Rio Occupation London

Rio Occupation London saw 30 ground-breaking Rio artists occupying the vibrant streets, stages and squares of London during the London 2012 Olympic Games, working across the capital with UK-based artists as part of the London 2012 Festival. Based at Battersea Arts Centre and performing in more than 50 spaces, the artists showed more than 250 works of art and performances for more than 37,000 people.?The project was commissioned by Rio de Janeiro’s State Culture Secretariat, executive produced by People’s Palace Projects, and co-produced?by Battersea Arts Centre.

The Brick Box was one of the Occupation host organisations, welcoming Ratao Diniz and Pedro Rivera for their stay in London. The two artists – a photographer and architect respectively – were based with The Brick Box at their meanwhile use space in Brixton, south London.

The Brick Box facilitated Rataos interest in photographing street art and urban culture by linking up with Barby Asante and young people from 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning Centre. Ratao also worked with Luke Dane, a grafitti artist, who developed a piece of community led street art on The Brick Box venue. Rataos brilliant photos were exhibited at the Rio Occupation Festival Finale at V22.

Pedro Rivera was particularly interested in exploring ideas of street trading and market environments. He visited some of Londons most diverse market spaces and engaged with local traders. Pedro worked with a local filmmaker, Will Riddell, to document his creative process and went on to show a thought-provoking installation at the V22 Festival Finale.

Ratao and Pedro also showcased their work in The Brick Box summer programme, alongside Japanese performance troupe Nao and The Peskimos.