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The Little Portugal on Dundas BIA was thrilled to host the unveiling another piece of art in our local business area at 1628 Dundas Street West, on Tuesday, October 19, 2021. This “Scratching the Surface” mural, celebrating the Portuguese ladies of the “Cleaners Action movement” of the 1970’s and 1980’s, is the work of esteemed international artist Alexandre Farto, AKA VHILS. The mural captures the Portuguese spirit, culture and deep appreciation of art.
Honoured dignitaries Consul General of Portugal, Jose Manuel Carneiro Mendes, Mrs. Rita Sousa Tavares Cultural Attaché to the Portuguese Embassy in Ottawa, Julie Dzerowicz, our Member of Parliament for Davenport, Member of Provincial Parliament for Davenport, Marit Stiles, Deputy Mayor and City Councillor for Ward 9 Davenport Ana Bailão, Ms. Andria Babbington, President of the Toronto & York Region Labour Council, and our own BIA Chair, AnaBela Taborda were on hand to bring greetings. Also on hand were Professors Gilberto Fernandes and Susana Miranda for their historical invaluable insights and guidance during the project, and Ms. Marcie Ponte for helping us to understand the movement and for donating the plaque you can see at the entrance of the mural.
Everyone was thrilled to be introduced to VHILS’ inspiration for his mural, Mrs. Idalina Azevedo (pictured at the ribbon cutting, below), a proud Portuguese woman involved in the Cleaners’ Action movement, associated with St. Christopher House, and a leader in a “wildcat” strike at the TD Towers in 1974, which brought about employment changes for the cleaners. For non-English speaking immigrant cleaning women, this was a major achievement and important event in Toronto’s labor history.
The BIA is extremely proud, thankful and touched by the members of our community and those abroad who came to our aid to make this art piece possible:
- Vihls’ crew: João Mendonça Cruz, Ionut Clipacs (Russo), Ricardo Piedade, Luis Soares, Luis Lobato, Ricardo Toga
- Mr. and Mrs. Vitor and Marina Tavares – the owners of this building, who trusted us to do a beautiful work on their wall. Thank you.
- Mr. Carlos Canejo – owner and operator of Independent Build & Design who provided his extraordinary building restoration expertise, and who engaged an electrician at the wee hours of the morning to look for live wires so that the wall could be prepared. Thank you.
- We thank our trades partners, Mr. Jack Oliveira and Mr. Cesar Rodrigues form Liuna 183 and Mr. Armindo Correia from International Painters and Trades Union in Ontario who skillfully prepared the wall.
- Mr. Benito Tavares, owner of Tavares Oriental, and BIA Board member, who was always available with his phone on, coming to open and close the site and put out fires as needed.
- Mr. Shaun Bowring, owner of The Garrison and Baby G, and BIA Board member, who arranged the necessary AGCO Special Occasion Permit so that we may all toast this beautiful art.
- Mr. Arlindo Beca and Mr. Danny Lopes from Food and Wines of Portugal (FWP) who provided the Port wine for the celebration.
- Mr. Fausto Gaudio, President & CEO of IC Savings, great supporter of the Portuguese and local communities
- Sr. José Nieves and his crew, Pastor Rui Nunes and the owners of Swan Dive
- Colleagues of the BIA and staff for their support and help in making this art piece possible.
Gallery
The acclaimed artist Vhils has created his first mural in Toronto, telling the story of a former Portuguese cleaning lady involved in the Cleaners’ Action movement that took place in the 1970’s.
Cities have the raw materials and inspiration for Alexandre Farto (b. 1987), the acclaimed Portuguese artist known as Vhils, who made giant faces appear on urban facades, during the last decade all over the world. They are dug out in a dissection process meant to “reveal the insides” of these great cities. He has been interacting visually with the urban environment since his days as a prolific graffiti writer in the early-to-mid 2000s, until he realized that he was just “adding one layer over many others that have covered the walls over the years.”
His work developed an ongoing reflection on contemporary urban societies and the complexity of the modern city. The artist uses subtractive methods of carving, cutting, drilling, and even blasting through with explosives, in a “creative destruction” process. This groundbreaking bas-relief carving technique – which forms the basis of the Scratching the Surface project. It was first presented to the public at the VSP group exhibition in Lisbon in 2007 and at the Cans Festival in London the following year. It has been hailed as one of the most compelling approaches to art created in the streets in the last decade.
Vhils’ work, showcased around the world in both indoor and outdoor settings, has been described as brutal and complex, yet imbued with a simplicity that speaks to the core of human emotions. His work is an ongoing reflection on identity, on life in contemporary urban societies and their saturated environments. It speaks of effacement but also of resistance, of destruction yet also of beauty in this overwhelming setting, exploring the connections and contrasts, similarities and differences, between global and local realities.
His first project in Toronto, ‘Cleaners’ Action’ movement reflects another case of human resistance, and a tribute to the Portuguese immigrant women who worked as janitorial workers in the high-rise office towers downtown and at the Queen’s Park Legislative Buildings in the 1970’s. Portuguese “cleaning ladies” have been a constant presence in the lives of countless Portuguese-Canadians as mothers, wives, breadwinners, community members, and activists. Torontonians, in general, are familiar with them, though mostly as archetypes of Portuguese immigrant women, without knowing much about their lives. Still, these working women, who have played a major role in up-keeping their families, communities as well as the city, remain largely invisible in the story of Toronto.
The mural located on Dundas Street West, Little Portugal, features one of the women involved in the Cleaners’ Action movement, Mrs. Idalina Azevedo, associated with St. Christopher House, and a leader in a “wildcat” strike at the TD Towers in 1974, which brought about employment changes for the cleaners. For non-English speaking immigrant cleaning women, this was a major achievement and important event in Toronto’s labor history.
Source: City of Toronto, Office of the Deputy Mayor, Ana Bailão