The life that led to Ada’s Wrinkles
Children starting out on their own journey can hear the life stories of their elders in JR’s charming new book
Wrinkles, French artist JR’s first children’s book, is a wonderful way to bring young readers face-to-face with senior citizens. The images in the book were taken for JR’s international art project, Wrinkles in the City, which saw him photograph some of the older residents of different cities around the world, including Shanghai, Istanbul, Havana, Berlin and Los Angeles.
These portraits were then enlarged and pasted up in those cities, to show the faces of people who had witnessed, first-hand, how these urban centres have changed.
You can read some of those histories in the lines on their faces. Our new book however, also reproduces their life story in simple terms. Here’s the tale of one Havana resident, Ada.
“My name is Ada Claudina Pupo Mastrapa. I live in old Havana – a special, historical part of Havana city in Cuba. My father worked very hard and my mother was a great mother. I got married young, at 15, and I devoted my life to my three children. I have had a good life.”
Let’s hope all JR’s younger readers get to lead a good life. Starting them off on his book will certainly give them a great aesthetic, and hopefully, kick-start a social conscience. For more child-friendly stories of life and longevity buy a copy of Wrinkles by JR here. And for more on JR, get this book.