Towards the back end of last year we were contacted by Nottingham Contemporary about an artist they were exhibiting in the new year and whether a collaboration between us would work.
What started with an email, ended with a friendship that crosses the Atlantic. Nottingham x Rio. AOF x Allan Weber.
Allan is a multi-disciplinary artist from 5Boca, a favela within Rio de Janeiro. Born and raised there, his work focuses on the day to day life of his community and aims to deconstruct the realities of the people that live and work there. Through mediums such as photography and installations, Allan captures the way in which life in the favela shapes you, and the spirit of the people that call 5Boca home.
In 2020, Allan opened an art gallery within his neighbourhood called Galeria 5 Bocas, introducing the people of his home to art as an alternative way of making a living and challenging young people to see a life beyond the favela. As part of this, he developed Cinco Bocas FC, a youth football team who compete in competitions across the community, meeting at the gallery before and after matches.
The collaboration culminated in AOF and Allan creating a football scarf, celebrating the DIY banners that litter Brazilian stadiums and pitches, as an ode to the way football creates a communal space of leisure and retreat for people from all walks of life.
While the language barrier may have been a stumbling block, the genuine passion for football came through where words couldn’t.
If you’re in and around Nottingham, go and check out Allan’s exhibition and support an artist making a difference in his community.
Football is nothing without the community that surrounds it. Long may it continue.
