Maré from the Inside

Abstract

"Maré from the Inside" is an interactive visual and textual exhibit developed through the collaboration of Brazilian and U.S.-based artists, activists, and academics. It offers rarely captured views into the lives of residents in Complexo da Maré, a group of 16 contiguous favelas (informal and impoverished working-class neighborhoods) in Rio de Janeiro. The exhibit demonstrates the diversity and creativity of the citizens of these communities while exposing the barriers favela residents confront in their everyday lives. In doing so, Maré from the Inside challenges long-standing and powerful stigmatizing narratives and suggests the need for a fresh set of political and cultural strategies capable of breaking the cycles of exclusion and marginalization experienced by favela communities. Maré from the Inside is comprised of 30 family portraits, 26 street photographs, and 3 documentary films. The photographs draw from the experiences and reflections of Antonello Veneri, an Italian photojournalist, and Henrique Gomes, a cultural producer and resident of Complexo da Maré. The artists collaborated with 30 families to create an intimate visual representation of their homes. Together, the portraits capture the diverse human, familial, and urban identities of the Maré community in a respectful and non-fetishized way.