Articles written by Paloma Silbar:
Bangu has the Worst Air Quality in Rio de Janeiro
Feb 5th
According to MonitorAr-Rio’s data, of nine such stations in the network, the West Zone neighborhood of Bangu’s air quality monitoring station showed the worst performance in the second half of 2012. On December 25th, the worst day in that period, the air quality in Bangu was 213 points – which classifies it as “bad” on a scale of five possible classifications: good, regular, inadequate, bad, and awful. In the port area on that same day, the measure was 47 points, a “good” classification.
MonitorAr-Rio is a program developed by the Municipal Environment Office (SMAC) that registers the levels of pollutants and atmospheric More >
Discover Favela Design!
Dec 19th
The exhibition O Design da Favela (Favela Design) at the Centro Carioca de Design (Carioca Design Center) is currently showing 125 pieces by artists, artisans and inventors from 15 communities in Rio de Janeiro, with a few pieces of unknown origin. In this project, the favela is not associated with misery or scarcity, but is a place of abundance: abundant imagination, invention, study and practice.
Creativity
Irmã Fátima and the children of Tabajaras have learned to see disposable materials in different ways. Together they transform plastic bottles into toys. “This one looks like a fish,” says one of her students. “It’s magnificent the way children look More >
Alemão’s Lenses
Dec 10th
Click here for original article in Portuguese.
“Why toil in the country, in the city? The machine will do it for us. Why think, imagine? The machine will do it for us. Why write a poem? The machine will do it for us. Why climb Jacob’s ladder? The machine will do it for us.
Oh machine, pray for us.”
Litany, by Cassiano Ricardo
With dramatic intonation, Seu Rodrigues recites a few verses of this poem. Not many photographers pay tribute to their camera during an interview. But 58-year old Manoel Rodrigues Moura, photographer and resident of the Complexo do Alemão community, has a special reason to do so. Seven years ago he partially More >
Bangu’s Striking Heat
Apr 20th
Originally in Portuguese in Viva Favela here.
The start of March marks the end of summer, disappointing those Rio locals (cariocas) who frequent the beaches, swimming pools and other sun traps. For many workers, the arrival of fall can be a relief. That is the case for mailman Cléber Saraiva, who works in downtown Bangu. During his shift, carrying a heavy weight and wearing a stifling uniform, he goes from street to street in two of Rio’s hottest neighborhoods. Cléber gets doubly tired working in the summer: “there are days when I get home and it feels like my head is exploding.”
The More >
