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Reality in miniature: the Morrinho Project as

a community-based and site-specific artwork
from a Rio de Janeiro favela
Simone Kalkman

Leiden University, Netherlands; Utrecht University, Netherlands

Published online: 19 Sep 2013.

To cite this article: Simone Kalkman (2013) Reality in miniature: the Morrinho Project as a communitybased and site-specific artwork from a Rio de Janeiro favela, World Art, 3:2, 275-295, DOI:
10.1080/21500894.2013.789448
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21500894.2013.789448

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World Art, 2013

Vol. 3, No. 2, 275
295, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21500894.2013.789448
Research article

Reality in miniature: the Morrinho Project as a

community-based and site-specific artwork from a
Rio de Janeiro favela
Simone Kalkman*

Downloaded by [Simone Kalkman] at 01:10 18 December 2013

Leiden University, Netherlands; Utrecht University, Netherlands

This article discusses Morrinho, a grassroots artistic project from a Rio
de Janeiro favela (slum or squatter settlement) that visited several
prestigious, international art events. The project started without
artistic intentions, as a form of childrens play, but developed into a
successful organisation that combines artistic and social goals. The
article shows how the project was incorporated into the world of High
Art, arguing that its common interpretation often gives a simplified
view. It then presents an alternative reading based on the complex
sociological position of the projects participants as well as their
mature and reflective artistic representation. Crucial in this argument
is an interdisciplinary approach that combines a sociological understanding of the projects favela context, knowledge of relevant arthistorical debates and a first-hand understanding of the present
functioning of the project. Based on this approach, the article discusses
the position which the Morrinho Project occupies in the debate
surrounding the increasing amount of community-based art projects
that aim to combine artistic achievements with a direct, socio-political
relevance.
Keywords: Rio de Janeiro; favela; Morrinho; community-based art;
site-specific art; otherness

Introduction
The past decades have seen a significant increase in art projects that wish
to combine artistic goals with a tangible, socio-political relevance. The idea
of community involvement, in which artists engage with a group of people
usually characterised by some form of marginality, is important in these
practices (Kwon 2004: 109). This often links the artworks in question
closely to their community as a specific form of site. Scholars have used
a variety of names to analyse these practices, most notably socially
engaged art, participatory art and community or community-based art.
One of the central problems in the surrounding debate is how an artist

*Email: simonekalkman@gmail.com
# 2013 Taylor & Francis

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should engage with and/or relate to the community in question. In this

article, I engage in this debate by discussing the Morrinho Project, a
collaborative, grassroots art project from a Rio de Janeiro favela (slum or
squatter settlement). Morrinho is a diminutive form of the word Morro,
which means hillside. Morro is an alternative denomination for Rio de
Janeiros South Zone favelas, which are predominantly located on the
steep hills that characterise the citys geographical setting. The project,
which has a miniature favela model as its central focus, started out without
artistic intentions, but gradually developed into a reasonably well-known
organisation that has visited several prestigious international art events

most notably the 2007 Venice Biennale.
This article shows how the Morrinho Project was received in the world of
High Art, and how it can be interpreted as a work of contemporary art. In
contrast to earlier texts that have focused on Morrinhos status as a
community non-governmental organisation (NGO) and connected it to local
developments (Rocha 2009; Freire-Medeiros and Rocha 2011; Bentes 2011),
I focus on Morrinhos position in the art world and its connection to arthistorical debates. This is not to deny the significance of local mediations
(which have played an important role in Morrinhos development), but
rather to explore the links between Morrinhos artists and the global artworld, a topic that has not been examined before. To do so, I critically
examine the projects art world reception through a focus on two elements
that have defined its validation: the participants status of otherness, and
the projects social significance. Based on the historical development as well
as the present functioning of the project, I argue that Morrinhos art-world
interpretation often provides a simplified view. Furthermore, I present an
alternative reading based on the notions of site-specificity and community.
Essential to this analysis is an interdisciplinary approach in both
research methods and theoretical framework. This approach led to a
unique frame of reference that not only provided new insights in this
specific project, but also several suggestions in the broader debate on
community-based art projects. Crucial in this approach was a two-month
period of qualitative fieldwork on site, during which I interviewed several
of the projects participants and participated in their daily activities
(participant observation).1 In the first part of the article I give an
introduction to the project as well as its favela background. As argued
later, this context is crucial in understanding the projects goals and
achievements. I go on to explain how the project has been interpreted in
the art world, which is followed by a more nuanced interpretation.

