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First (and second) impressions of São Paulo dedicated to two much loved anthropologists..
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Friday, 23 December 2011
Seen on the streets of São Paulo: Car carrying tree
I saw this scene the other day. On the one hand people complain there are too many accidents, on the other...
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Photos of São Paulo's Cracolândia past and present
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Crack user in 2005 |
There is an infamous area in the historical centre of São Paulo which has become known as Cracolândia, the name being derived from the fact that since the nineties crack has been openly bought, sold and consumed in open air public spaces of this centro region.
Despite efforts by the authorities to "clean up" Cracolândia and gentrify the area, there has been little notable change. Agencia Luz has some powerful black and white photographs from 1995 to present day which illustrate this.
I wanted to share some of them here as most people would not contemplate going anywhere near this part of town and although there are plenty of snapshots professional photographs are rare. [Some photos are edited to protect the identities of those pictured]
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Cracolandia 1995 |
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Labels:
Centro,
Crack,
Cracolândia,
Drugs,
Photography,
Police,
São Paulo
Friday, 16 December 2011
Homicide rate in São Paulo hits lowest levels in over 30 years
The Sangari Institute has just released a so called map of violence in Brazil covering data from 1980
to 2010 and the most interesting data is no doubt from São Paulo:
Above are
comparative results from the last 10 years for Brazil, São Paulo state, São
Paulo city and municipalities, and finally the interior of the state (excluding
São Paulo city). The interesting data is how the city and its immediate
surroundings has transformed from having 60,2 homicides per 100,000 people in
2000 right down to last year’s 15,6 per 100,000. For a population the size of
São Paulo that is statistically significant and an incredible drop. Few would
have predicted 10 years ago that São Paulo would have four times fewer murders.
It has gone from practically twice the national average to nearly half the
national average whilst continuing to grow in absolute population size.
Looking at
the data more closely we can see it is a complete reversal of the trend up to
that point. São Paulo started out in 1980 with a homicide rate similar to its
current one but greatly outstripped the already increasing national average
year on year until reaching its peak in 1999 reaching levels over 65% higher
than the already high national average. Frightening statistics. Escalating lawlessness?
An inevitable product of gross inequality? A side effect of the uncontrolled creation
of a megalopolis? Either way, 1999 would have been a difficult time to predict
any major reduction or even leveling off.
But the
data doesn’t lie, here’s the year by year rate again by Brazil, São Paulo
state, São Paulo city and municipalities, and finally the interior of the state
(excluding São Paulo city):
And in more
visual format (check out the purple line which is São Paulo city):
Paradoxically
10 years ago there were more municipalities which didn’t register any homicides
at all which means there are now much fewer homicides but they are more
dispersed. And counter-intuitively, although the more populous areas have
higher rates in general at the top end the municipalities with 200-500,000
population now have a higher rate than ones with over 500,000:
Food for
thought and definitely not what the tabloid media, human rights activists, or paranoid affluent Paulistanos would have you believe...
For more
statistics on São Paulo:
For the
full report from the Instituto Sangari:
Labels:
brazil,
Data,
Decade,
Homicide,
Instituo Sangari,
Media,
Murder,
Population,
São Paulo,
State of São Paulo,
Statistics,
Violence,
Year
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Seen on the streets of São Paulo: Pro-caffeine graffiti
I saw this on the wall of my new favourite coffee hang out the wonderful Coffee Lab in Vila Madalena.
A great place for purists. If you ask them for Decaf they actually won't serve you! :)
Labels:
brazil,
Coffee,
Graffiti,
São Paulo,
Vila Madalena
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Street Art in São Paulo Part 5
Here are a couple more of my favourite bits of street art, both located in the western part of central São Paulo:
Part of the 260m mural at Avenida Paulo VI (Metro Sumaré) |
A frog looks out from Rua Inácio Pereira Rocha |
More street art in São Paulo here
Street Art in São Paulo Part 4 - space invaders are here
Street Art in São Paulo Part 3 - vila madalena
Street Art in São Paulo Part 2 - painted lamp posts
Street Art in São Paulo Part 1
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
The São Paulo state flag explained; what each element means
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São Paulo state flag |
The São Paulo state flag is actually a national flag reject (hence the pictorial representation of the country not the state). It was supposed to serve as the Republican flag in 1889 but a rival design, which is similar to the current Brazilian flag, was eventually chosen. The paulista flag then laid dormant until it was adopted by the state of São Paulo in 1946 by which time the prohibition of state symbols and flags had been lifted.
Although when proposed as a national flag the colours black, white and red were supposed to reflect the racial diversity of the country; European (white), African (black) and Indigeneous (red), as state flag the elements have the following meaning:
The 13 black and white stripes: The nights (black) and days (white) during which the bandeirantes fought for the state.
[ASIDE: The word bandeirantes derives from the portuguese word bandeira or flag. They are the guys who, organising themselves through a system of identifying flags, basically fought, robbed and enslaved indigeneous peoples despite being themselves descendents or partially descendent of indigenous tribes. So, although they were essentially land pirates and have a deservedly bad name elsewhere in South America, in Brazil and in São Paulo in particular they are revered for setting out from São Paulo de Piratininga (now São Paulo) and contributing to making Brazil stretch out way beyond the dividing lines the Portuguese and the Spanish had formally agreed. True heroes..]
The red triangle represents the blood spilt by the bandeirantes in their exploits
The colour blue is supposed to reflect the strength and vigour which was given to the state (and presumably country) by the bandeirantes.
And finally the 4 stars are supposed to be the four major stars of the constellation of the Southern Cross (Cruzeiro do Sul) under which Brazil, and therefore São Paulo, lies.
Labels:
Bandeirantes,
brazil,
cruzeiro do sul,
Flag,
History,
São Paulo,
Southern cross,
State of São Paulo,
Symbols
Thursday, 1 December 2011
VIDEO: Specialist school for blind ballet dancers in São Paulo

This is a report on a ballet school in São Paulo which has developed a method of "teaching by touch" in order to develop professional ballet dancers who are blind or visually impaired.
Approximately 300 dancers have graduated from the school since it was founded in 1995..
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