{"id":28745,"date":"2026-05-26T08:00:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T12:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.equimundo.org\/?p=28745"},"modified":"2026-05-21T16:49:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:49:18","slug":"smile-ing-boys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.equimundo.org\/pt\/smile-ing-boys\/","title":{"rendered":"Award-Winning Artist Kay Rufai Premieres Powerful New Exhibition Celebrating Black Joy and Boyhood in Rio\u2019s Mar\u00e9 Favela"},"content":{"rendered":"

Para consultas da m\u00eddia, entre em contato com: <\/span>press@equimundo.org<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

May 2026 \u2013 Award-winning British-Nigerian artist Kay Rufai will debut a major new photography exhibition in Rio de Janeiro this month challenging harmful stereotypes surrounding Black boyhood by centering joy, care, and humanity.<\/b><\/p>\n

Premiering on 29 May at the inaugural Boys & Men Festival in Rio, <\/span>S.M.I.L.E-ing Boys in Mar\u00e9<\/span><\/i><\/a> features striking portraits of young Black boys and men from Rio\u2019s Mar\u00e9 favela complex smiling, laughing, and sharing moments of connection, images rarely represented in dominant narratives surrounding favela communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

The exhibition forms part of the inaugural <\/span>MenCare Changemaker Summit 2026<\/span><\/a>, a four-day global convening focused on gender equality, caring masculinities, and violence prevention taking place in Rio de Janeiro from 27\u201330 May.<\/span><\/p>\n

Developed in collaboration with Brazilian artists Math de Ara\u00fajo and Diego Reis, the project placed cameras directly into the hands of young Black boys and men from Mar\u00e9, allowing them to document their own lives, friendships, creativity, and communities on their own terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cS.M.I.L.E-ing Boys in Mar\u00e9 exists in direct opposition to narratives of violence and dehumanisation,\u201d Rufai said. \u201cThis work asks what happens when Black boys are centred not through trauma, but through their humanity.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

A global project arrives in Brazil<\/b><\/h3>\n

S.M.I.L.E-ing Boys<\/span><\/i><\/a> is an internationally recognised artistic initiative created by Rufai more than a decade ago, with previous exhibitions across London and Los Angeles. The Brazil edition marks the first time the project has been developed in Latin America.<\/span><\/p>\n

The title S.M.I.L.E stands for <\/span>Send Me Inspiring Loving Energy<\/span><\/i> \u2013 a philosophy that challenges deficit-based portrayals of Black boys and instead foregrounds joy, vulnerability, imagination, and care.<\/span><\/p>\n

For several weeks in 2025, Rufai and collaborators worked with twenty Black boys and young men aged 13\u201318 from Mar\u00e9 through photography workshops, storytelling sessions, poetry, and reflection exercises.<\/span><\/p>\n

The project unfolded in the aftermath of one of the deadliest police operations in Rio\u2019s history, which deeply affected many of the young participants and surrounding communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Organizers say the exhibition offers an intentional interruption to cycles of fear, surveillance, and dehumanization often attached to Black communities globally.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn Mar\u00e9, despite the realities these young people are navigating, I encountered tenderness, humor, imagination, care and deep joy,\u201d Rufai said. \u201cSmiling, in this context, becomes far more than expression \u2013 it becomes resistance.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Boys & Men Festival<\/b><\/h3>\n

The exhibition will premiere during the Boys & Men Festival<\/a>, a free one-day public event featuring art, conversation, performance, workshops, and live music exploring masculinity, care, and solutions to gender-based violence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Presented by Equimundo and WOW \u2013 Women of the World, the festival takes place across Museu de Arte do Rio and Museu do Amanh\u00e3 on 29 May and forms part of the wider MenCare Changemaker Summit, created in partnership with Instituto Mapear and Instituto PapodeHomem.<\/span><\/p>\n

The summit will bring together global leaders, activists, artists, researchers, and policymakers to explore practical solutions for advancing gender equality and promoting caring masculinities worldwide.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

About Kay Rufai<\/b><\/h3>\n

Kay Rufai is an internationally acclaimed photographer, filmmaker, poet, researcher, and founder of the <\/span>S.M.I.L.E-ing Boys<\/span><\/i> project. His work explores masculinity, identity, mental health, youth violence, and community healing through participatory art and storytelling.<\/span><\/p>\n

His work has been exhibited at the Barbican Centre, London City Hall, Battersea Arts Centre, and other major cultural institutions, and has been featured by the BBC, <\/span>O Guardi\u00e3o<\/span><\/i>, and HuffPost.<\/span><\/p>\n

🎟 <\/span>S.M.I.L.E-ing Boys in Mar\u00e9<\/span><\/i><\/a> will be free and open to the public on 29 May in Pra\u00e7a Mau\u00e1, Rio de Janeiro.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tem d\u00favidas ou quer cobrir esta hist\u00f3ria?<\/b><\/p>\n

Reach out to our press team: <\/span>press@equimundo.org<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

For general inquiries: <\/b>contact@equimundo.org<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For media inquiries, please contact: press@equimundo.org May 2026 \u2013 Award-winning British-Nigerian artist Kay Rufai will debut a major new photography exhibition in Rio de Janeiro this month<\/p>","protected":false},"author":243,"featured_media":28747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[1555,206],"class_list":["post-28745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-changemaker-summit","tag-mencare","program_areas-caring-boyhoods","department-advocacy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.equimundo.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.equimundo.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.equimundo.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.equimundo.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.equimundo.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28745"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.equimundo.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28749,"href":"https:\/\/www.equimundo.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28745\/revisions\/28749"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.equimundo.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.equimundo.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.equimundo.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}