{"id":43803,"date":"2018-05-24T10:50:54","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T13:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=43803"},"modified":"2018-05-25T12:18:39","modified_gmt":"2018-05-25T15:18:39","slug":"vila-autodromo-evictions-museum-celebrates-2nd-anniversary-launches-website-shares-keys-to-resistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=43803","title":{"rendered":"On Vila Aut\u00f3dromo Evictions Museum’s Second Anniversary: Website Launch, Keys to Resistance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Por<\/strong>tugu\u00eas<\/strong><\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

On the night of May 19, Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a>‘s Catholic Church\u2014a small, quaint, canary yellow building\u2014opened its doors to celebrate the Evictions Museum\u2019s second anniversary<\/a>. Despite the heavy rain that preceded the event, over 35 people from various favela communities and civil society organizations were in attendance to celebrate Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s\u00a0fight against evictions<\/a>\u00a0in the lead-up to and following the 2016 Olympic Games<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Upon entering the church, attendees were greeted by a series of photos carefully strung up on two large metal structures. The photo exhibition, entitled \u201cImages of Memory and Struggle<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0depicted the community\u2019s difficult yet victorious mobilization<\/a> against mega-event-related urban developments\u00a0in the last decade. <\/span><\/p>\n

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

The night opened with the presentation and launch of the Evictions Museum\u2019s official website<\/a>. On the website, visitors can find a collection of photos, stories, documents, strategic plans, and online news articles related to Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s history of resistance<\/a>. Capturing the spirit of the Evictions Museum, the website constitutes one important space through which resistance can be remembered and, importantly, replicated by similar communities<\/a> in Rio and around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Evictions<\/a>
Evictions Museum new website homepage: “Memories can’t be removed”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Following the launch, the night transitioned into its key event, a roundtable entitled \u201cHyperconnecting Publics\u2014The Universality of Discourse Against Eviction<\/a>.\u201d Three<\/span>\u00a0representatives from different communities across the city, two public defenders<\/a>, and one representative of Catalytic Communities<\/a>* (CatComm) were invited to speak about their past experiences and what it means to take up the fight against eviction<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first speaker, Maraci Soares from the community of Quilombo Camorim<\/a> in Rio’s West Zone, opened the roundtable by describing how rising real estate speculation<\/a> and the sustained threat of eviction<\/a> throughout the entire Jacarepagu\u00e1<\/a> region has been a source of constant stress for her community for years. Added to the long history of State oppression\u00a0and neglect of quilombos<\/a>, eviction threats are just one element in the drawn-out struggles that many communities like Camorim face.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Community leader Jaqueline Andrade Costa spoke to the ongoing struggle against eviction<\/a> in Barrinha<\/a> as condominiums and other private\u00a0developments continue to rise in the surrounding neighborhood. She noted that while the experience has been difficult and traumatizing, the struggle has been made more palatable because many who have been evicted or have faced past threats in Rio are continuing to support those currently facing threats. She stated: \u201cPeople are not leaving the fight. Why? Because we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. We need to always stay together in this fight because life is difficult. This is our movement, a movement of support<\/a>. We have become companions in the struggle.\u201d She continued on to say that solidarity is the key<\/a> to ensuring the right to remain. \u201cIt is difficult to survive, but it is possible. This is why we need to help each other, to be here [at the roundtable], to come together and be in the fight. We all need to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Representing the communities of R\u00e1dio Sonda<\/a> and Maracaj\u00e1s<\/a>, Di Cunha explained how she learned about and became involved in the fight against eviction. Rumors of eviction are not new for either community, both of which sit upon federal land\u00a0under the control of the airforce on Ilha do Governador<\/a>. But in 2017, when the communities received yet another eviction notice<\/a>, Cunha drew inspiration from Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s strategies against eviction<\/a> and reached out to other communities to learn more about how her community could resist. She reflected: \u201cVila Aut\u00f3dromo inspires me.\u00a0<\/span>We\u2019ve learned a lot from Vila Aut\u00f3dromo. We learned how to fight and, as a result, we fight every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maria Lucia de Pontes and Adriana Bevilaqua, two public defenders, also contributed their perspectives. Pontes criticized the systemic factors that continue to perpetuate neglect of favelas across Rio de Janeiro. She\u00a0argued that resistance against eviction is much bigger than just a fight to remain, as \u201cit is a fight for another society, for another city<\/a>.\u201d Bevilaqua\u2019s words were both encouraging and critical. While she commended the community\u2019s resilience, she also acknowledged internal disputes within the Public Defender’s Office that have occasionally affected communities’ legal representation in their fights to remain. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lastly, Catalytic Communities’ Roseli Franco presented a book chapter on Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s evictions struggle<\/a> written by\u00a0CatComm’s Executive Director\u00a0Theresa Williamson for\u00a0Rio 2016: Olympic Myths, Hard Realities<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and highlighted the seven keys to successful resistance outlined in the chapter:\u00a0“unity… access to information, legal defense, diverse and resolute leadership<\/a>, broad networks of support… creative responses<\/a>… and early and ongoing documentation and visibility.” Franco also shared some of the findings from the organization’s Sustainable Favela Network map<\/a> and report<\/a>, emphasizing that favelas have always been and continue to be important sources of environmental and social sustainability<\/a> in an increasingly unequal city. Just as networks of resistance have emerged in a collective effort against evictions, Franco suggests that favelas can also strengthen local sustainability initiatives<\/a> through networked forms of learning and exchange.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

