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A Global Girl Special on an Innovative Project:
Reflecting on my blog yesterday about Favela Tourism, I had to add one more layer to the puzzle:
I ended yesterday’s blog saying that for Favela Tourism to really work, it has to come from a more internal community effort, and the community needs to be okay with some possible negative trade-offs for turning their community into a commodity item. Well, the project O Morrinho has transcended these barriers.
I first became introduced to the work of O Morrinho when I was doing volunteer work in Rio de Janeiro with Iko Poran. Some volunteers were working with the project. Later on, I even helped a dutch girl translate some of the website into English.
O Morrinho has a blog and you can see it here!
About O Morrinho:
O Morrinho is an art project that has created a 300m2 replica of a favela in Laranjeiras in Rio de Janeiro. This project has called lots of attention both nationally and internationally. These efforts not only reveal the “transformative power of art,” but also allows a way to spread the word of the lives in Favelas without having to objectify any community residents. This project is a really amazing effort.
Eventually these boys, and others as the project grew, began filming their efforts. There is a documentary about the building of the Morrinho, and there is a documentary called “Deus sabe tudo mas não é um X9,” or “God Knows Everything But He’s Not A Snitch” which will be showing on July 20th at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
History of O Morrinho:
In 1998, after arriving in Rio de Janeiro, Nelcirlan Souza de Oliveira was inspired by the architecture and life-style in the favelas of the Carioca city, and his curiosity and intrigue led him to reproduce this reality in his own backyard. His efforts attracted seven young boys who from their began the creation of the replica of their community, Vila Pereira da Silva in Laranjeiras.
Why a good solution?:
In the article, “A Construção da Favela Carioca como Destino Turístico,” Bianca Freire-Medeiros warns the reader that in the famous “contact zones” (coined by Mary Louise-Pratt in Imperial Eyes: Studies of Travel Writing and Transculturation) of two different cultures, it is wrong to believe that just one culture creates perceptions and representations of the others, but that there is always room for a dialogue.
Freire-Medeiros states: (My Translation) “I started this research forgetting one basic principal of human interaction: Even in contexts of inequality, there is always space for the emergence of dialogue.”
After all, it is a dialogue that will break not only the line that does exist between the morro, hill, and asfalto, asphalt, but it will also help break the stereotypes that this distinct separation really exists, the stereotype of the parallel powers of the “dual city” that actually ends up perpetuating the reality of this condition.
O Morrinho is a project that really came from within the community–a true representation created primarily by kids who just wanted to express themselves–and now it is a way to show the world the lives of some people living in this favela and create a dialogue nationally and internationally, and it does this without commoditizing the lives of those who live in the community.
Interested in seeing the project? You can schedule a visit, click here for more information!
Hello, My name is Zezinho and I live in the favela of Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I am a proud resident here in my comunity.
I understand people’s opinon about favela/slum tours.
I offer a diferent perspective. I welcome “tours” but only if done with a person who lives in the comunity. The majority of the tour operators do not live nor are not from the favela. I think it is the time that we who live in these comunities need do something.
It is true that some tour companies do glamorize the negative things (drugs, trafickers) in the comunity. This is something that make me upset. Becase there is so much more to favelas than this. I know about all of this because I see the tour guides make their tours.
Favelas deserve to be seen and to be heard. There is so much prejudice against these comunities. There is much culture that comes from favelas. When a foreigner comes to our comunity, this help legitimize us as people, like everybody else. It is only that we are poor. When you come for a visit, it is then people from the outside can see the realities of life there.
People always focus on the negative becase that is what the media promotes, drugs, violence, only this. But for we who live there exists so much more.
Most of the tours have this one “sanitized” route that they take every visitor. Some of us who live here in Rocinha are changing that. We are welcoming people to come for a visit with one of us. We know everything about this comunity and want share the truth but at the same time, want people to enjoy themselves when they come here. I like to bring people to visit my family and see how I live. When you come here, I also learn about you.
I respect people who may think this as exploitation but the diference is, we live here and are making changes to benefit OUR comunity. Our goal is to build a comunity center for Arts and Culture. And through our “tours”, people have the oportunity to also stay in the comunity. Many people return to volunteer, which we welcome.
If you want more information on how we are changing the perspectives of our comunity, please email me: rocinhajj@yahoo.com.br
Thank You, Zezinho
“Proud favela resident” Zezinho
Dear Zezinho,
I really loved what you had to say. Your comments and perspectives mean so much more because you can talk about someone who is witnessing this phenomena first hand rather than just making an educated guess at how Favela Tourism plays out in the community (like I did).
Thanks so much for your comments.
[...] everybody that has read my posts about favela tourism and O Morrinho, you have heard about O Morrinho and their documentary film. For those that haven’t read my [...]