Women Are Heroes, Le Havre

On July 5th, 2014, a 363 meters long ship left the port of Le Havre, France to cross the world all the way to Malaysia. 2,600 strips of paper had been pasted in 10 days on the containers with the help of local dockers.
In 2008, JR started his Women Are Heroes project to pay tribute to those who play an essential role in society, but who are the primary victims of war, crime, rape or political and religious fanaticism. Portraits and eyes of women were pasted on a train in Kenya, a favela in Brazil, a demolished house in Cambodia... They gave their trust and they asked for a single promise “make my story travel with you”.
Women Are Heroes ended with a ship leaving a port, with a huge image, which turns microscopic after a few moments, with the idea of these women who stay in their villages and face difficulties in the regions torn by wars and poverty, facing the infinity of the ocean. "We had no idea of what was in the containers on the boat: stuff from people leaving a country to build a different life in another region, goods that will be transformed, worn, eaten in a different country. We had no idea where and how people would see this artwork but we were sure that some women far away would feel something."