Belgrade wall painted in gender equality

Belgrade - Under the slogan “Be the leader of change in your community”, UN Women Serbia, with the support of the European Union, has depicted on a mural in Skender-begova street the importance of gender equality circular economy.

The mural, which has been jointly painted by famous female street artist TKV and a group of girls aged 10-15, displays a pop culture icon Little Mermaid stuck in a plastic bottle as a symbol of ocean’s wildlife suffering from plastic ingestion on our Planet. On the other side, as a female character Little Mermaid can be and already is a leader of change in her community.

TKV said that the mural is sending a clear message on the harmfulness on the use of plastics as well as that women and girls are those who can drive the change. For years, TKV has been using her skills and a spray to create murals and stencils addressing the country’s issues with gender inequality, domestic violence and mistreatment of women.

According to Milana Rikanovic, head of UN Women in Serbia, empowerment of girls and encouraging them to fight for gender equality in different ways were more specific objectives of painting the mural. “The girls have shown that they are a great team and that they can do anything when they join their forces. On the other side, graffiti art is a perfect example of how a seemingly inconsequential—or half-destructive act—like writing on the wall can actually promote social change by putting together gender equality and circular economy and making it visible on the wall.”

Maja Lalic, creative director of Mikser Festival during which the mural was painted, said that with small investments in awareness-raising and skills related to responsible patterns of production and consumption, women can be, as many of them already are, the engines and souls of the circular economy and circular culture. “This can happen on all levels, from households and communities to businesses and politics.”

The mural was created within the project “Support to priority actions for gender equality” implemented by UN Women with financial support of the European Union.