{"id":83541,"date":"2026-05-31T13:28:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T16:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=83541"},"modified":"2026-06-06T15:45:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T18:45:16","slug":"rio-de-janeiro-evictions-museum-celebrates-ten-years-of-art-memory-and-resistance-since-the-olympic-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=83541","title":{"rendered":"Rio de Janeiro Evictions Museum Celebrates Ten Years of Art, Memory and Resistance Since the Olympic Games"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Visitors,<\/a>
Visitors, supporters, artists and residents at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Evictions Museum in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

This article is part of our series reflecting on the impacts of mega-events on Rio de Janeiro\u00a010 years after the 2016 Olympic Games<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

This Museum Month<\/a>, Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/span><\/a> marked ten years since resisting the violent forced evictions that Rio de Janeiro’s City Hall justified as necessary for the 2016 Olympic Games<\/a>, when only 3% of residents managed to stay<\/a>. A favela in the city’s speculative Southwest Zone<\/a>, residents recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of their Evictions Museum<\/a> and the victory of those 20 families who remained. The event brought together residents, artists, activists and supporters for a day of memory, culture and a reaffirmation of the right to the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The program began with the monthly gathering of Rio’s Social Museology Network (REMUS<\/a>), which brought together representatives from community-based museum initiatives to discuss approaches to preserving collective memory from within their own territories. Mario Chagas, professor and director at the School of Museology<\/a> of the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), delivered a powerful message during the gathering:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year marks the tenth anniversary of the Museum of Tomorrow [Rio’s most-visited museum] and the Evictions Museum, and twentieth of the Mar\u00e9 Museum. I\u2019m happy to be here and not at the Museum of Tomorrow, because tomorrow is actually here [in the community museum movement]. The possibility of transforming the world of museums is here, not there. That one is the Spectacle Museum. Is there space for the Museum of Tomorrow? Sure, there is. But what we want to guarantee is our place: we want this space to have a place.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rapper Jef Rodriguez<\/a> then took the stage with a performance that moved the crowd with lyrics full of protest and defiance, invoking the resistance of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo. The high energy carried into the afternoon with Skabloco<\/a>, that energized the crowd with a ska-infused brass-and-percussion fanfare, blending rhythms and drawing residents and visitors into the celebration.<\/p>\n

\"Several<\/a>
Several cultural acts were part of the Evictions Museum\u2019s tenth-anniversary celebration. Here, Skabloco parades down Rua Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, energizing the crowd during an afternoon of celebration and resistance. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sandra Maria, a thirty-year resident of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, active participant in the resistance against evictions and co-founder of the Evictions Museum, spoke about the importance of the museum\u2019s tenth anniversary:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are celebrating ten years of the Evictions Museum, which was born out of the fight against Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s forced eviction. The Evictions Museum was founded as an instrument of resistance, a real tool for us to fight against the evictions that were happening at the time and against the threat of forced evictions in other communities. Today, we\u2019re also celebrating ten years of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s victory<\/a> [in keeping some residents here and the community alive]. Around 700 families were removed, but 20 managed to stay. That was enormously important. The permanence of these 20 families means that this area, this land, this community, continues to be a Special Zone of Social Interest<\/a>, which is land designated for low-income housing. So this is very important in the fight for the right to housing, for the right to the city, for the right of low-income people to live in serviced portions of the city and to put an end to this pattern where, whenever speculation arrives, the area gets upgraded, the region\u2019s property values increase, and the first thing [City Hall] does is take away the poor. So, Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s survival is a major, fundamental reference point in the fight for the right to housing, for the right to a home, for the right to the city. And the Evictions Museum is yet another tool in that fight.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Maria<\/a>
Maria da Penha, a key figure in the fight against her community’s forced evictions and co-founder of the Evictions Museum, spoke about the joy of having remained in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo: \u201chappiness can’t be bought.\u201d Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maria da Penha, a key figure in the fight against Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s forced evictions and co-founder of the Evictions Museum, also reflected on the struggle and highlighted the joy of having remained in her community:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s turning out to be a wonderful day, full of hope and with so much love in our hearts\u2014when you do the right thing, when you fight for your rights, may those rights always be respected. And this is a day of celebration\u2026 It\u2019s a privilege to be here today with so many friends, with so many wonderful people and with the residents who once lived here. I feel very privileged to have stayed and to be continuing this fight, because it never ends. You never know what tomorrow will bring, but as long as we’re here, we’ll live with joy, and I\u2019m very happy because I\u2019m in the place I love. And happiness can\u2019t be bought!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/a>
The exhibition \u2018Memory and Struggle,\u2019 by Luiz Claudio and Ana Priscila, was open to visitors, featuring images and objects that reconstruct the history of the community\u2019s eviction. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The exhibition \u2018Memory and Struggle\u2019 by Luiz Claudio and Ana Priscila was on display at Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s Cultural Center, which residents had long demanded and thanks to their pressure City Hall finally delivered<\/a>. The exhibition featured photographs and objects that reconstruct the history of the community\u2019s eviction. Luiz Claudio, a resident since 1994, reflected on the importance of the Evictions Museum as a response to City Hall\u2019s violence, and its transformation into something beyond a museum\u2014an instrument of popular struggle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a museum that emerged in the midst of a violent attack by the State against what was a legalized community<\/a>, which is why we\u2019re still here today, and managed to stand up to an oppressive system. We carried that struggle all the way to the eve of the Olympics, when they had to give in and respect the rights [of those of us who were still here resisting]. So, for us, the celebration of these ten years means a great deal, because we waged a fight that no one believed we could win. It was unprecedented, you know? We had supporters who strengthened us at every difficult moment. The Evictions Museum is deeply significant not only for Vila Aut\u00f3dromo; it holds great importance in the broader popular struggle: there are many communities facing the threat of eviction when major development projects come in.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/a>
The performance \u2018Evictions,\u2019 by Jo\u00e3o Maturo, artistically recreated the memories of the violence experienced by residents, giving form to pain through art. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The theatrical dimension of the event carried a sharp political edge, with activities like a peteca<\/em> <\/a>workshop, led by Elihas di Jorge<\/a>, that brought together children and adults to make the traditional Indigenous toy from simple materials. Afterwards, Maria Madeira<\/a> performed a storytelling piece accompanied by animated puppet theater. And lastly, Jo\u00e3o Maturo<\/a>\u2019s performance \u2018Evictions\u2019 artistically recreated the memories of the violence experienced by residents, giving form to pain through art. In one moment during his performance, Maturo raised a megaphone to the crowd and declared:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why we must resist, so that what happened here never happens again. More than resisting, we must occupy! The fight is not yet won\u2026 We must resist! So that attacks like this may never repeat themselves. Memory cannot be evicted!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The history of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo bears the scars of the arbitrary forced eviction of approximately 700 families. It was an attempt by City Hall to destroy an entire community and its memories. The permanence of the 20 remaining families and the tenth anniversary of the Evictions Museum speak for themselves: without struggle there is no victory, and memory cannot be evicted.<\/p>\n

See More Photos in the Album<\/a>:<\/h3>\n

\"10<\/a>