Success at the margins: context and story

In order to comprehend fully Morrinhos transformation from childrens
play into a successful artistic and social organisation, a sociological

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understanding of the physical and ideological place occupied by favelas in

Rio de Janeiro society is crucial. Usually translated as slums or squatter
settlements, favelas are informal agglomerations housing the majority of
Rios lower classes. They are an important but marginalised part of Rios
urban landscape, which is one of the problems the Morrinho Project
addresses in its representation. The project started and developed in a
favela called Pereira da Silva (often shortened to Pereirao). In 1997, the 14year-old Nelcirlan Souza de Oliveira (known as Cilan) and his family
moved from the interior of Rio de Janeiro state to this neighbourhood. Not
long after their arrival, Cilan started to make small reproductions of favela
houses on the hillside surrounding his home. A group of neighbourhood
children joined his practices and together they started to construct a
model favela made of the bricks most favela residents use to build their
homes. Since the project had not yet received attention from outside
Pereira da Silva, knowledge of this early period (1998
2001) depends on
later accounts. We do know that, in addition to Cilan, there were six
participants at the time: Maycon Souza de Oliveira, Felipe de Souza Dias,
Jose Carlos Silva Pereira, Paulo Vitor da Silva Dias, Renato Dias and
Luciano de Almeida. In this article, however, Cilan will function as the
most important spokesperson for the Morrinho Project. This is because he
is the founder of the project and the only participant who has worked
continuously for the project on a full-time basis. Also, he usually functions
as a spokesperson for the model in presentations, debates and press
interviews.
In addition to building the model as a form of play, the group used
LEGO figurines as characters that inhabit the model. According to the
projects website, this helped them to deal with the violent reality of their
neighbourhood. As Cilan says:
When we started out it was just playing. It was dealing with the
circumstances we had in the community. My brother and I started doing
this and we really liked it. It was a way for us to deal with the close presence
of violence and drug traffic. I lived here with my mother and she was happy
to know I was close to the house, not off somewhere doing bad things.

Morrinho is thus presented as a playful way of dealing with a harsh reality,

and was initially strongly linked to the experience of violence and drug
traffic (Rocha 2009: 102). At this time, there were no artistic intentions
and the boys had received little (artistic) education.
bio
In 2001, the model was discovered by two film producers, Fa
Gaviao and Markao Oliveira, who valued it for its originality and creativity.
Gaviao and Oliveira started to train the youngsters in audiovisual
techniques, teaching them to document their play into short films. This
led to the birth of TV Morrinho, a branch of the project focused on
producing different kinds of short films.2 The producers also helped to

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gain publicity outside Rio de Janeiro, which resulted in Exposica

o
Morrinho, a branch of the project in which participants reproduce smaller
versions of the model in exhibition contexts. In 2004, the project was
shown in Europe for the first time, at the World Urban Forum in
Barcelona. In 2007, they were invited to exhibit in the Venice Biennale by
its curator, Robert Storr. Participating in this influential, international
event was very important for Morrinhos further development. Participants claim that this was the moment they started to see the project as art.
As Cilan expresses: I started to see the project as art in Venice, seeing it
together with all these important artists. It is like a World Cup for the arts,
and we were there!
In addition, the Venice Biennale increased the projects publicity and
officially established its status as a work of contemporary art. The
following years saw several exhibitions (in England, Norway, the Netherlands, Colombia and East Timor), the launch of a documentary by Gaviao
and Oliveira and the professionalisation of the project as a registered
NGO, which organises tourist visits in Pereirao (Turismo no Morrinho)
and temporary social projects (Morrinho Social).
The Morrinho Project thus consists of four branches: TV Morrinho,
Exposica
o Morrinho, Turismo no Morrinho and Morrinho Social, which
are all based on the original favela model in Pereirao. Over the years, this
model has grown into a 370 m2 artistic installation that keeps growing and
changing (Figure 1). One of the most striking aspects is Morrinhos
resemblance to a real favela. This is due to its hillside setting, the houses
piled on top of each other, and the roads and staircases made out of
cement (Figures 2 and 3). While some houses are made out of simple
bricks and painted in one colour, others have atypical shapes, are painted
in several colours or have inscriptions that define the function of the house
(Figures 4 and 5). These special houses are mostly located in the central
part of the model and usually depict elements that do not exist in real
favelas. Throughout the model, we can see its inhabitants, a variety of
LEGO figurines and other toy figures (Figure 6). It is the models vibrant
and colourful outlook, as well as its size and originality, that makes an
instant impression on most visitors.

