{"id":19843,"date":"2015-01-09T09:00:49","date_gmt":"2015-01-09T12:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=19843"},"modified":"2016-01-28T17:35:32","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T20:35:32","slug":"from-valongo-to-favela-exhibition-connects-slave-past-with-favelas-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=19843","title":{"rendered":"From Valongo to Favela: Exhibition Connects Slave Past With Favelas Today [SLIDESHOW]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/167lIct\" target=\"_blank\"><strong><em>Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-23766\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/PT-e1439583827971.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1Iv9Z3C\" target=\"_blank\">Rio Museum of de Art<\/a>\u2019s (MAR) primary ongoing exhibition of 2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1BPLpIQ\" target=\"_blank\">From Valongo to Favela: The Imaginary and the Periphery<\/a><i>\u00a0<\/i>opened its doors last May to showcase the history of Rio de Janeiro\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1iwThVm\" target=\"_blank\">Port area<\/a>. The exhibit will end May\u00a015.<\/p>\n<p>Curator Rafael Cardoso explains the exhibition in a <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1BLmoy4\" target=\"_blank\">video<\/a> on MAR&#8217;s YouTube channel: \u201cFrom Valongo to Favela: The\u00a0Imaginary and the Periphery\u00a0is a large exhibition touching on the concept of \u2018periphery\u2019 because of the fact that the MAR is located in an area of Rio de Janeiro considered the first periphery of Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Curators Cardoso and Clarissa Diniz selected about 200 pieces of art\u00a0including historic objects, iconography and contemporary\u00a0works\u00a0to be displayed in the exhibition. Several Brazilian artists such as <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1yF7kEN\" target=\"_blank\">Ayrson Her\u00e1clito<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1tNn7dG\" target=\"_blank\">Carlos Vergara<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1xK6zsK\" target=\"_blank\">Lucia Rosa<\/a> collaborated with the museum on this project.<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3YtutmYkVqg\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The exhibit is set up chronologically in two large halls\u2014one chronicling the slave-trade era and one showing current life in Rio\u2019s favelas. By connecting the period of the slave trade prior to 1888 with the settlement of the first favela in the same area just ten years later, in 1898, this exhibition has made an obvious historical connection that many have been conditioned not to see: Brazil&#8217;s deep slave past and the existence of its favelas are inextricably linked. Furthermore, the view and treatment of slaves has in many ways carried over to residents of the favelas. In many ways, they are one and the same.<\/p>\n<p>The two halls are juxtaposed, one with black walls and the other with white walls, respectively. Though most works are static, there are some interactive video\/audio pieces for the public to engage\u00a0with.<\/p>\n<p>The exhibit in the first room is displayed in an open space without walls separating each work. Instead of exploring different spaces, visitors circulate around the walls in the dim light, learning about and reflecting on the country&#8217;s slave-holding past. Brazil ultimately received 4 million enslaved Africans, the most of any nation and <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/15vN9wa\" target=\"_blank\">ten\u00a0times<\/a> that of the US. An old boat and a circle of photographs set on the floor are\u00a0displayed\u00a0in the middle of the room.<\/p>\n<p>The second room is well-lit and visitors navigate it by zigzagging around its white walls, with no centerpiece. This second room\u00a0shifts away from\u00a0the dim images of the region&#8217;s Valongo slave wharf towards the more recent 117-year history of the city&#8217;s\u00a0favelas, also born in the region: an increasingly vibrant and in some ways optimistic exhibition.<\/p>\n<h3><b>The History<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>The neighborhoods of Sa\u00fade and Gamboa in the Port near downtown Rio de Janeiro make up an area that is considered by many the first periphery of Brazil. In the 18th century, this space not only served\u00a0as the arrival site\u00a0of gold and diamonds from Minas Gerais state,\u00a0but also of between <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1G10oWb\" target=\"_blank\">500,000<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/glo.bo\/1acKVUO\" target=\"_blank\">two million<\/a> Africans to be traded as slaves in the famous Valongo wharf and street slave market. The Valongo wharf alone received more than the estimated total number of Africans brought to the United States over the entire course of the US slave trade (<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/15vN9wa\" target=\"_blank\">450,000<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>By the end of the 19th century, <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1jqQCNc\" target=\"_blank\">Morro da Provid\u00eancia<\/a>, also in the\u00a0Port area, was settled as\u00a0the <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1pn4nOY\" target=\"_blank\">first favela<\/a>, and the favela-port region, known as \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1AIgheM\" target=\"_blank\">Little Africa<\/a>.\u201d These two locations\u00a0soon acquired a feared reputation of violence and immorality. \u00a0\u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1BPLpIQ\" target=\"_blank\">[B]etween prejudice and resistance to the difficult social reality<\/a>\u201d the most well-known Brazilian music genre was born there\u00a0at this time: samba.<\/p>\n<h3><b>The MAR<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>According to exhibit curators Cardoso and Diniz, the exhibition examines with art the \u201ccultural imaginary\u201d of how this peripheral area was formed. It shows historic documents and images of the place from the <i>valongo <\/i>era to the birth of the favela \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1BPLpIQ\" target=\"_blank\">as an issue of interest to art far beyond the geographical limits of its origins<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The museum also offered a free course to the public in the Fall about the history of Rio. The course aims\u00a0to discuss the exhibit and \u201coffer a diverse panorama of contemporary thoughts on the history of Rio de Janeiro.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/pic3.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-thumbnail wp-image-19845\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/pic3-620x264.jpg\" alt=\"Do Valongo \u00e1 Favela photography\" width=\"620\" height=\"264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/pic3-620x264.jpg 620w, https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/pic3-940x400.jpg 940w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>With this exhibition, the MAR, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, is mixing art with history, while also recognizing and prioritizing the cultural significance of its location. \u201cVisibility is necessary,\u201d the curators <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1BPLpIQ\" target=\"_blank\">write<\/a>, \u201c[so] that respect (&#8230;) is also given to those who have always been excluded and consigned to the margins.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>To view full album see below, or click <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/1AATB2g\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a> to see on Flickr with captions:<\/h3>\n<p><iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/slideShow\/index.gne?group_id=&amp;user_id=25093702@N00&amp;set_id=72157649788021129&amp;amp\" width=\"620\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" align=\"center\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas The\u00a0Rio Museum of de Art\u2019s (MAR) primary ongoing exhibition of 2014 From Valongo to Favela: The Imaginary and the Periphery\u00a0opened its doors last May to showcase the history of Rio de <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=19843\" title=\"From Valongo to Favela: Exhibition Connects Slave Past With Favelas Today [SLIDESHOW]\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":19844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[328,1365,1329],"tags":[396,772,1261,221,188,148,146,144,124,279],"writer":[1453],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19843","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-understanding-rio","8":"category-whats-a-favela-2","9":"category-by-international-observers","10":"tag-art","11":"tag-cais-do-valongo","12":"tag-central-rio","13":"tag-favela-culture","14":"tag-history","15":"tag-port-region","16":"tag-porto-maravilha","17":"tag-morro-da-providencia","18":"tag-race","19":"tag-slavery","20":"writer-elma-gonzalez"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19843"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=19843"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=19843"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=19843"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=19843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}