{"id":80906,"date":"2025-05-24T15:08:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T18:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=80906"},"modified":"2025-09-13T14:10:59","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:10:59","slug":"mare-memory-network-the-initiative-that-produced-brazils-first-favela-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=80906","title":{"rendered":"The Story Behind Brazil’s First Favela Museum\u2014The Mar\u00e9 Museum\u2014Started With a Community Network and Oral Histories in the 1990s"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

This article is part of RioOnWatch\u2018s series on <\/span><\/i>Memories of Favela Power<\/span><\/i><\/a>, which documents and celebrates the history of Rio de Janeiro\u2019s favelas through narratives and reports from residents\u2019 collective memory, in their daily struggle to lead fulfilling lives. It also marks Brazil’s\u00a0<\/span><\/i>23rd National Museum Week<\/span><\/i><\/a>, celebrated from May 12-18, 2025, themed \u201cThe Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities,\u201d proposed by the International Council of Museums (<\/span><\/i>ICOM<\/span><\/i><\/a>). We publish this piece in celebration of a groundbreaking favela memory initiative: the Mar\u00e9 Memory Network. This initiative culminated in the founding of <\/span><\/i>Brazil’s first favela community museum<\/span><\/i>, which continues influencing <\/span><\/i>social museology<\/span><\/i><\/a> in the city to this day: the <\/span><\/i>Mar\u00e9 Museum<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"Inauguration<\/a>
Inauguration of the Dona Orozina Vieira Archive. Photo: ADOV\/Mar\u00e9 Museum \u2013 CEASM archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Created in the late 1990s, the Mar\u00e9 Memory Network was a pioneer in preserving the history and cultural identity of <\/span>Complexo da Mar\u00e9<\/span><\/a>, a group of 16 populous favelas in Rio de Janeiro’s North Zone. It left a lasting legacy through key initiatives, such as the Dona Orosina Vieira Archive (<\/span>ADOV<\/span><\/a>), which to this day fosters a <\/span>sense of belonging<\/span><\/a> among residents with their community. The Mar\u00e9 Memory Network remained active until 2007, when it was absorbed by the establishment of the<\/span> Mar\u00e9 Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The start of the project, however, traces back to a previous initiative led by Mar\u00e9 youth in the late 1980s\u2014more precisely, in 1989, when <\/span>Mar\u00e9 TV<\/span><\/a> was created to document the daily lives and stories of the community\u2019s residents. At the same time, records were gathered about the region, resulting in the first collection about Mar\u00e9. These included stories about the arrival of the first residents, such as <\/span>Dona Orosina Vieira<\/span><\/a>, and also cultural expressions, like the June Festivals, during which <\/span>gay pride performances<\/span><\/a> took place.<\/span><\/p>\n

The collective was only active for a short time and disbanded in 1992. Later, there was a need for a space to offer prep courses to Mar\u00e9 students who wanted to attend university, which led to the creation of one of the first NGOs in Mar\u00e9: the Center for Studies and Solidarity Actions of Mar\u00e9 (<\/span>CEASM<\/span><\/a>), in 1997. This initiative was also led by residents, including those who had been part of Mar\u00e9 TV.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Book<\/a>
Book Mar\u00e9 Tales and Legends<\/em>, one of the project\u2019s first publications. Photo: Dona Orosina Vieira Archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Within CEASM, other projects were launched to address a wide variety of issues, organized as networks: the Mar\u00e9 Work and Education Network (RETEM), the Health Network, and the Memory Network, specifically aimed at the community\u2019s historic preservation. The material produced by Mar\u00e9 TV was donated to the Mar\u00e9 Memory Network and unfolded into various other initiatives.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to <\/span>Cl\u00e1udia Rose Ribeiro<\/span><\/a>, CEASM and Mar\u00e9 Museum cofounder, the organization was initially created to prepare residents for the Brazilian college entrance examination, the <\/span>vestibular<\/span><\/i>, but eventually expanded its activities to other areas. Its collection, already under the care of the Memory Network, became a strategy for strengthening students\u2019 <\/span>identity and sense of belonging<\/span><\/a>, aiming to draw them closer to their community.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[The Mar\u00e9 Memory Network] was a way of encouraging our youth not to deny their roots. University wasn\u2019t made for favela residents, so using the project\u2019s collection was a [strategic] way for them to survive in that space. We proposed working with memory as a tool for connecting to the favela, because we believed that by knowing our past struggles, they would feel that they belonged.\u201d \u2014 Cl\u00e1udia Rose Ribeiro<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to a study by <\/span>Thamires Ribeiro de Oliveira<\/span><\/a>, a master\u2019s student in Preservation and Cultural Heritage Management of Science and Health at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), the main aim of the Mar\u00e9 Memory Network was to \u201crecord, preserve, and disseminate the history of the communities that make up the neighborhood and, through this, to strengthen the sense of local belonging among Mar\u00e9 residents, through their history and culture.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Memory<\/a>
Mar\u00e9 Memory Network files. Photo: ADOV\/Mar\u00e9 Museum \u2013 CEASM archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among the main activities carried out by the Mar\u00e9 Memory Network were interviews with residents and the search for materials about the community in the city of Rio de Janeiro\u2019s archives. Testimonials from older residents were fundamental in supporting research conducted in these archives. The network was also responsible for other important projects that followed, such as the creation of the <\/span>Mar\u00e9 de Hist\u00f3rias<\/span><\/a> storytelling group, the institution\u2019s publications\u2014like the book <\/span>Mar\u00e9 Tales and Legends<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u2014and the establishment of the Dona Orosina Vieira Archive (ADOV), as well as the <\/span>Mar\u00e9 Museum itself<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n