Women Are Heroes – Le Havre, 2014
On July 5th 2014, a 363 meters long ship leaves the Port of Le Havre, France to cross the world all the way to Malaysia. 2,600 strips of paper were pasted in only 10 days on the containers with the help of dockers on the port. In 2007, the project Women Are Heroes was created by JR to pay tribute to those who play an essential role in society, but who are the primary victims of war, crime, rape or political and religious fanaticism. Portraits and eyes of women were pasted on a train in Kenya, a favela in Brazil, a demolished house in Cambodia. They gave their trust and they asked for a single promise “make my story travel with you”. It has been done on the bridges of Paris and the walls of Phnom Penh, the buildings of New York, etc. Women Are Heroes is ending with a ship leaving a port, with a huge image, which turns microscopic after a few moments, with the idea of these women who stay in their villages and face difficulties in the regions torn by wars and poverty facing the infinity of the ocean. We have no idea of what is in the containers on the boat: stuff from people leaving a country to build a different life in another region, goods that will be transformed, worn, eaten in a different country. We have no idea where and how people will see this artwork but we are sure that some women far away will feel something.
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