Stigmatised but popular: the Rio de Janeiro favela

One of the official goals stated on Morrinhos website is [challenging] the
popular perception of Brazilian favelas. In order to understand this
objective, it is necessary to look at the place occupied by favelas in Rio de
Janeiro society, as well as to give a more specific account of the
neighbourhood Pereira da Silva. Favelas have existed in Rio de Janeiro
since the 1890s and have expanded significantly in the twentieth century
due to high income inequality and lack of affordable housing. Because of

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Figure 1. Morrinho Project. Pereira da Silva, Rio de Janeiro. Photograph by the

author (2012).

Figure 2. Morrinho Project (detail). Pereira da Silva, Rio de Janeiro. Photograph

by the author (2012).

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S. Kalkman

Figure 3. Morrinho Project (detail). Pereira da Silva, Rio de Janeiro. Photograph

by the author (2012).

the citys geographical setting, many favelas are built on the hillsides in
between the citys formal neighbourhoods, which are often called asfalto.3
Rich and poor thus live in unusual proximity in these areas. Additionally,
favela removal policies and city expansion have given rise to favelas

Figure 4. Morrinho Project (detail). Pereira da Silva, Rio de Janeiro. Photograph

by the author (2012).

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Figure 5. Morrinho Project (detail). Pereira da Silva, Rio de Janeiro. Photograph

by the author (2012).

located far outside the urban centres. Today, favelas occupy a significant
part of the city, with approximately 1.4 million people living in 763
neighbourhoods.4 Within this context, it should be noted that not all favela
inhabitants live in grinding poverty. Instead, favela neighbourhoods have
enormous differences in levels of income, basic services and public
facilities (Perlman 2010: 30).
As anthropologist Janice Perlman has noted, favela inhabitants, also
called favelados, are strongly discriminated against and stigmatised.
Favelado is a word that is often used to denominate people living in
favelas. However, most favela residents find it an insulting and discriminating term. For this reason I will use the more neutral favela residents
throughout the article, except when I specifically refer to the discrimination based on a favela background.
While an important part of Rios urban landscape, favela residents are,
according to Perlman, not seen as gente (people) by the higher classes, and
are thus denied the category of personhood (Perlman 2010: 316
39).
Identity for favela residents, aside from characteristics of age, gender and
color, is constantly being defined and redefined in the struggles over
inclusion/exclusion and marginalization/integration (Perlman 2010:
323). A crucial factor in this stigmatisation is the high criminality rate
that many favelas deal with due to the armed drug traffic. Because the
media frequently depicts this element of favela life in a generalised
manner (Peixoto 2007; Williams 2008; Bentes 2002), non-residents are,
not always unreasonably, afraid to enter these areas. This has created the

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Figure 6. Morrinho Project (detail). Pereira da Silva, Rio de Janeiro. Photograph

by the author (2012).

