{"id":81054,"date":"2025-06-02T16:00:44","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T19:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=81054"},"modified":"2025-06-17T16:41:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T19:41:26","slug":"evictions-museum-unveils-new-walking-tour-reigniting-vila-autodromos-history-and-resistance-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=81054","title":{"rendered":"A Product of the 2016 Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro the ‘Evictions Museum’ Unveils New Walking Tour, Reigniting Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s History and Resistance [IMAGES]"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sandra<\/a>
Sandra Regina and her granddaughter hold a sign made in honor of their former home, torn down by City Hall in 2016. Photo: Luiza de Andrade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

On May 18, International Museum Day, the Evictions Museum<\/span><\/a>, in <\/span>Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/span><\/a>, in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s <\/span>West Zone<\/span><\/a>, marked nine years of (re)existence. The date was celebrated with the relaunch of its walking tour, an event held as part of the 23rd National Museum Week, promoted by the Brazilian Institute of Museums, from May 12 to 18. Throughout the week, the Evictions Museum and other museums across Brazil organized events themed \u201cThe Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Originally launched on May 18, 2016, the Evictions Museum is a community museum founded by residents and supporters of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, an established community that was violently evicted using inconsistent reasoning<\/span><\/a> by the City of Rio de Janeiro in the lead up to the 2016 Olympics<\/a>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

From Fishing Community to Olympic Park: A History of Resistance to Real Estate Speculation<\/h3>\n

Vila Aut\u00f3dromo emerged in the 1960s as a fishing community that settled in the Itapeba Peninsula, on the shores of the <\/span>Jacarepagu\u00e1 Lagoon<\/span><\/a>. The community expanded with the arrival of families working on the nearby racetrack construction, and the urban occupation of <\/span>Barra da Tijuca<\/span><\/a>. In 1989, Vila Aut\u00f3dromo welcomed families from the Cardoso Fontes favela, relocated by the State of Rio de Janeiro. In 1994, it took in 60 more families relocated by the state, through the Municipal Secretariat of Housing and Land Affairs (SEHAF).<\/span><\/p>\n

It was during this period, in 1993, that City Hall made its first eviction threat towards Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, based on accusations that the community was responsible for aesthetic and environmental harm to its surroundings. Over the course of 30 years, many threats of and attempts at forced eviction were made. Then, in the wake of the 2016 Olympics, the forced eviction process was finally carried out by City Hall.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Inalva<\/a>
Inalva Mendes Brito, former resident of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, looks at photographs documenting her forced eviction. Photo: Luiza de Andrade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The forced evictions <\/span>began in 2013<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>intensified<\/span><\/a> throughout <\/span>2014<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>2015<\/span><\/a>, eventually concluding just <\/span>months before<\/span><\/a> the 2016 Olympics. The process transformed the community into a \u201cwar zone,\u201d as described by resident Luiz Claudio da Silva, fraught with unrecognizable homes, broken pipes, no water, loose wires, and piles of rubble. Before the forced evictions, Vila Aut\u00f3dromo housed nearly 700 families, of which only 20 were able to remain. To preserve the memory of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s struggle as a counter narrative to the forced evictions perpetrated by the City, residents and supporters founded the Evictions Museum<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The date chosen for the inauguration of the Evictions Museum was far from arbitrary. On May 18, 2016, while the International Council of Museums (<\/span>ICOM<\/span><\/a>) promoted debates about \u201cMuseums and Cultural Landscapes,\u201d the Evictions Museum emerged as an instrument of resistance, denouncing the region\u2019s ongoing exclusionary and racist urban development project, which destroys cultural landscapes in the name of real estate speculation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Evictions Museum was founded on the belief that <\/span>museums can and should play social roles<\/span><\/a> that positively impact the preservation of landscapes and cultures, in addition to supporting communities. In Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, a community undergoing rapid transformation due to a <\/span>forced eviction<\/span><\/a> process, the <\/span>Evictions Museum<\/span><\/a> has served as a tool of resistance since its founding. For nine years, the institution has defended the motto: \u201cmemory cannot be evicted.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Exhibit<\/a>
Exhibit \u201cImages of Memory and Struggle,\u201d with photographs from the collection of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo resident and cofounder of the Evictions Museum, Luiz Claudio da Silva. Photo: Luiza de Andrade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Preserving and honoring the memories of places and people in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, the Evictions Museum\u2019s memory tour was first launched on September 23, 2018, as part of the 12th Museum Spring, promoted by the Brazilian Institute of Museums (IBRAM). The first version included 24 signs: 18 memorialization sites, four with street names, and two with explanatory texts. The 2025 newly inaugurated version now features 28 sites<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Welcome to the Evictions Museum<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Community entrance plaque<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Resistance Crossing<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Church of Saint Joseph the Worker<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Ruins of Zezinho and In\u00eas’s home<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  6. Lamppost from Jaqueline\u2019s home<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  7. Ruins of Wilson and Iolanda\u2019s home<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  8. Residents’s Association<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  9. Origin of the Evictions Museum<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  10. Espa\u00e7o Ocupa<\/span><\/li>\n
  11. Ruins of Dona<\/em> Denise\u2019s home<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  12. Site of Mateia\u2019s former bakery<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  13. Containers<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  14. Rua Francisco Landi \u2013 Home of Sandra Regina\u2019s family<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  15. Rua Gilles Villeneuve<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  16. Dona<\/em> Dalva lived on this street: she resisted and stayed<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  17. End of Rua Beira Rio, where Iara and Ga\u00facho\u2019s family lived<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  18. AEIS (Special Area of Social Interest \u2013 Complementary Law 74\/2005)<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  19. Ruins of Seu<\/em> Ad\u00e3o\u2019s home<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  20. Final barricades<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  21. Children\u2019s playground<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  22. Legacy of the Future of Memory project<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  23. Rua Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  24. Capybara preservation plaque<\/span><\/li>\n
  25. Animals also resisted forced evictions<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  26. Ruins of an unidentified resident\u2019s home<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  27. Second stage of upgrades<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  28. Replanting after the forced evictions<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    During this update, the exhibit gained four new memorialization sites: (1) Ruins of an unidentified resident\u2019s home; (2) Animals also resisted the forced evictions; (3) Second stage of upgrades; and (4) Replanting after the forced evictions. In this new version, the exhibit uses more durable materials and includes accessibility features. Each plaque now displays a QR code linking to videos that explain the history behind each memorialization site<\/a>, with captions in Portuguese, audio description, and Brazilian Sign Language. <\/span>The work of updating and improving the exhibit was made possible thanks to the 2023 Sites of Memory Award, promoted by IBRAM.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    The new memory tour was led by Luiz Claudio da Silva, Maria da Penha Macena, Nathalia Macena, and Sandra Maria Teixeira, remaining residents of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo and cofounders of the Evictions Museum. Along the way, some participants were invited to share memories related to the historical markers featured in the exhibit and to help install the new plaques.<\/p>\n

