SAO PAULO – In a central Sao Paulo neighborhood known as 'Crackland', an image of the Virgin Mary, made of plaster, white with gold adornments on a blue background, appeared on the side of an abandoned house and above an area frequented by crack cocaine addicts on the Rua Apa last month.
The work, idea of artist Zarella Neto who lives in the area, was put there to look after the addicts said the artist. However, the work angered both drug users and people who work in the neighborhood and it was torn down by vandals the day after it was put up.
“Being Catholic, I find it offensive to the Madonna,” said Luciano dos Santos, who works in the area.
“We destroyed it because it was evil, crack is not a godly thing” said a crack user who did not want to be identified.
Father Julio Lancelotti, a catholic priest who works with addicts and homeless in the area said that the artist's attitude was commendable, to bring hope to the downtrodden living in the area. “Now it is broken, more like the people who live here, bruised and disfigured,” said the priest, nodding his head from side to side.
The artist, who was born in and has lived his entire 33 years in the neighborhood, stressed that the idea was to draw the attention of the authorities to the problem of Crackland, Cracolândia in Portuguese.
The artist said that he would replace the piece, 'Our Lady of Crack', or 'Nossa Senhora do Crack' in Portuguese.
Read also: More Articles from Brazil Dispatch
Brazilian online news source for this article: O Globo
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