If I were bound for Brazil, I would forgo packing football jerseys for sneakers so that I could traipse around in search of street art, including the still-wet work critiquing the World Cup. Urban Brazil has long been a muse slash canvas for native artists, the most famous of whom have transitioned from concrete to white walls, like the Os Gêmeos twins. And Fefe Talavera, one of the few female muralists to achieve credibility and celebrity in Brazil, but one of many bold women working on walls around the world. Born in São Paulo, Fefe began by snipping concert posters into mythical collages, knitting letters into bizarre beasts, reappropriations that liberated the words from their commercial contexts. Inspired by Mayan and Aztec mythologies as well as her Mexican heritage, Fefe feels her monsters are metaphors for the chaos of human emotions in her hometown. “The monsters are a way of exorcising my feelings,” she said, “My angers, my sadness, my ignorance, my fear.”

Transcending the street, Fefe now shows in galleries spanning the globe, fields invitations to paint murals on far-flung facades, and tours as a singer and dancer under the name Lil Monsta. Her talent knows no bounds, much like the international athletes poised to compete over the next four weeks. And much like Inacio Ribeiro, one half of the husband-and-wife fashion label Clements Ribeiro, who is traveling back to Brazil for the World Cup while his summer collection inspired by his home country (specifically vintage trays from the 1940s) spreads the Brazilian love worldwide.