Good Monday SuperForest!
For the four days leading up to the big birthday bash for our beloved SuperForest, I am going to share posts on extremely SuperForesty people and ideas. So here is the first!
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SuperForester Jason passed the story of this man on to me, and now I want to pass it on to you. The man is Pedro Reyes. He is an artist, activist, humanitarian, and superhero. He came up with this fantastic idea for an art project that would also benefit the people and world around him. Seeing his home country, Mexico, ravaged by violence, Pedro decided he could make a difference using his art. And so Palas Por Pistolas, or Pistols into Spades, was born.
Pedro went to Culiacán, one of the most violently devastated cities in Mexico, and invited people to exchange their firearms for food stamps. He collected 1527 firearms that were to be then melted down and made into 1527 spades. Then using each of the 1527 spades would then plant 1527 new trees in each place where Pedro’s art show travels. Currently, 786 trees have been planted, bringing new life through what once brought death. The idea is extremely brilliant, and extremely inspirational. Jason informed me that the project was funded by various arts grants, but that most participants had no idea that it was going to be an art exhibit. They simply wanted to see violence decline. To learn more about Palas Por Pistolas click here! (And if you cannot read Spanish, just use the handy Google Translator by putting in the website’s url!)
This video will give a good visual of the whole project. The main part has no words, but the images are astonishing.
To top it all off Pedro also has another website called Atlas de Innovación Ciudadana, or Civic Innovation Atlas. The goal for the website is to bring together other artist activists in Mexico. As Pedro states himself,
Civic Innovation Atlas is a selection of 100 projects that stand out for their inventiveness and effectiveness to address the social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts of Mexico in XXI century.
It shares many project ideas, such as Prison Yoga! Each idea is for the betterment of fellow human beings, all through art!
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There are some fantastic ideas, so be sure to check it out as well! Again it will be in Spanish, so you can just run it through Google Translate. Go check it out by clicking here!
Pedro, thank you for being such a light, and for being so brave. Pedro Reyes is certainly a SuperForester of highest regards.
Cheers Pedro,
SuperForester Mathew
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