
French artist JR has worked in some of the world's poorest places; his latest project took place in Kibera, the second biggest slum in Kenya. JR has been described as the most exciting new 'outsider' since Banksy. All the money he makes through this visual art goes straight back into his work, his vision for Kibera was to make the slum into a cultural centre a place where the community could post photographs on the walls. JR's work in Kenya is only the latest in a number of ambitious community projects he has undertaken to include 'ordinary people', in Kibera he worked alongside 10 unpaid assistances from the slums, he remarks “The more you go to places like Kibera, the more you realise that the people don’t understand you,” he says, in his faultless, breathless English. “Food is their first need. They don’t do art just for the love of art. It has to make sense. By making their roofs rainproof, what we did made sense. They loved it.” JR says he is not political, rather than being an “artist with a cause”, he is “an artist who causes people to think”.
Links:
[1] https://ctrlaltshift.co.uk/sites/default/files/photo/image/JR.jpg