illusion of a divided city in which favelas are seen as parallel states ruled
by armed drug gangs (Arias 2006: 7
8; Perlman 2010: 27). These are the
viewpoints that the Morrinho Project aims to challenge with its representation. For, as described by Enrique Desmond Arias, instead of parallel
states, favelas are part of complex networks of power in which state, civil
and criminal actors are intertwined (Arias 2006). Furthermore, as
Perlman writes, only a small fraction of favela residents is involved in
criminal practices (Perlman 2010: 166).
Pereira da Silva is a small favela with around 5000 inhabitants. As part
of Rios South Zone, Pereirao is located in between the citys business and
tourist centres. The neighbourhood has no healthcare facilities, schools or
community centres. An important factor that differentiates Pereira da
Silva from other favelas is described by sociologist Lia de Mattos Rocha.
She writes that Pereirao is recognised by inhabitants as a quiet place or a
favela at peace (Rocha 2009: 24). For, while in the 1990s Pereirao was a
violent centre of the drug traffic, in 2000 special police force Batalha
o de
Operaco
es Policiais Especiais (BOPE) installed its headquarters close to

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the neighbourhoods entrance, which removed the armed drug traffic.

Additionally, residents feel that the neighbourhoods communal spirit and
unity have contributed to this peace, considering their favela different
than others (Rocha 2009: 34
42). As will be shown in the following
sections, this context of the favela in general as well as Pereiraos specific
characteristics are of crucial importance when interpreting the Morrinho
Project.
They are street kids: otherness and social functions
As the previous section makes clear, Morrinhos development reads like a
success story. I will now give a more extensive analysis of how and why
Morrinho was incorporated in the world of High Art, a move that was not
actively sought by its participants. This incorporation, it will be shown, is
based on two main elements of validation: (1) the participants favela
origins; (2) the projects ascribed social functions. Starting with the first
element, we see that Morrinhos favela background causes participants to
actively employ and depend on a status of otherness. There exist obvious
similarities in category between Morrinho and so-called self-taught or
outsider art
art made by artists outside the art world, meaning without
artistic education, knowledge of or contacts in the art community and
often with no intention of producing art. Because of the favelas peripheral
status, much of the artistic production from these neighbourhoods is
placed in the category of Popular Art. Morrinho, in contrast, functions
mainly in High Art discourses, seemingly avoiding the label of Outsider or
Popular Art. Nevertheless, I argue that Morrinhos favela origins are
crucial in its art-world reception. Firstly, this relates to a recent favela
popularity that has surfaced in different media. Secondly, both participants themselves and art world professionals distinguish Morrinho from
this variety of favela depictions based on their grassroots background.
Looking at Morrinhos favela origins, we must recognise how the Rio de
Janeiro favela gained increased visibility in recent years. For many
decades, favelas have occupied a complex ideological position in Rios
urban imaginary, in which, paradoxically, the stigmatisation mentioned
above is accompanied by a large body of representations in film, literature,
and the visual arts. These favela depictions have established a double
stereotype that simultaneously demonises and romanticises the favela and
its inhabitants. As summarised by literary scholar Martha Peixoto (2007:
171):
In its positive image, the favela is a vital place for the creation and
performance of popular art forms. On the negative side, [. . .] the favela has
inhabited the urban imaginary as a locus of illnesses and epidemics, as the
place par excellence of bandits and idlers, as a promiscuous heap of people
without morals.

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More recently, as several scholars have noted, this imagery has become
increasingly commodified, resulting in a variety of simplified and
sensationalist favela representations in
for example
film, popular
media and tourism (Bentes 2002; Peixoto 2007; Williams 2008; FreireMedeiros 2007). As sociologist Bianca Freire-Medeiros describes, favelas
have become a trademark for Rio de Janeiro society and are simultaneously presented as full of danger and violence, and sexy or cool
(Freire-Medeiros 2007: 64). This is often exemplified in the famous film
Cidade de Deus (2002), which was released in the same period that
Morrinho started to gain (inter)national attention. It is important to note
that two of Morrinhos participants believe that this popularity of the
favela has contributed to their success. In the words of Cilan: Everybody
wants to show something of the favela in their countries nowadays; thats
why they like us so much.
While recognising this popularity, however, both Morrinhos participants and art-world interpreters positively distinguish the project from the
majority of favela representations due to the participants background.
Participants themselves claim the importance of their representation as an
inside view. In this narrative, the authenticity and realism of the model is
guaranteed by the participants origins, based on the argument that an
artist from the outside can never represent the favela as adequately as its
inhabitants. The fact that the project started out as childrens play, without
artistic intentions, is crucial here. Most participants do not identify
themselves as artists, feeling that this is a pretentious claim to make.
Especially Cilan has an interesting reflection on his own position as artistic
producer. As he said in our first conversation: I think the model itself is
art, but I dont see myself as an artist. I cant see myself in that role. I am
just making things, producing. In a later interview, he elaborated:
I dont see myself as an artist [. . .], but I think a real artist does not believe
in his own art. I dont believe in my art, in that it is art. I didnt study art,
architecture or urban planning, but a real artist does not study. I know
exactly what my model needs; I do not need to study for that. It is like I have
a bigger understanding of what architecture is, because Im working
practically. When you study you only learn numbers, measures, distance,
width, height . . . this is not what I do. The best architecture you learn in
practice. So maybe Im a really specific artist, a very practical one.

