{"id":62969,"date":"2020-12-03T16:55:33","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T19:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=62969"},"modified":"2025-09-13T14:08:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:08:37","slug":"26-favela-museums-and-memory-projects-highlighted-in-new-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=62969","title":{"rendered":"26 Favela Museums and Memories Projects Highlighted in New Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>This\u00a0is our most recent article in a <\/i>series<\/i><\/a> created in partnership with the <\/i>Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies<\/i><\/a> at San Diego State University, to produce articles on human rights and socio-environmental justice in the favelas for RioOnWatch.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

At the <\/span>Sustainable Favela Network (SFN)<\/span><\/a>*\u2019s third annual full-network meet-up, its Memory and Culture Working Group launched a unique roadmap to the cultural richness of the city\u2019s favelas, peripheries, and <\/span>quilombos<\/span><\/a> (<\/span>formally recognized ancestral lands of descendants of enslaved Africans)<\/span>: the <\/span>Guide to Museums and Memories of the Sustainable Favela Network<\/span><\/a>. The Guide highlights histories that have been forcibly repressed and is a reference for anyone wanting to veer away from conservative museology and its one-dimensional evocations of the past, or superficial and stigmatizing views of favelas.
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\"\"<\/a>\u201cThis Guide gives us visibility when we are generally marginalized. It shows the knowledge of the favela to others. It is important that each favela resident tell her own story,<\/span>\u201d said Maria da Penha Macena of <\/span>Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/span><\/a>‘s <\/span>Evictions Museum<\/span><\/a>, who also wrote the Guide\u2019s preface. It reads, \u201cMuch has already been lost in the memories and histories of communities, favelas, ghettos, and urban peripheries. Brazil did not take the care and attention necessary to fully preserve the memory of its native, black, and poor populations, who always collaborated in the construction and development of this country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On top of Penha\u2019s introduction, the Guide includes reflections collectively written by the Working Group, on topics such as \u201cWhy do favela museums exist?\u201d and \u201cHow do community museums generate belonging and identity?\u201d In the center is a map of the memory-preserving initiatives, which can also be accessed <\/span>on Google Maps here<\/span><\/a>. Finally, <\/span>each initiative has an entry of its own, containing a brief introduction of the museum\/initiative, contact information, an address, and the year in which the initiative was founded. Due to the historical nature of the guidebook, initiatives are organized in chronological order, by year of foundation.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A year-long research effort, which began as a discussion inside the Working Group, identified 26 <\/span>community museums, research centers, art galleries, and heritage sites<\/span> from <\/span>across Greater Rio de Janeiro<\/span><\/a>. They range from quilombos that were established centuries ago and formalized in the past decades, to a mobile museum that was established in 2019, and include, but are not limited to, projects that participate in the SFN. While some of the initiatives have physical sites, others take the form of tours or carnival parades. What the projects have in common, according to the Guide\u2019s jointly-written texts, is that they aim for “universal access to the entertainment and education offered by<\/span>\u00a0museums\u201d and they tell history from a local perspective, \u201cleaving clear that we will not accept the imposition of a history and memory that are not ours.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The initiatives weave together elements of local art, stories of residents, methods of harmonious coexistence with nature, and political resistance, as explained in one essay, \u201creaffirming territoriality in the face of socio-spatial injustice, globalization\u2019s trend of homogeneity, and the ephemeral liquidity of post-modernity.\u201d To them, the initiatives in the Guide display the \u201cliberating function of memory.\u201d Reflecting on the challenges of \u201clack of publicity, and, consequently, lack of visitors in general,\u201d the Guide serves as an invitation for visits, dialogue, and support.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Guide to Museums and Memories of the Sustainable Favela Network includes cultural projects whose central axes are linked to black history, such as Quilombo Pedra do Sal<\/a>,\u00a0<\/b>one of the first urban quilombos in Brazil; indigenous resistance, such as the Aldeia Maracan\u00e3 Indigenous University<\/a>; and more contemporary urban identities such as the Graffiti Museum<\/a>\u00a0and Meeting of Favela<\/a>, both focused on street art. At the same time, the museums represent the diversity of people who have passed through their territories over the years and made them home, valuing their \u201cautonomy, collective construction, the involvement of residents who are the experts and in fact belong to those territories,\u201d write the Guide\u2019s authors. <\/span><\/p>\n