At the end of the roundtable, Vila Aut\u00f3dromo resident Natalia Macena wrapped up the evening by thanking the panelists reaffirming and responding to each of their words. Macena acknowledged the harsh realities of favela activism, but emphasized that favelas are stronger together<\/a>. She noted: \u201cResistance cannot be done by ourselves, it has to be collective. If I am in this fight alone, I cannot achieve anything. But, if we fight this together, we will succeed. The change may be small, but we will succeed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

More than a commemoration of the past, the second anniversary of the Evictions Museum celebrated and inspired emerging trends of activism among favela communities.\u00a0<\/span>As the threats of real estate speculation and gentrification<\/a> continue to loom large in post-Olympic Rio<\/a>, Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s fight and legacy of resistance function as support, example, and encouragement to ongoing efforts of resistance.<\/span><\/p>\n

*Catalytic Communities (CatComm) is the NGO that publishes\u00a0RioOnWatch<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas On the night of May 19, Vila Aut\u00f3dromo‘s Catholic Church\u2014a small, quaint, canary yellow building\u2014opened its doors to celebrate the Evictions Museum\u2019s second anniversary. Despite the heavy rain that preceded the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":171,"featured_media":43833,"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":[1293,2315,1736,1288,1333,2200,1329],"tags":[2574,756,2622,2032,11,65,188,203,678,2548,1259,716,5,69,2553,10,270,1402,2463,520,471,2665,4,21],"writer":[2706],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43803","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-evictionswatch","8":"category-legacywatch","9":"category-1736","10":"category-highlight","11":"category-event-reports","12":"category-toolkit","13":"category-by-international-observers","14":"tag-barrinha","15":"tag-community-organizing","16":"tag-event","17":"tag-evictions-museum","18":"tag-forced-evictions","19":"tag-gentrification","20":"tag-history","21":"tag-inequality","22":"tag-launch-event","23":"tag-maracajas","24":"tag-mega-events","25":"tag-museum","26":"tag-olympics","27":"tag-public-defenders","28":"tag-radio-sonda","29":"tag-real-estate-speculation","30":"tag-resistance","31":"tag-legacy","32":"tag-social-museology","33":"tag-solidarity","34":"tag-sustainability","35":"tag-unity","36":"tag-vila-autodromo","37":"tag-west-zone","38":"writer-sophy-chan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43803","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\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43803"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=43803"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=43803"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=43803"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=43803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}