Cilan thus sees his production in an intuitive and practical manner, the
artistic value of which is defined by its lack of artistic pretension. This lack
of pretension is then used positively to distinguish his position from
regular artists, who have art-world contacts, education and a specific
intention of making art.
A similar focus on Morrinhos participants as simultaneously favela
insiders and art-world outsiders can be found in accounts by art-world

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interpreters.5 The presentation of the project in the catalogue of the 2007

Venice Biennale is symptomatic. Curator Robert Storr repeatedly uses the
participants favela origins to underline the projects significance, thereby
distancing them from the professional art world. As he writes in the
catalogues introductory text: [Morrinhos creators] are not artists who
have gone to make contact with street kids [. . .] they are street kids (Storr
2007a, emphasis in original). The importance of this statement lies in its
strong exaggeration, for while Morrinhos participants grew up in poverty,
they all had at least one parent and a roof over their head. As noted above,
Pereira
os inhabitants positively distinguish their neighbourhood from
other favelas and in no way identify with people living on the streets; nor
do they see their community as the most desolate and dangerous setting,
as Storr writes in the same text. By speaking in these terms, Storr thus not
only generalises the Brazilian poor, but also misrepresents the background
of Morrinhos participants. Furthermore, while the project is presented to
have transformed the youngsters lives, this is not elaborated upon by
discussing the development of the individual youngsters or the recent
changes in the neighbourhood. As such, the only biographical fact that
seems to matter is the participants poor and marginal status. Even while
recognising that the work itself is highly original and creative, Storr then
seems to suggest that biographical elements are the primary reason for its
authentic character. This shows similarities to what Gary Alan Fine writes
about the role of biographical facts in the validation of works by outsider
artists. Fine argues that the value of [these] works is directly linked to the
biographies of the artists and the stories of authentic creation that the
objects call forth (Fine 2003: 156, emphasis in original). In other words:
To be sure, the work itself matters [...], but the biography invests the
material with meaning (Fine 2003: 163).

Social significance
We shall now turn to the second element that defines Morrinhos
validation: the projects social significance. This is usually based on three
arguments: (1) the project as an escape from the drug traffic; (2) the
project as a positive example for favela youngsters; and (3) the provision
of (commercial) opportunities. I will discuss these arguments individually,
arguing that they are often based on uncritical assumptions. Firstly, as has
been briefly discussed, the early days of the project are usually presented
in terms of children needing a refuge or escape from the threat of the
drug traffic. As noted by Perlman, drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro recruit
children at a young age, which leaves Morrinhos participants in 1997 to be
considered youth at risk (Perlman 2010: 173). The project is then
presented as a way of keeping occupied close to the safe environment of
the home. Again, the element of childrens play and staying innocent is

