Child labor affects millions of children and adolescents in Brazil. They live in poverty and are forced to supplement family income, often doing heavy and dangerous tasks. To promote reflection and debate on the issue, we created a campaign and an traveling exhibition that brought this sad reality to discussion. In addition, we show that each of us has the power to save these children through denunciation.

Instead of a crayon, a piece of wood. Instead of a backpack, a sack of manioc. The exhibition was the top action of the whole campaign, in which we showed objects that somehow reflect the lives of children who have their school and their childhood denied because of child labor. The concept of displacement of ordinary objects, now put in exhibition spaces - such as the Duchampians “readymades” - gives the necessary power to the discussion: real objects, used in real live by children in real risk situation, are showed as artistic objects with the necessary time and space for a reflection by the public. The exhibition consists of a niche with real objects in the floor, as a scenario; plus real objects used by worker children in a frame, like artistic objects. Also, a big interactive panel, in which people could right their messages and support.

Hundreds of media and news platform talked abut the exhibition. Even abroad, people started the conversation about child labor in Brazil. Millions of Brazilian Reais of earned media and the exhibition was featured in TV channels, including Rede Globo, the largest broadcast company of Brazil. Tens of thousands of people visited the exhibitions and specially young students for both public and private educational sectors. And the most important, Brazilian Ministry of Labor not just brought this issue to the spotlight, but also people started to understand that if they don’t speak up about the problem, it will never stop.