Melissa ew Rebecca (Vital Voices), Anarkia e Juliana Bedoya (Secretaria de desenvolvimento OEA)

Esta semana a Organisação dos Estados Americanos (OEA), publicou uma matéria sobre mim em seu Portal:

http://portal.oas.org/Portal/Topic/SEDI/EducaciónyCultura/Noticias/tabid/268/Default.aspx

On March 10th during an emotive celebration six women from different parts of the world received an award given by Vital Voices to women who have fostered change in their communities and countries and who have positively influenced the lives of other women around them.

Among so many remarkable women is the Brazilian graffiti artist Panmela Castro who has been working in poor neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Panmela is part of a project called Grafiteiras Pela Lei Maria da Penha (a law named after a woman who was beaten by her husband and is paralyzed for life) that aims to combat violence against women. Through the use of the arts, women from the slums in Rio gain awareness of their rights and the existence of this law.

Panmela was a regional coordinator in the first edition of “Ignite the Americas” in Toronto, Canada on September 11th to 25,th 2008. Ignite the Americas is a hemispheric initiative aimed at bringing together young artists and leaders from the 34 Member States of the Organization of American States (OAS), policy makers and private sector representatives to develop strategies to build social inclusion and generate economic opportunities through arts and culture. The next meeting will take place this year in Brazil within the framework of the Fifth Inter-American Meeting of Ministers and Highest Appropriate Authorities of Culture.

Panmela is also the co–founder of Artefeito and is involved in another project known as Graffiteiras BR network. She has traveled to different countries promoting the mission of these initaitives and sharing their work. About the Vital Voices Award that she received, Panmela says: “The award is very important as it brings visibility to our work on graffiti and fosters new opportunities for partnerships and broadens our area of action. We now are able to work not only in Rio but also we can create a network of graffiti artists in Brazil and in the Americas. We want to foster change for all the women in the world and not only for the ones in our community.”

March 23, 2010 - Brazilian Graffiti Artist wins 2010 Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards

For more information please click here:http://vitalvoices.org/vital-voice/panmela-castro-anarkia-brazil