Mural painting by Vhils in Porto pays tribute to health professionals

The mural painting by Vhils in Porto pays tribute to health professionals. It shows faces covered by face masks. The eyes are how we all communicate, after all, these days and these eyes show us courage and determination. The mural is located in the entrance to the visits wing of the São João Hospital in Porto. 

Alexandre Farto, aka Vhils, took an empty Wall outside the hospital São João in Porto and conveyed the feelings health workers struggle with during this epidemic: resilience, trauma, hope, fear, exhaustion, but most of all courage and determination.

To honour that sense of mission, Vhils and his team photographed 10 health workers at São João Hospital, from doctors, to nurses, and administrators and assistants and delivered this tri-dimensional artwork, which is "a heartfelt thank you and tribute to those in the frontline of the pandemic fight or health care at large, of how important they are in the lives of each one of us. This is about praising the courage and selflessness they show by putting their lives at risk to defend ours", the artist referred in a statement.

It took Vhils and his team one week to complete the mural. The artist offered the mural painting to the hospital, which also marks the 40th anniversary of the National Health Service.