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crucial in this respect. Nevertheless, most participants deny that the drug
traffic would be an option for them if they did not participate in
Morrinho.6 Also, it is important to realise that while the project grew
more successful, its participants grew up. Most of the original participants have moved on to steady jobs and are raising their own families.
The following statement indicates how Cilan feels Morrinhos role and
significance has changed over time: Morrinho used to be just play for
me, but now I dont play so much anymore. I think I did it until 2010.
But now I have grown older, more serious. What I try to do now is
preserve the model, work to present it in more places and show it to
more people. So while the project might have served as a social refuge
during its early days, it is problematic to speak about it in these terms
today.
Secondly, the project is said to serve as a positive example for other
favela youngsters. This story is retold in virtually every description and
presentation of the project, as well as emphasised in interviews with
participants. However, when I spoke informally about this with Cilan, he
was ambiguous on the issue. Within this context, he told me that he did
work for the drug traffickers for a short period of time. He explains: I
went [to the traffickers] and worked for them, when I already had the
project, but I saw it was no future. [...] You are always hiding for the police,
always in fear. There is a big risk of losing your life. It is a life without a
destination. Cilan thus seems to argue it was not so much Morrinho that
kept him from pursuing a life of crime, but rather a personal realisation
that this was not the future he wanted. He presented a similar view
regarding youngsters in Pereira
o today: They have to see it is not a good
life, but I dont think that we can show them. We cannot put it in their
heads; they have to realise it for themselves. The fact that Pereirao has not
had armed drug traffic in over a decade further complicates this supposed
exemplary function. Because of this, it can be argued that Morrinhos
official statements and story, as well as the secondary accounts that
repeat them, are here unnecessarily confirming the stereotype of favela
youngsters as (potential) criminals by implying their inherent desire to
become drug dealers.
A third factor that is often used to underline Morrinhos social
significance is the idea that the organisation provides the inhabitants of
Pereira
o with (commercial) opportunities. As Norwegian curator Benedicte Sunde, who defines Morrinho as socially engaged architecture, says:
The social engagement in slum communities changes peoples lives. These
kids have done this. It gives pride, employment and business opportunities in the community.7 It is interesting to compare this to what Kelly
Martins, former employee of the Morrinho Project and now working for
Pereira
os Residents Association, told me: The project could do so much
more for the community, but they lack the funds. It is great that they travel

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so much, but the social side should be the most important. This quotation
seems to suggest that instead of the community as a whole, only the active
participants benefit from the project. Yet even here, Martins has
reservations. As she says about Cilan:

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He is almost 30 now and he is still working there. This is because he loves it

and the project cant exist without him, but he has nothing! Yes, he gets to
travel, and sometimes he makes a lot of money; but most of the time, he has
no income. He doesnt even succeed in buying or renting a house, so he still
lives with his parents.

Cilan himself also says: I will never get rich with this project, and
sometimes it is hard to get by. But I cannot leave the model because it is
my love, my passion. It thus seems that Morrinhos reputation as a
community project working in a poor environment leads curators
uncritically to assume a social agenda with direct community impact.
Robert Storr even claims that the redirected lives of [Morrinhos] authors
are more than half the work (Storr 2007b: 230, emphasis added). Cilan
defines both the projects significance and his own motivation in different
terms, arguing that rather than because of its economic appeal, he remains
working for Morrinho despite his lack of a steady income.
(Re)defining site and community
It should be noted that by presenting this critical view, I do not wish to
suggest that Morrinhos favela origins do not matter, or that the project is
socially insignificant. My goal, instead, is to show how Morrinhos status
as a slum project started by children leads interpreters to make generalised assumptions. This is firstly because the projects recent development
into a mature organisation with a high level of artistic professionalism is
not always taken into account. Secondly, most curators lack knowledge of
the Rio de Janeiro favela in general and Pereira
o in particular. This leads
to a simplified interpretation, especially regarding the projects relation to
violence and drug traffic. This section offers an alternative interpretation
of the project that redefines the two validating elements mentioned
through a focus on the concepts of site and community. Based on an
interdisciplinary approach, I discuss both Morrinhos artwork and the
position of its participants, thereby explaining how Morrinho relates to the
favela as a physical and ideological site, as well as to the people that
inhabit that site: the favela community.
Real places with real people: the artwork
I try to present the daily lives of people in favelas, not just Pereira da Silva.
Especially in foreign countries, I want to show how we live here and what a

