S.M.I.L.E-ing Boys in Maré

S.M.I.L.E-ing Boys celebrates something simple, and deeply powerful: Black boys deserve joy. They deserve to be seen not through absence or struggle, but through joy, laughter, imagination, care and possibility. 

Conceived and led by Kay Rufai, the award winning British-Nigerian artist, photographer and mental health researcher who has exhibited his work internationally, this project was created with artists Math de Araújo, Diego Reis and boys and young men aged 13 to 18 years-old in Rio’s Maré favela complex, placing the camera in their hands, over the course of several weeks,  to collectively create a space for expression. Through Polaroids and poetry, they capture their own worlds, moments of friendship, humour, tenderness, and everyday life in their own words and on their own terms. Here, each image carries stories, affections and forms of resistance. Each smile is also an act of courage.

In a context shaped by inequalities and forms of violence that permeate everyday life in the city’s favelas, this exhibition emerges as an interruption: a moment to breathe. A space where art becomes a tool for care, listening and transformation.

The exhibition premiered in Praça Mauá as part of the Boys & Men Festival. By occupying public space, the images called for visibility, inviting audiences to look beyond stereotypes and to recognise the complexity and strength of these young people and imagine a world where masculinity and boyhood is expansive, joyful, creative, and full of life.

On 7 June the exhibition moved to Maré for two months, where it will be presented across four different locations within the Favelas of Maré, representing the neighborhoods where many of the participating young men and boys live. 

Redes da Maré are organising educational visits to the exhibition, where facilitators introduce the story behind the project and use the exhibition as a starting point for conversations about masculinity, race, wellbeing, and joy as forms of resistance. 

The exhibition is also freely accessible to the public, allowing residents and visitors passing through these spaces to engage with the work. 

Find out more about the project here, and explore the images below.

Anthuny

Arthur

Enzo

Evandro

Gabriel

Joao Gabriel

Kaio

Luiz Felipe

Marcley

Marlon

Maycon

Mikael

Rai

Ray

Ryan Felipe

Thalles

Thiago

Wesley

Yago

S.M.I.L.E-ing Boys in Maré is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and carried out in partnership with Redes da Maré, King’s College London, WOW – Women of the World (United Kingdom), People’s Palace Projects, Queen Mary University of London, and Equimundo: Centre for Masculinities and Social Justice. In Maré, the project is an initiative of Casa Preta da Maré. S.M.I.L.E-ing Boys in Maré is part of the Feminist Activism Among Young People in Brazil research programme.