The November 7 launch event, which was facilitated by <\/span>Catalytic Communities<\/span><\/a>* Executive Director Theresa Williamson, included the participation of Maria da Penha of the Evictions Museum, Jos\u00e9 Renato Pimenta <\/span>of the <\/span>Historic Orientation and Research Nucleus of Santa Cruz<\/span><\/a> (NOPH), Luiz Ant\u00f4nio de Oliveira of the <\/span>Mar\u00e9 Museum<\/span><\/a>, <\/b>Francisco Valdean of the <\/span>Mar\u00e9 Traveling Museum of Images (MIIM)<\/span><\/a>, and Tereza On\u00e3 of the <\/span>Mar\u00e9 Center for Memory and Identity (NUMIM)<\/span><\/a>. They reflected on the philosophies driving their initiatives and the broader goals behind collectively creating the Guide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMemory is an important instrument for this transformation from the grassroots that we so desire,\u201d said Oliveira. By creating a museum devoted to local culture and history, he said, \u201cyou break these stigmas that the majority of society attributed to favela residents, over decades, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. It is an extremely political instrument.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

How Community Museums Generate Belonging and Identity<\/h3>\n

Many initiatives in the Guide to Museums and Memories of the Sustainable Favela Network work closely with residents of favelas and urban peripheries to document their daily lives, such as the Memories of Cerro Cor\u00e1<\/a>\u00a0initiative, the\u00a0<\/span>Sankofa Museum<\/span><\/a> in <\/span>Rocinha<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0and the Favela Museum<\/a>, an open-air museum that strives to enhance the individual and collective memory of Pav\u00e3o-Pav\u00e3ozinho<\/a> and Cantagalo<\/a> residents<\/span>. Francisco Valdean, who displays such images through his traveling museum, MIIM, said that this type of work shows \u201cthat it is possible… to lead people to look at the pictures, and to imagine favelas, beyond their already-established images.\u201d Breaking stigma and enhancing understanding is a core principal of many of the community museums.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Many initiatives in the Guide have identities linked to preservation of the surrounding area. The <\/span>Quilombo do Camorim Cultural Association<\/span><\/a> carries out historical and environmental walks and archeological digs, the <\/span>Quilombo do Sacop\u00e3 Cultural Association<\/span><\/a> is known for its \u201cpreservation of the forest and biodiversity,\u201d the Guide notes, while at the <\/span>Quilombo Cafund\u00e1 Astrogilda<\/span><\/a> \u201cthe use of medicinal plants and care practices are configured as blessings inherited from the ancestors.\u201d The <\/span>Sepetiba Ecomuseum<\/span><\/a> and the <\/span>Cacerib\u00fa Ecomuseum<\/span><\/a> are specifically focused on their local natural environments, as is the <\/span>S\u00e3o Bento Living Museum<\/span><\/a>, the first ecomuseum in Greater Rio’s\u00a0<\/span>Baixada Fluminense<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other museums are linked to local<\/span>\u2014and deeply historical\u2014<\/span>music<\/span>al traditions, like the <\/span>Casa do Jongo da Serrinha<\/span><\/a> and the <\/span>House of Bumba Meu Boi in Movement Museum<\/span><\/a> in <\/span>Bangu<\/span><\/a>. Some focus more on visual arts, such as <\/span>Casa Amarela<\/span><\/a> in Rio’s original favela<\/a>, <\/span>Provid\u00eancia<\/span><\/a>. And many of the museums tell stories of local political struggles, such as the Evictions Museum and the <\/span>Horto Museum<\/span><\/a>, \u201can instrument of resistance in the cause of traditional families of Horto that today suffer with real estate speculation, in spite of two centuries of history,\u201d the Guide writes.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Maria da Penha, at the launch event, said that the Evictions Museum was conceived beginning in 2015, as Vila Aut\u00f3dromo suffered a bitter and drawn-out eviction process. \u201cIt was born with two proposals. [First was] to remain in the community, to be a tool in the struggle against evictions, to show that we want to stay in this space, that we love this space, that we have the right to this space, that we were being violated. And [second was] to preserve our memory, of those who left and of those who stayed in this community. And to tell our story.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Penha concluded, \u201cMemory cannot be evicted!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Importance of Favela Museums for the City<\/h3>\n

