Selaron Ladder
Rio de Janeiro
2021
Famous the world over for mosaics such as the Copacabana promenade and the Cristo Redentor soapstones, Rio de Janeiro has over the past 30 years seen the construction of another icon of the technique: the Selaron staircase. During that time, Chilean artist Jorge Selaron decorated the 215 steps and surrounding walls with more than 2,000,000 tiles from around 60 countries. The work became a tourist attraction in the city, which eventually collapsed in 2005. However, despite its importance, no one knows how many tiles there are, where they come from or exactly how many countries are represented there. To create a complete inventory and digitise the mosaics, we created this crowdfunding campaign. With your support, we will be able to learn more about the heritage of this city and take further important steps, such as damage mapping, a restoration project and the final list of state, national and even world heritage.