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favela really is. The favela is a place that is different from everything else, but
where actual people live. I try to discover how these people live. The favela is
a labyrinth of secrets. Falling, getting up, success, poverty, misery,
happiness, joy, luck. The favela has everything in positivity and negativity,
it depends on how you see it.
Nelcirlan Souza de Oliveira, founder of the Morrinho Project

The quotation above emphasises how Cilan tries to show the favela as a
place with both positive and negative aspects, and, more importantly, as a
real place with real people, not a stage of sensationalist stories. This
strongly relates to the goal of challenging popular views of the favela
mentioned earlier. This goal is achieved through a threefold focus on
displaying real, stereotypical and fictional favela characteristics. Firstly,
the Morrinho model and short films show favela reality by depicting
elements such as a Residents Association, the houses of the participants
and local shops. Secondly, participants re-enact certain typical elements,
which are frequently depicted in film and the media, often through the use
of humour and ridicule. This can be seen, for example, in the recent short
film O Fim do Mundo no Morrinho (The End of the World in Morrinho,
2012), in which ignorant favela-tourists and gang wars are combined in an
absurd end-of-the-world scenario.8 Finally, the model freely mixes these
real aspects of favela life with fiction, making the model a place to express
desires. Cilan claims he wants to make an ideal community that has
facilities and sights that are missing from a real favela. As explained:
Morrinho is a real play, fixed in reality, but it also gives you the possibility
of creating what you want. You can put social services here, or a Maracana
Stadium. In reality this doesnt exist in a favela, but here it is possible.
When you are creating you make your own world, so you do what you want.
Anthropologist Donna Goldstein has argued that most favela residents feel
detached from the government and its social facilities (Goldstein 2003: 1).
In this sense, Morrinho can be considered a place where participants can
address this lack of control in their daily lives.
By combining these three aspects, Morrinho aims to challenge existing
ideas about the favela through their artistic representation. It is
noteworthy that both this goal and the means to achieve it have developed
over time (in the models early days, this was not the main objective).
Cilans earlier-mentioned determination to preserve the model in Pereira
o, show it to tourists, and reproduce it in exhibitions is based on this
objective. We thus see that Morrinho not only developed clear artistic
aims, but also a professional strategy to achieve them.

Crossing borders: participants

It has been shown that while Morrinho mainly functions in High Art
institutions, its reception in the art world strongly focuses on an outsider

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or grassroots status. Despite this reception, the quotations above show

that Cilan has developed into an articulate (spokes)person who actively
reflects on Morrinhos artistic expression and social meaning. This section
discusses the position of Morrinhos participants through a focus on the
so-called divided city, which assumes absolute borders between favela
and asfalto. Discussing the concept of the border, geographer David Sibley
writes: Crossing boundaries, from a familiar space to an alien one which is
under the control of somebody else, can provide anxious moments; in
some circumstances it could be fatal, or it might be an exhilarating
experience
the thrill of transgression (Sibley 2004: 360). As discussed
already, the border between favela and asfalto is a place in which unequal
power relations are played out. For non-favela residents, the physical
border between the two territories is a place of anxiety and fear. In an
interesting reversal of traditional border problems, it is the economically
and socially powerful that cannot cross into the others territory. Yet while
favela residents invade the asfalto on a daily basis, they are excluded from
many of its territories based on ideological borders or social divisions
(Perlman 2010: 324).
The Morrinho Project crosses these real and ideological borders in
several ways. Firstly, people from outside the favela can visit the project in
Pereira da Silva, thereby crossing the physical border between favela and
asfalto. Secondly, Morrinhos participants cross the ideological borders
mentioned above by travelling to international art events. Also, in the city
of Rio itself, Morrinho enters territories of the elite by participating in film
festivals, presentations and debates in galleries and cultural centres. While
these encounters usually have some form of mediation, Cilan holds
speeches and actively participates in debates, feeling completely at home
in this environment that is usually off limits to favela residents. Rather
than in their position as youth at risk, or in the idea of authentic
creation, I argue that the importance of the Morrinhos favela origins lies
in their ability to cross the boundaries associated with this background.

