OPAVIVARÁ! is a group of artists from Rio de Janeiro who create poetic experiences dealing with the collective and relational. The idea is to transport the participants from their routine activities to an experimental terrain in arts and aesthetics. One of their famous performances involved sitting in beach chairs and sunbathing in swimsuits in front of a museum.
For their latest artistic venture called AO VIVO! (which means LIVE!) the art collective occupied the Praça Tiradentes, a historical square in the center of Rio and installed a series of makeshift devices such as a public drinkable water fountain, a public laundry to wash clothes, a collective kitchen equipped with a stove oven, tables, benches, hammocks and an open mural for public interaction.
For one month, the group invites the audience to bring their own recipes and ingredients and cook for the visitors – or in most cases, for by passers who stop surprised to see the full dressed DIY kitchen in such place. After the supper, the guests lineup to wash their dishes and take a nap in the hammocks. The initiative has caught the media attention and is being largely supported by the population in Rio.
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