The Guide writes that \u201cfavela museums, more than a place of memory and of exhibiting local archives and collections, can and should be a place of research and production of knowledge generated from a point of view of the oppressed, from an insurgent point of view, from a decolonial point of view, from where the true search for change emanates.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This change-seeking perspective can be seen in museums in the Guide such as the <\/span>New Blacks Institute for Research and Memory<\/span><\/a>, which was founded in 2005 and \u201cpromotes reflection about slavery and its scars for the principles of racial equality in Brazil.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Many cultural projects in the Guide innovate by calling into question traditional notions of what constitutes a museum. <\/span>NOPH is a community museum in <\/span>Santa Cruz<\/span><\/a>, a large peripheral district in Rio de Janeiro’s far West Zone. Though it was originally founded to \u201cvalue the material heritage of Santa Cruz, mainly the buildings from the colonial, Jesuit, and imperial period,\u201d said Jos\u00e9 Renato Pimenta, at the launch, it evolved with \u201cthe museological shift toward immaterial heritage, at the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s.\u201d In the 1990s, \u201cthe museum changed to reflect the territory of the neighborhood and the population that inhabits it. That is, this directly puts the favela inside NOPH, because 70% of the neighborhood of Santa Cruz is composed of favelas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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MIIM, the \u201cyoungest child in the catalogue,\u201d said Valdean, is a traveling museum based out of a shoebox<\/a>. In the box, Valdean stores images in monocles, photo negatives, and pictures of daily life in the favelas of Mar\u00e9. He shows them to people on the street and at neighborhood events such as barbecues. \u201cThe inventive part of this museum comes from this contact with people,\u201d he said. Their questions of \u201cIs this a museum? is a question of extreme relevance for museology and art.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Valdean said that when he presented MIIM at a school in Mar\u00e9\u2019s Vila do Pinheiro<\/a>, \u201ca student got up and said \u2018My grandmother is a museum!\u2019 and I asked, \u2018Why is your grandmother a museum?\u2019 and he said, \u2018Because my grandmother is full of stories and she puts her photographs in a box too!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Guide shows that just as a shoebox can serve as a museum, so too can a walking tour, such as <\/span>Rol\u00e9 dos Favelados<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Rocinha Hist\u00f3rica<\/span><\/a>, and a carnival parade, such as Mar\u00e9\u2019s <\/span>Se Benze Que D\u00e1<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Community museums, said Oliveira of the Mar\u00e9 Museum, \u201chave lots to dialogue about with so-called traditional museums.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Mar\u00e9 Museum\u2019s long-term exhibition examines different phases in the life of favela residents<\/a> such as migration, work, resistance, and festivities. \u201cMemory is at the same time enchanting and sensitive, but also powerful. It can be brutal also. At some necessary moments,\u201d said Oliveira. Above all, \u201cmemory is social. Memory of life is made by people, and not by furniture and walls.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Further commenting on the importance of exchange, he said, \u201cWe can\u2019t close ourselves into a circuit of community museums. We have to work with pedagogy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This dialogue between traditional and favela museums is already occurring, as can be seen by exchanges and awards such as the <\/span>Favela Museum<\/span><\/a>, another initiative in the Guide, receiving two honors in 2009 from the Brazilian Institute of Museums: \u201cfor its concept of a Living Museum and for its distinct way of thinking and creating a museum.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Community Museums After the Pandemic<\/h3>\n

\u201cWhat we envision for community museums after the pandemic is that the physical museums can stay on their feet with their doors open,\u201d writes the Guide. \u201cMany of them, unfortunately, may not open again because of lack of resources and visitors.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During the pandemic, managers of favela museums have continued to spread their work through participating in digital events and projects like the compilation of the Guide itself. The MIIM, for example, organized an <\/span>online collective exhibition<\/span><\/a> by photographers from Mar\u00e9, while the Mar\u00e9 Museum is offering virtual tours for those who contribute to their fundraising campaign<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But the museums\u2019 experiences are not the same digitally, and so their organizers are preparing for a time when it is safe to circulate in the city again. The Guide launch event concluded with the words of <\/span>Tereza On\u00e3 of NUMIM,<\/span>\u00a0which is\u00a0part of NGO <\/span>Redes da Mar\u00e9<\/span><\/a>. NUMIM<\/span> helped create Mar\u00e9\u2019s Open-Air Museum<\/a>, the official opening of which was delayed by the pandemic. The museum is \u201ca circuit that begins in Parque Uni\u00e3o and ends in Vila do Pinheiro,\u201d two favelas within the Mar\u00e9 complex, said On\u00e3, and consists of tiles bearing the words of residents. It was created through \u201cspeaking with residents. Really, it is a group of memories of residents, from every age group.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On\u00e3 is also a member of NUMIM’s\u00a0<\/span>Griots of Mar\u00e9<\/span><\/a>, a group of black female storytellers. \u201cAs a black woman in the diaspora, orality is a foundation for our population,\u201d she said. While Mar\u00e9 is full of history that comprises its identity, it is also true that \u201cMar\u00e9 is the future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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The hopeful sentiment was echoed by other participants at the launch event and in one of the final texts of the Guide: \u201cWith dedication and work together with our communities, we hope that favela museums can receive more cultural projects, so all can have access to what only the favela can show.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In order for the museums to continue to flourish, said Oliveira at the launch, \u201cwe believe it is important to be in these collective spaces. To try to create networks. To try to create pathways to join forces on actions that are so important.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFavela museums, resist!\u201d reads the subtitle of the jointly-written traditional popular poetry form, a cordel<\/em>, that closes the Guide. It concludes, \u201cTo care, to exchange, to love, and to share\u2014the Favela Museums Guide is ready to register narratives from the perspectives of the peripheries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read the Guide to Museums and Memories of the Sustainable Favela Network here<\/a> (in Portuguese).<\/h3>\n

Check out<\/a> the Guidebook Launch (in Portuguese):<\/h3>\n