Visual artist Eduardo Srur presented three unprecedented large-scale urban interventions spread across major points in the capital city of São Paulo: Ibirapuera Park, Parque do Povo, and in front of Trianon Park. The works questioned the cruelty to animals trapped for human entertainment and provoked the public to reflect about the sad reality of thousands of lives imprisoned in cages, aquariums, and cages.

If the pandemic showed us how difficult it is to be confined, why do we treat animals this way? Free Life!

"Bird Flight " was built with more than 1000 cages seized by the Federal Police in operations against wild animal trafficking and was installed in Parque do Povo. The intervention provoked the public to reflect on the sad reality of thousands of birds imprisoned in cages around the world, kidnapped from their habitat and their families, deprived of their freedom in nature.

Brazil is the country with the largest wild animal trafficking in the world. There are 38 million animals taken from nature each year. It is a criminal practice that needs to end. The true home of the birds is the tree, not the cage of man. A happy bird is a free bird.

Photo credit: Rolê (@role_sp)

"The true abode of the birds is the tree, and not man's cage."

"Aquarium" was installed in front of the Ibirapuera Park lake and featured a blue tank with 30,000 liters of water and elements chosen by the artist to symbolize thousands of animals forced to survive in aquariums around the world. Aquariums seduce us with their artificial beauty, but the animals are imprisoned only for our entertainment. Imagine living without oxygen. Imagine living without the right to breathe.

The installation also covers two urgent contemporary issues: global warming caused by fossil fuels, and the overuse of plastic, which pollutes the oceans and suffocates marine life.

Photo credit: Rolê (@role_sp)

"Animals are sentient beings. They have the ability to feel pain, fear, joy, sadness."

"Zoo" was an interactive work on Paulista Avenue, in front of Trianon Park, with the participation of several actors inside the cage, simulating imprisoned animals. At the launch, the installation had a performer who stayed 24 hours in the cage. The public was also invited to interact.

The sound that emanated from the work was the cry of the howler monkey, an endangered Brazilian monkey that is also represented in the sculptures. Zoos are not good examples of conservation and species preservation. Remember that the animals are held against their will.