The archive · Content & Film · Strategic decision · 2009–2026
'Searching for Birds on Wires' (2026): bird photos as a score win Abradee Cannes Gold
A 2009 photo of birds on power lines became viral music; Abradee turned 60 such photos into a symphony — and a Cannes Audio & Radio Gold Lion.
Abradee · Africa Creative
What it had to solve
In August 2009 photojournalist Paulo Pinto photographed birds perched on power lines in his hometown, Santana do Livramento. Composer and advertising man Jarbas Agnelli saw the birds as notes on a staff: his film 'Birds on the Wires' passed a million YouTube views in days and was later performed in Guggenheim Foundation events with Juilliard musicians. In 2024 Agnelli proposed taking the idea further; Abradee, Brazil's electricity-distributors association, invited him to grow it into a full symphony from new photographs of birds on power lines.
How it works
The campaign began with an everyday scene in August 2009: photojournalist Paulo Pinto photographed birds perched on power lines in Santana do Livramento. Composer Jarbas Agnelli saw the birds as notes on a staff and composed 'Birds on the Wires' from their positions; the film passed a million YouTube views in days and was later performed at Guggenheim Foundation events with Juilliard musicians.
In 2024 Agnelli proposed scaling the idea, and Abradee — Brazil's association of electricity distributors — invited him to build a symphony from new photographs. Africa Creative's 'Searching for Birds on Wires' (Sinfonia da Energia) asked Brazilians to photograph birds on power lines; roughly 700 images reached the composer, who selected about 60 and gave each photograph an instrument — clarinet, oboe, flute — composing melodies that converse into one orchestral score.
The campaign, created with Guto Carvalho, won the Gold Lion in Audio & Radio (Use of Music) at Cannes Lions 2026, announced at the Grand Palais on 22 June. For the electricity sector it reframed routine infrastructure — birds on wires — as a source of shared culture, and Pinto re-photographed the original street to close the arc.
Why it lands
- It built on a proven cultural object: the 2009 film had already gone viral and reached Guggenheim events, so the campaign started with recognition instead of manufacturing an audience.
- The public supplied the material: hundreds of Brazilians photographed birds on their own power lines, and each selected picture became a voice in the score, so the work was genuinely collective.
- For Abradee, the medium was the message: power lines — usually invisible infrastructure or a safety topic — became the instrument, letting an industry association talk about energy through culture.
What it did
The work won the Gold Lion in Audio & Radio (Use of Music) at Cannes Lions 2026, announced at the Grand Palais ceremony on 22 June 2026, and was counted among Brazil's first-day Golds. The 17-year arc closed when Pinto photographed the same street again for the campaign — the birds were gone from the wires, but the score had travelled worldwide.
What you can take
A proven idea is a starting point, not the whole act: scaling Agnelli's viral 2009 artwork into a public-built symphony made a client's everyday infrastructure the instrument.
Since then
The Gold Lion added to Brazil's Cannes haul a year after the country was named Cannes Lions' inaugural Creative Country of the Year, and the story of the 2009 photograph travelled through national media as proof that a routine scene could anchor a global campaign. For Abradee, the symphony became the visible face of its message that power distribution and wildlife can coexist, and Pinto's return to the original street gave the 17-year project a closing image.
Sources
- Aaron Sutton: 'Sabíamos que la pieza original podía convertirse en algo más grande, una sinfonía'
- Photo taken 17 years ago inspires award-winning campaign
- Redes de distribuição de energia inspiram projeto vencedor do Leão de Ouro em Cannes
- Brazil Emerges as LATAM Standout with 27 Lions So Far in Cannes
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