After its launch in May, ‘Favela Climate Memory’—developed by eleven favela museum members of the Sustainable Favela Network*—is now touring the communities where the discussion circles that inform the exhibition took place. The groundbreaking project, which explores the connections between climate, nature, affection and territory, recently wrapped up two moving weeks in Acari, a favela that suffers from extreme vulnerabilities, including to climate risk, in Rio de Janeiro’s North Zone. From August 16-29, 2025, the exhibition made its way through three of the community’s most emblematic spaces: the Mothers of Acari Cultural Center—home to the Fala Akari Collective and local host of the initiative—the Queen Nzinga of Angola public high school, and the Acari Residents’ Association.
Watch the video of the exhibition in Acari above, in Portuguese, or by clicking here.
Buba Aguiar, a sociologist, grassroots communicator and member of the Fala Akari Collective, highlighted the importance of the exhibition being hosted in several locations across the community.
“Our thinking was that, the longer it stayed here in the community, the more people of all possible age groups would be able to come and take part. So we had the opening at our headquarters, the Mothers of Acari Cultural Center, which has long been a place where we reclaim memory—whether through the memory of the Mothers of Acari, of massacres that happened decades ago, or of the violence that continues today.
So how could we not open an exhibition called ‘Favela Climate Memory’ in our cultural space? At the same time, considering that we have a network of public schools, we reached out to the team at the Queen Nzinga of Angola high school and asked if they would like to host the exhibition. The idea was received with great enthusiasm…
And finally, the last place [that hosted] the exhibition was the residents’ association, [another] space of huge importance to our favela. Many issues of urban planning within the favela are discussed at the residents’ association: sanitation, food security. They have a community kitchen. It’s also where tools for maintaining sewerage and drainage systems are stored. And it’s where we come together to organize actions in response to floods, like we did a few years back. This year was no different.
This journey through various facilities that are essential to our community [is crucial].” — Buba Aguiar
View the photo album of the exhibition at the Mothers of Acari Cultural Center:
The exhibition in Acari introduced a new element, in addition to the timeline, banners, and documentary: the “Basin of Memories,” where visitors can look through historical photos of the participating favelas.
Caio Telles, a student at the Acari college prep course, served as a guide for the exhibition on August 21 and 29. He shared which parts of ‘Favela Climate Memory’ caught his attention the most.
“I’ve been following the exhibition since the beginning and, reading the posters, one of the things I found out was that [the favela called] Maré used to be [part of the] bay, and was infilled, right? Just like a large part of Acari was also infill… And I think it’s very important that people know that. We’re taking up space that wasn’t meant to be occupied—by buildings, houses, structures. I think the knowledge that the exhibition brings to the community allows people to access this kind of information. And that the exhibition is didactic enough that you don’t need a lot of schooling to understand. That’s one of the big dilemmas of exhibitions: [the difficulty of] truly includ[ing] peripheral areas. How to make it so people understand without all the academic language, without having to rely on a whole theoretical framework in order to get it.” — Caio Telles
At its debut at the Mothers of Acari Cultural Center on August 16, the exhibition was accompanied by a screening of the film Estamira (2006), bringing together residents and students for a debate that addressed a community’s memory, the exposure of the violence resulting from climate and environmental injustice, and the strengthening of the resistance of Acari and all the other favelas that built the exhibition.
The second stop of the circuit in Acari was the Queen Nzinga of Angola Public School, encouraging visits from students, teachers and guardians from the school community. For many students, engaging with narratives that strengthen their sense of belonging to the community is essential—especially narratives that emphasize strengths rather than vulnerabilities.
View the photo album of the exhibition at the Queen Nzinga of Angola Public School:
For Gabriel Santos, a student at the community’s college prep course who visited the exhibition on August 16 and 29, the exhibition helps fight and overcome the stereotypes of violence associated with the community by celebrating Acari’s memory.
“I realized that we’re trying to show what happens in our favela. That there are good people in Acari. It’s not just about shootouts, it’s not just about bad things happening. I think the government needs to step up, in addition to construction projects, it needs to invest more in education, so that these [sad] events stop happening. What do a few millimeters of rain mean? In just a few hours, it might seem like a very small thing, but for someone who is almost drowning, it can make all the difference.” — Gabriel Santos
Starting September 1, the ‘Favela Climate Memory’ exhibition will move on to the Rio das Pedras favela, in Rio’s West Zone, where it will remain open for visitation (at community projects, collectives, schools and other community spaces) until September 14. Check out the schedule here.
View the photo album of the exhibition at the Acari Residents’ Association:
*The Sustainable Favela Network (SFN) and RioOnWatch are both initiatives realized by not-for-profit organization Catalytic Communities (CatComm). The ‘Favela Climate Memory’ exhibition brings together 1,145 testimonials from 382 residents of ten favelas across Rio de Janeiro, collected and analyzed over three years, produced through a collective oral history project. The exhibition 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 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).
About the author: Bárbara Dias was born and raised in Bangu, in Rio’s West Zone. She has a degree in Biological Sciences, a master’s in Environmental Education, and has been a public school teacher since 2006. She is a photojournalist and also works with documentary photography. She is a popular communicator for Núcleo Piratininga de Comunicação (NPC) and co-founder of Coletivo Fotoguerrilha.
