I hope everyone enjoyed a spectacular 2012 London Olympic Games filled with many amazing and memorable moments. I’ve always thought as the Olympics as the greatest spectacle in the world and I’ve always wanted to go. So, as I watched London pass the torch to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I made it my goal to return to Brazil to watch the 2016 Olympic games.
Rio de Janeiro is the most vibrant and festive city I’ve ever been to, and Rio’s landscape is also exceptionally beautiful, despite the poor weather at the time of my visit. I did wish that the weather was better, since the Harbour of Rio de Janeiro is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and the beaches would look amazing, so this is also a reason I want to go back.
Aside from the harbour and its famous beaches, there are other things to see that make Rio a famous destination. One of my favorites is visiting Escadaria Selaron, which are the colorful world-famous steps created by artist, Jorge Selaron. These iconic steps were part of the 2009 Brazil presentation to the International Olympic Committee in their pitch to host the 2016 Olympic games.
Selaron first covered the steps in green, yellow and blue, the colors of the Brazilian flag. Over time, however, he continued to work on surrounding areas of the steps. The neighborhood is now covered with red tiles and tiles donated from countries and cities all over the world. Any person can bring a tile and Selaron will put it somewhere. If you look closely at the photos, you’ll see the variety of tiles placed into this steps.
The details are so perfect that every tile or fragmented tile leaves no unused spaces. At the very top of the steps, you can see the Brazil flag. I love these steps because I think they perfectly sum up the Brazilian culture and you can see the passion that Selaron puts into his steps. Selaron has said that his steps will never be completed and he will keep working on them until he dies.
In the photo above, you can see Jorge Selaron head placed on a pregnant woman’s body. As to why he did this, I’m not quite sure. He also has many tiles of a pregnant African women, which I’m also not sure what they represent.
You may be fortunate enough to meet Jorge Selaron himself. To fund his enormous project, Selaron sells paintings, tiles and postcards in a little home/shop to the side. Usually he will be there, though supposedly sometimes he won’t be available. Although we couldn’t really communicate with him, you could tell he was a funny and quirky individual, a real character. I bought a post card and got his autograph, and he was generous to let us take a picture with him.
I hope you enjoyed this post about Escadaria Selaron and Rio de Janeiro. If you’ve gone recently or plan to go in the near future, take some pictures of the updated steps and show me what they look like.
Featured Writer: Ling Ge
