New “kids” on the block

When you think of grandparents you think of homes too hot to stand in, hard candies and that funky smell that you can only described as ‘perfume de care home’. If anything your Grandmother or father is just someone you see sometimes and the conversation mainly consists of “do you want a cup of tea? and slightly awkward conversation about how you are doing at school.

Trips down the social club, reminiscing about the old days you just wouldn’t peg your grandparents as interesting, However a Granny graffiti gang in Lisbon has been breaking stereotypes, pioneered by an unusual initiative giving graffiti workshops to senior citizens. This maybe not be true in England and other parts of the world but in Portugal a gang of  senior citizens are turning this stereotype on its head. Lata 65 ( Lata meaning can in Portuguese) is an urban art workshop that teaches the basics of street art to elders, thus introducing more than 100 senior citizens to youth culture. They make their own stencils just like Mrs Lusia who chose the tag “Armando” in memory of her late husband.

They create their  own street tag that appear on mural across the city. Together with well known street artist’s the seniors are bringing life to neglected and run down neighbourhoods by decorating them with their own works and transforming them into works of art that many young people would be proud of.

The point of this workshop is to help bridge the gap between our elders and the new generations.Aren’t you tired of the long prolonged silences with one of your elder relatives because you have nothing to say to each other? We all have that one relatives who you don’t know what to say to and the conversation ends up being more awkward than talking to your crush who ends up sitting next to you in Math class due to the teachers new seating plan. Lata 65 believes we can fix that problem with communication, we can alleviate the generation gap between the baby boomers and the kids of today and banish ageist stereotypes and clichés.