The Italian street artist ZED1 is one of seventeen artists who were recently invited by the city of Turin in Italy, in partnership with Lavazza for the United Nations Global Goals mural project. The artist was tasked to complete a mural that reflects their #1 goal that also is the title of the work, “NO POVERTY.”
About the Mural
Ending all forms of poverty in the world is actually not just an economic question. Poverty can take many forms and is triggered by numerous causes such as wars, hunger, limited access to adequate education, social and cultural conditions, discrimination, and any denial in the decision-making processes of today’s societies’.
In 2014, 42,000 people left their homes due to conflicts. Now, approximately 836 million people in the world live in extreme poverty, with less than $1.25 a day, and the vast majority of them are concentrated in highly exploited countries such as the Sub-Saharan or the South Asian regions.
With this in mind, the artist tells a story in images rather than a mural. It is a story of destruction and hope at the same time. We see two hands opening a wallet full of land. In the middle, in the soil, where the sun beats and manages to pass through the clouds, grows a rosebud that carries with it a small character who holds in his arms a coin, a house, and some bread.
On the sides, two clouds held by two hands shade everything else, where there is no life and the few plants that are there are dying. Clouds carry the motives and causes of poverty. On the left, there is corruption, represented by a figure with a balaclava carrying a briefcase full of money, the low level of education in the world in the form of a broken book, the war and the borders drawn with a myrtle and barbed wire. On the right, instead, a sign on the red cross represents the broken health care system, a building that is bleaching in pieces symbolizes the lack of a home and finally a rake and a tank of gasoline remember the lack of means that many people in the world do not have and the problem of pollution.
Only a man, if he really wants it, can move his hands, and then the clouds, and bring back the sun everywhere.
About the Artist
Marco Burresi is Italian street artist who is better known in art world as Zed1. Born 1977 in Florence Tuscany, ZED1 started painting walls about 20 years ago and is best known for his murals of egg headed humans and curious critters that have decked walls from Amsterdam to New York.
His artworks are often portrayed as stories that help the viewer appreciate not only the art itself but also the meaning behind it. All of his creations carry a message for society and themes that allow us all to reflect and learn.