    \"Luiz<\/a>
    Luiz Claudio da Silva speaks about the memory marker at the site where containers housed nine families for 73 days<\/a>. Photo: Luiza de Andrade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Among those present were current and former residents of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, as well as supporters who took part in the community\u2019s struggle at different moments. At the memorialization site honoring the ruins of Zezinho and In\u00eas\u2019s home, teacher Inalva Mendes Brito, a former resident of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, shared her feelings about being forcibly evicted from her home.<\/p>\n

    \u201cZezinho and In\u00eas’s home represents my own, which had no rights whatsoever\u2014not even to a plaque. It was held as a [real estate] market reserve\u2026 So, their plaque and this space represent my feelings.\u201d \u2013 Inalva Mendes Brito<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Seu<\/em> Wilson Menegoy, another former resident, who has a site of memory honoring the home he shared with Dona<\/em> Iolanda, recalls how Vila Aut\u00f3dromo took him in. It was where he found stability and true happiness before being forcibly evicted and having his home demolished.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI spent my whole life paying rent. Through some friends of my wife who lived in the community, I started visiting and grew to like the place. Then this piece of land became available, we managed to buy it, and built our house here in 1998. When we moved in, it was practically just the bare structure, and we slowly started plastering and finishing the place… We stayed here for 17 years, until the forced evictions. It was a very good period in our lives.\u201d \u2014 Wilson Menegoy<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    One of the new sites celebrates the delivery of the community\u2019s second stage of upgrading. The construction of the facilities was a demand made by residents who resisted forced eviction during negotiations with City Hall. Even so, the agreement only began to be fulfilled<\/a> after renewed demands by <\/span>residents between June 2022 and July 2023. Some community spaces that existed in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo before the eviction process were rebuilt: a multi-sports court, playground and sociocultural space.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    In July 2023, the ruins of another home were discovered on the site, becoming one of the exhibit\u2019s new sites. Sandra Maria explained: \u201cWe understand that, as the floor of a home belonging to an unidentified resident, it represents all the homes that were removed\u2014homes of so many people who were never identified.\u201d For this reason, on the Evictions Museum\u2019s first anniversary, a solid brick from the home of an unidentified resident was one of the community objects memorialized through its donation to the National Historical Museum in 2017<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \"The<\/a>
    The new walking tour includes ruins meant to represent all the homes whose former residents can no longer be identified. Photo: Luiza de Andrade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Another site of memory in the updated exhibit honors the animals of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, recognizing that they, too, resisted the evictions. Nathalia Macena explained how the site was chosen.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe understand that it\u2019s not just us, human beings, who feel the impact of forced evictions. Pets, wild animals, and all other animals and living beings, in one way or another, to some degree, also suffer this impact. So we felt it was only fair to honor all animals, in general. Unfortunately, many people, unable to take their animals with them when they moved, left them behind. So many animals were abandoned. Those of us who stayed, fighting to remain in this community, were not only concerned with our own survival and subsistence, but also with the animals\u2014because what they were going through wasn\u2019t fair. It was inhumane.\u201d \u2014 Nathalia Macena<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Nathalia, visibly moved, shared that, near the new memorialization site, the body of little Nina is buried\u2014a dog adopted by her family after being abandoned during the forced evictions of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo.<\/p>\n

