Groundbreaking Oral History Project—‘Favela Climate Memory’—Launches Final Exhibition, Fostering Emotional Connection Between Climate, Nature and Community [Video]
The complete ‘Favela Climate Memory’ exhibition—the result of a collective oral history project that spanned over three years—was launched on Saturday, May 3, at the Maré Museum. Organized by Rio de Janeiro’s Sustainable Favela Network (SFN)*, the exhibition is the outcome of an unprecedented collective oral history research project, which systematized 1,145 testimonials from 382 residents of ten favelas across Rio de Janeiro. The project was developed by eleven museums and favela memory collectives that are members of the SFN: the Maré Museum (Complexo da Maré favelas), the Sankofa Museum (Rocinha favela), the Historic Orientation and Research Nucleus of Santa Cruz (organizer of the Antares favela climate memory circle), the Favela Museum (Pavão-Pavãozinho/Cantagalo favelas), the Vidigal Memories Nucleus (Vidigal favela), Alfazendo (City of God favela), the Serra da Misericórdia Integration Center (Complexo da Penha favelas), the Horto Museum (Horto favela), Fala Akari (Acari favela), Conexões Periféricas (Rio das Pedras favela), and the Evictions Museum (Vila Autódromo favela). The initiative also received special support from Përɨsɨ (Laboratory of Ecology, Knowledge, and Democracy at the Fluminense Federal University), as well as from the ClimateWorks Foundation, Instituto Clima e Sociedade (iCS), and the re:arc institute.
The Full Launch Was Held at the Maré Museum, Where the First Climate Memory Circle Had Taken Place
Just one month after its launch at the Maré Museum, the ‘Favela Climate Memory’ exhibition has been making waves, featured in The Guardian under the headline “How memories of clean water, frogs and fresh air could help save Rio’s favelas from future climate disaster,” as well as in Bom Dia Favela and eight other media outlets. The organizers have received invitations hoping to showcase the exhibition at Brazil’s national public health foundation (Fiocruz), at the National Congress, and COP30. But before that, it will first travel through some of the favelas that brought it to life: Maré, Acari, Rio das Pedras, and Vidigal.
The launch of the full exhibition—which has more than doubled in size since its partial launch in 2023—brought together 320 people from across the city of Rio de Janeiro, Greater Rio’s Baixada Fluminense and Leste Fluminense regions, as well as various Brazilian states and other nations. In addition to the press, the event welcomed students, community organizers from several favelas, children, researchers, and public officials.
