IJINHA

NEWS CENTER – In Lisbon, the project LATA 65 is bringing the elderly into the streets as graffiti artists.

LATA 65, a project founded by two local artists ("lata" means can), provides workshops on the history and techniques of graffiti to retirees in Portugal. After the workshop, the group takes to the streets and neighborhoods armed with spray paint and stencils.

The project was founded to counter the perception that retirement meant isolation from life—a major issue in Portugal, where the economic crisis has affected the quality of life for the elderly. Since 2010, the poverty rate for elderly people living alone in Portugal reached the record-breaking level of 33%, according to a University of Lisbon study. The rate was higher for women than for men. As of 2010, most retirees in the country lived on an average income of less than €400 per month.

"We must not forget that here in Portugal, most people live very badly because of the economic crisis," said Lara Seixo Rodrigues, one of the project's founders, speaking to the French magazine FocuSur. She said she has personally seen the project bring new morale to elderly citizens; the oldest current LATA 65 participant is a 92-year-old woman. Lara said the project shows that people can learn new things at any age.

The first LATA 65 workshop took place in Lisbon in 2012, but workshops take place wherever there is demand. Lara says the next LATA 65 group will be in a village near Castelo Branco this June. After that, in July, the project will head for the small city of Covilhã.

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