Haunting Tributes to the Homeless Appear in Italian Manholes

Walk around Milan with your eyes glued to your phone and you might find yourself falling into somebody’s blue and white-tiled shower stall. For this strange life experience you could thank local artist Biancoshock, who’s decked out manholes to look like rooms in a pleasantly decorated but microscopic house.

Biancoshock, a practitioner of “ephemeralism” who’s also made a plastic bubble-popping service for bored commuters and a sidewalk station for high fives, isn’t just dabbling in whimsy. The underground lairs he somehow stocked with wallpaper, framed artwork, and even a kitchenette are meant to draw attention to the scores of homeless people in Bucharest who live in tunnels and sewers. Many are said to be ex-residents of Romania’s horrid orphanages who had no safety net when released in 1989. Many also are struggling with addictions and HIV/AIDS, as well as the occasional police raid for alleged drug trafficking.