{"id":33212,"date":"2016-09-30T11:00:26","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T14:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=33212"},"modified":"2016-10-04T06:05:26","modified_gmt":"2016-10-04T09:05:26","slug":"cultural-occupation-in-vila-autodromo-community-celebration-of-memory-resistance-and-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=33212","title":{"rendered":"Cultural Occupation in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo: Community Celebration of Memory, Resistance and Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

On Sunday, September 25, the Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a> community organized yet another<\/a> occupation event entitled Ocupa Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a> celebrating resistance<\/a>, memory<\/a> and hope.\u00a0Located on the edge\u00a0of the Olympic Park\u00a0in Barra da Tijuca<\/a> in the West Zone<\/a>\u00a0of Rio de Janeiro, the community endured forced evictions<\/a> and the city\u2019s demolition of their homes in the years leading up to the 2016 Summer Olympics<\/a>. The community\u2019s battle of resistance was long and arduous<\/a>, and resulted in the displacement of nearly 700 families. However, with tenacious and persistent protest, 20 families were able to remain<\/a> on the original site, now residing in government-constructed homes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Vila<\/a><\/p>\n

Throughout this process the community and its supporters have regularly organized \u201coccupy\u201d events<\/a> to provide a space of resistance and healing in the face of repeated trauma. The community gatherings now bring together the 20 families who still reside at Vila Aut\u00f3dromo as well as the families who were displaced. Various supporters of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo who have resisted alongside residents throughout the years attended the event as well.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s network of solidarity is far reaching, and includes professors and students from various universities in Rio, partnerships with other communities experiencing forced evictions, alternative media sources in Brazil and international journalists, indigenous communities, and various cultural organizations that have provided live music to the community in the darkest of times, or workshops on photography and painting, or even classes in stilt walking.<\/p>\n

The strength of this network of solidarity was palpable at Sunday\u2019s event: \u201cEvery visit from our supporters feels like we are receiving a gift from God,\u201d explains\u00a0Maria da Penha<\/a>, resident of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo who has played a significant leadership role in community organizing<\/a> and resistance. \u201cThe supporters suffered with us, they were at our side in the worst moments. What we have is more than supporters, we have friends\u2026Today you see many supporters wearing the t-shirt ‘I am Vila Aut\u00f3dromo.’ Vila Aut\u00f3dromo is theirs too, Vila Aut\u00f3dromo belongs to all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Stilt-walking<\/a><\/p>\n

The first cultural occupation\u00a0took place in August 2015 and a second in December that year<\/a>. The idea came out of dialogue between residents of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo and outside supporters who had been accompanying the resistance for several years. The aims of these events are manifold: they first began as an act of protest against the city\u2019s removal of the community, and to provide visibility to the movement, but evolved to become a space of healing, celebration and community building. \u201cEveryone would chip in and bring snacks, drinks, or invite a band they knew\u2026 For every 20 residents who would come there would be 100 supporters. We missed our neighbors [who were displaced], we had the pressure from the City<\/a>, but together with supporters we achieved this event and we would dance and sing,\u201d explained Maria da Penha.<\/p>\n

In addition to these events, the relationship between residents and supporters has also given birth to the Evictions Museum<\/a>, an outdoor museum exhibit within the community that documents Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s history and identity. Diana Bogado, architect and professor at the Anhanguera University in Niter\u00f3i<\/a> and one of the co-founders of the museum, explains that \u201cthe museum serves as a denouncement of removals, and as a nucleus of resistance for other communities facing similar threats\u2026We hope to show that the fight for housing rights<\/a> is worthwhile, and that Vila Aut\u00f3dromo can serve as an example.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Evictions<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite the constant rainfall on Sunday, the festivities commenced early in the morning with mass at the community church, followed by Maria da Penha\u2019s home-cooked feijoada, or traditional bean stew, and barbeque. Children and older generations celebrated together to\u00a0music. In the evening, there was a screening of the newly released film Olympia<\/a><\/em>, which looks at corruption in Rio and\u00a0the impact of the Olympic Games on marginalized communities, and includes testimony and footage of residents from Vila Aut\u00f3dromo.<\/p>\n

Community resident Claudio Silva, husband of Maria da Penha, concluded the event by reciting a poem he wrote about the story of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, moving many people in the room to tears. In the following excerpt, Claudio pays homage to the partnership and solidarity between residents and supporters:<\/p>\n

“Our community has generated a great resistance,
\nThrough persistence we achieved great influence.
\nWith God\u2019s help we attained distant flights,
\nThanks to our supporters and our constant fight.
\nWe could say that this marriage was perfect,
\nA relationship of sincerity and respect.
\nEach one doing what he could within his limitations.
\nEveryone was important throughout the process of evictions.
\nWhen all hope seemed lost the community resurged,
\nWe lost many battles, but the war persisted.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The night ended with a warm, collective embrace, with many voices crying out in unison \u201cViva Vila Aut\u00f3dromo!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas On Sunday, September 25, the Vila Aut\u00f3dromo community organized yet another occupation event entitled Ocupa Vila Aut\u00f3dromo celebrating resistance, memory and hope.\u00a0Located on the edge\u00a0of the Olympic Park\u00a0in Barra da Tijuca […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":33249,"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":[1293,1854,1736,1290,1333,329,1329],"tags":[9,225,756,910,504,2032,221,674,11,5,1292,270,1938,520,4,21],"writer":[2210],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-33212","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-evictionswatch","8":"category-housingwatch","9":"category-1736","10":"category-civilsociety","11":"category-event-reports","12":"category-solutions","13":"category-by-international-observers","14":"tag-9","15":"tag-barra-da-tijuca","16":"tag-community-organizing","17":"tag-creative-organizing","18":"tag-culture","19":"tag-evictions-museum","20":"tag-favela-culture","21":"tag-memory","22":"tag-forced-evictions","23":"tag-olympics","24":"tag-organizing","25":"tag-resistance","26":"tag-rio-2016","27":"tag-solidarity","28":"tag-vila-autodromo","29":"tag-west-zone","30":"writer-nour-el-youssef"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33212","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\/133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33212"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=33212"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=33212"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=33212"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=33212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}