are taught in Germany, and Seixo Rodrigues has received inquiries from France and an invitation to Brazil.
When the time comes to start spraying, 101-year-old Emilia de Jesus Teles and 90-year-old Ana Torrao are among those pulling on a white gown and green rubber gloves.
"We're always learning," Torrao said. "It's good to keep learning until you die."
(AP)
In this picture taken Sept. 2 2015, Emilia de Jesus Teles, who is 101
years old, spray paints on a wall during a street graffiti workshop in
Covilha, Portugal. Some are hard of hearing or don't see well, others
complain about stiff joints, and all have become graffiti artists under a
project to energize the elderly in Portugal.
In this picture taken Sept. 2 2015, Lara Seixo Rodrigues, right, helps
Emilia de Jesus Teles, 101, while in the background graffiti artist
Adres assists Liberta da Fonseca Graca, 87, during a street graffiti
workshop in Covilha, Portugal. With her workshop for the elderly, Lara
tries to break their routines, keep them active and motivated, and bring
them into contact with younger generations.
In this picture taken Sept. 1 2015, A drawing by Joao Alfredo de
Carvalho rests on the table as Maria Rosa Correia, 70, is helped to
stand at the end of the first class of a street graffiti workshop in
Covilha, Portugal. The workshop for the elderly tries to break their
routines, keep them active and motivated, and bring them into contact
with younger generations.
In this picture taken Sept. 2 2015, the participants of the street
graffiti workshop Lata65, or Can65, pose in front of their mural after
completion in Covilha, Portugal. The Lata65 workshop for the elderly
aims at breaking their routines, keep them active and motivated, and
bring them into contact with younger generations.
In this picture taken Sept. 2 2015, Lara Seixo Rodrigues, left, teaches
Ana do Carmo Torrao, 90, how to spray paint on a wall during a street
graffiti workshop in Covilha, Portugal. With her workshop for the
elderly, Lara tries to break their routines, keep them active and
motivated, and bring them into contact with younger generations.
In this picture taken Sept. 1 2015, Liberta da Fonseca Graca, 87, cuts an outline of her hand on a piece of cardboard to make a stencil during a street graffiti workshop in Covilha, Portugal. Learning how to paint street graffiti, a form of urban art often associated with unruly adolescents, is bringing cheer and a can-do attitude to pensioners in this rural Portuguese city.