Madonna's buildOn Alliance Bears Fruit In Malawi

Madonna’s buildOn Alliance Bears Fruit In Malawi

“Because of Madonna and Raising Malawi’s support, we will be able to build schools for children that the rest of the world has left behind.  Generations of children will have access to education and be empowered to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations,” said Jim Ziolkowski, Founder and CEO of buildOn, in his own comments around the collaboration.

Activist Photograffeur JR Wins $100,000 TED 2011 Prize

ArtTracker| The 2011 $100,000 TED prize will go to global activist artist JR, a ‘photograffeur’ who lives in cognito, travelling the world shining a huge light onto the faces and lives of people living primarily in slums. His dramatic installations grab our attention, almost dragging us into an intimate relationship with the world’s poor.

We’re followed JR’s projects, with special attention to his ‘Women Are Heroes’ project.

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Photographers JR & Jonas Bendiksen | Artistry in Kibera, Kenya

JR ‘s “Women Are Heroes” Kibera, Kenya

NOWNESS, Louis Vuitton’s culture website Tweeted JR’s “Women Are Heroes” project just now, featuring photos from Kibera, located in Nairobi, Kenya.

We’ve written extensively about this inspiring, global project and only recently connected it to Jonas Bendiksen’s widely-read stories at Anne of Carversville: ‘The Places We Live”: Four Monumental Slums Typify ‘Home’ for More than One Billion People.

Bendiksen photographs Kibera from another angle than JR.

We found ourselves in Kibera for another reason, wanting to learn more about the so-called “flying toilets” of Kibera. If you require translation, a “flying toilet” consists of human waste put into a plastic bag and tossed into the air, landing on roads or in gutters.

The photographs of both JR and Jonas Bendiksen bring the “flying toilets” of Kibera into sharp focus.

 

 

In Paris All Eyes are on "Women are Heroes"

In Paris All Eyes are on “Women are Heroes”

We have two “Women are Heroes” videos, one is a 90-minute documentary with the women’s voices and stories and another six-minute short of JR’s team at work, mounting the pictures in a city and the photographer explaining the concepts behind the project.