When we first established that a Library should be built in Marvila we went to visit the place to get to know the community and become aware of their needs. When we got there we saw painted on all the walls the AK tag. It was obviously someone well known. We set out to try and find the face behind AK.
We spoke with a local youth who arranged a meeting with LS whom we soon realized it was the leader of the AK street art crew. During our meeting with LS we sensed his mistrust and it was hard to build a relationship of trust with him. It took a while.
But the minute we broke through his defenses and gained his trust we had his full cooperation. He agreed to do a stencil workshop, for which we paid. Afterwards, at our suggestion, he participated in MURO the Urban Art Festival in the neighborhood. It was a success.
He is a brilliant artist. Our aim was to build his confidence, empower him and allow him to potentialise all the talent he had to offer. Nowadays he is respected in the community; he makes art exhibitions and is one of a group of street art artists that participates in Rock in Rio.
Much of the respectability that the Library now has is thanks to him and no one damages the building.
More on the web:
- MURO: Urban Art Festival in Lisbon, 2017 (featuring art from LS | eng)
- Marvel at Marvila: the off beat Street Art neighborhood of Lisbon (featuring art from LS | eng)
- Street Art intervention at Marvila’s station ( featuring art from LS | por)
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