Rio de Janeiro-

It has been over a month since the birth of the FlutuArte (floating-gallery) project and in this time, despite my shoddy Portuguese, I have come to know the fishermen of this harbor quite well. They all have such vibrant personalities. We communicate mainly through hand signs, gestures and broken Portulez (A mix of Portuguese and English). 

Out of all the fishermen so far I have two favorites. João Silva and Americo. João was the key, the doorway to the beginning of this project, the first one to agree to have his boat painted.

João Silva (AKA “Johnny Boy) back in the day

João Silva now on one of his tour boats 

João Silva or "Johnny Boy” (as I like to call him) is a special fisherman. He was a photographer for 36 years and traveled the world before he settled here in Urca, buying several fishing boats. João is one of the more “well to do” fishermen in the harbor. He makes most of his money, not by fishing, but by offering tours of Guanabara Bay and it’s surroundings. As of the last ten years the fishing industry in Rio has dwindled as fish have become more scarce. The fishermen suffer for this, bringing in barely enough money to stay afloat.

Here I introduce Americo, who next to João is my favorite fisherman. Americo doesn’t own a boat, he barely owns a shirt, in fact I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him do any actual work. He hangs around the harbor, deeply tanned, often tipsy and always friendly. I didn’t always like him. My first impression of Americo was that he was an annoyance, a drunk, and kind of always in the way… stepping on the wet paint, rocking the boat, staring at us for hours as we painted. As more time passed I began to know Americo to be one of the biggest sweethearts I’ve met in Rio. One especially scorching day, where the skin on my back was in danger of frying off, Americo scavenged a big red umbrella for me. He proceeded to hold it above me as I painted… shifting it along with my movements, always making sure that I was in the shade. He stood there for hours on the top of the boat with me, teaching me Portuguese words and sheltering me from the sun. 

Maxine Nienow, me, Americo and the big red umbrella on top of Johnny Boy’s boat

Through getting to know Americo better I am once again reminded not to judge people based on my first impressions of them. It’s so easy to write someone off due to your own projections of who you think they are. I am happy that I got a chance to get to know him better and to debunk my initial opinion of him. I was happy to find that I couldn’t have been more wrong. He wasn’t an annoying drunk, he was wasn’t creepily staring at us painting, he was and continues to curiously admire the process of his home being transformed.

Americo taking a nap on João’s boat, falling asleep with the heart pin I gave him resting on his chest.

There are many prejudices about the fishermen in Urca. I hope that this project can help the people of the neighborhood to see them in a different light also. I know the floating gallery will bring more interaction with them, the owners of the artwork, and I hope that with this interaction comes more awareness about who they really are, kind men with colorful souls.