    \"Plaque<\/a>
    Plaque reads: \u201cOver 500 trees were cut during the forced evictions. The community was devastated.\u201d Photo: Luiza de Andrade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The forced evictions violently impacted the fauna, including human beings, but it\u2019s also important to highlight that the flora\u2014sometimes native vegetation\u2014was also harmed<\/a> and depleted during the removal of the community. Since the evictions, residents who resisted have been replanting, with seedlings in their backyards and through donations, in an effort to restore a key characteristic of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo before the removals: being a favela with many trees. Due to its importance, this community reforestation was also honored in the updated memory tour of the Evictions Museum.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt was a hard moment, seeing those 30-meter-tall trees brought down. They would bring in the shredder, cut the branches, and beautiful trees were reduced to dust.\u201d \u2014 Luiz Claudio da Silva<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Afterwards, those present were invited to plant sunflower seeds around the memorialization site to support the community\u2019s replanting efforts.<\/p>\n

    \"Participants<\/a>
    Participants of the exhibit launch gather to plant seeds in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo. Photo: Luiza de Andrade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    At the site \u201cLegacy of the Future of Memory Project,\u201d an initiative developed in partnership with the Goethe Institute, Nathalia, Sandra, Penha, and Luiz staged a collaborative artistic intervention, with a text written by Nathalia Macena. One of the passages refers to the \u201cguerrilla strategies employed by City Hall to carry out evictions\u201d and the \u201cguerrilla strategies employed by residents to defend themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cIf there\u2019s a beating, there\u2019s a barricade<\/a>; if there\u2019s aggression, there\u2019s a protest; if there\u2019s destruction, there\u2019s occupation; if there are trees being cut down, there are seeds being planted; if we fall amidst the rubble, we stand up, shake off the dust, lift our heads up high\u2014and stumble upon yet another of many innovations. [That\u2019s when] the Evictions Museum is born.\u201d \u2014 Nathalia Macena<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \"Text<\/a>
    Text by Nathalia Macena tells Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s history of resistance in the face of forced eviction pressures. Photo: B\u00e1rbara da Paz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    A birthday cake marked the end of the event, celebrating the Evictions Museum\u2019s nine years of existence and resistance. Those present sang happy birthday to honor this nearly decade-long journey.<\/p>\n

    \"Residents,<\/a>
    Residents, former residents, and partners in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s fight gather to celebrate the Evictions Museum\u2019s first nine years. Photo: Luiza de Andrade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    About the author:\u00a0Lia Peixinho is a museologist (UNIRIO), holds a master\u2019s degree in Museology and Heritage (PPG-PMUS \u2013 UNIRIO\/MAST), is currently pursuing a bachelor\u2019s degree in Anthropology (UFF) and a postgraduate degree in Cities, Urban Policies, and Social Movements (IPPUR\/UFRJ). She is a member of the Evictions Museum\u2019s management committee and works as a museologist at the Burle Marx Institute<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n

    Support\u00a0<\/b>RioOnWatch<\/i><\/b>\u2019s tireless, critical and cutting-edge hyperlocal journalism, online community organizing meetings, and direct support to favelas\u00a0<\/b>by clicking here.<\/a><\/b><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas On May 18, International Museum Day, the Evictions Museum, in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s West Zone, marked nine years of (re)existence. The date was celebrated with the relaunch of […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":245,"featured_media":81055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1293,2315,1736,1288,1333,1332,335,329,1329],"tags":[910,2032,538,674,11,2426,5,1402,2463,4,21],"writer":[3794],"translator":[3795],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[3687],"class_list":{"0":"post-81054","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-photo-essays","13":"category-policies","14":"category-solutions","15":"category-by-international-observers","16":"tag-creative-organizing","17":"tag-evictions-museum","18":"tag-exhibition","19":"tag-memory","20":"tag-forced-evictions","21":"tag-museum-week","22":"tag-olympics","23":"tag-legacy","24":"tag-social-museology","25":"tag-vila-autodromo","26":"tag-west-zone","27":"writer-lia-fernandes-peixinho","28":"translator-marina-devine-guzman","29":"photographer-luiza-de-andrade"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81054","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\/245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81054"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81086,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81054\/revisions\/81086"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/81055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81054"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=81054"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=81054"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=81054"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=81054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}