Shifting sites
The combination of the factors mentioned above
an original, reflective
favela representation and a unique position of participants
defines the
projects relation to the favela as a physical and ideological site. Since the
concept of site has become important in art-historical debates in recent
decades, it is interesting to explore this issue. The idea of site-specific art,
seen as art that [incorporates] the physical conditions of a particular
location as integral to [its] production, presentation and reception,
developed in the late 1960s, and has been discussed, among others, by
Miwon Kwon (Kwon 2004: 1). Kwon traces the concept of site, which
moved from the connection between the artwork and its physical site, to a

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general institutional critique and, more recently, a dematerialisation of the

site in which cultural debates, a theoretical concept, a social issue, [. . .]
even particular formations of desire are deemed to function as sites
(Kwon 2004: 28
9). In this last development, artists are defining sitespecificity as a nomadic enterprise, in which the artist travels as a
freelancer, researching and incorporating the site in question (Kwon
2004: 43). This new site-specific artist is thereby emphasising the
performative aspect of an artists characteristic mode of operation (even
when working in collaboration) that is repeated and circulated as a new art
commodity, with the artist him/herself functioning as the primary vehicle
for its verification, repetition and circulation (Kwon 2004: 47, emphasis
in original).
Comparing the Morrinhos model in Pereira
o and its reproductions in
exhibitions, we see that they embody two different interpretations of sitespecificity discussed by Kwon. In Pereira
o, the model is inextricably linked
to its physical site. The presence of the real favela adds a crucial dimension
to the experience of the artwork. As such, it can be argued that to remove
the work is to destroy the work (Richard Serra, quoted in Kwon 2004: 12).
In exhibitions, however, new meaning is ascribed based on both the
artists nomadic presence and their incorporation of local elements. Their
physical presence and production at exhibitions is seen as a prerequisite
for Morrinhos artistic singularity (Freire-Medeiros and Rocha 2011: 16).
Because the reproductions characteristics are defined by which participants are travelling, the incorporation of typical aspects from the visited
country and institutional possibilities, all reproduced models are unique.
As Dutch curator Angelique Spaninks notes:
It is true that the Morrinho Project repeats the idea of building a favela
model, but it is different everywhere. This was very important to us when
organising the exhibition. The project is so interesting precisely because they
come here, give workshops and work with Dutch youngsters and students.
[...] For example, they included a coffee shop and a red light district, this is
unique for the model in the Netherlands. In this sense, they always produce
a different artwork.9

So while both the original model and its reproductions are inextricably
linked to the favelas visual characteristics, we see that the position of the
favela is inherently different when comparing the two. In Pereira
o,
the favela has a tangible, material presence. This is not only visible in
the direct context (the surrounding favela), but also in the model itself,
which shows damage and decay due to time and weather conditions as
well as continuous use. This history and function of the original model
have resulted in a raw liveliness that its reproductions lack. In exhibitions,
the combination of real, stereotypical and fictional elements does refer to

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the favela and challenges stereotypical views; but the favela itself always
remains representational.

Community and art world

The above discussion of how Morrinho relates to the favela as a physical
and ideological site leads us to the people that inhabit this site
the favela
community. Regarding Morrinhos relation to the favela as a community,
we need to make a distinction between the favela community as a whole,
encompassing a variety of neighbourhoods whose most important
commonality is their difference from the asfalto, and Pereira da Silva as
one of these neighbourhoods with its own specifics and circumstances.10
Looking firstly at the favela in general, it is problematic to see Morrinho as
a delegate or spokesperson for this immense community. On the one
hand, by claiming to represent the favela the way it is, Morrinho wrongly
presents both its visual appearance and daily life as a coherent picture.
However, it is clear that the view of Morrinhos young men might differ
substantially from inhabitants with a different gender, age or level of
poverty. On the other hand, the daily experience of being stigmatised as a
favelado makes Morrinhos participants undoubtedly stand closer to
favela residents than artists from the outside. So while it cannot be said
that Morrinho represents favela inhabitants in their totality, the project is
nevertheless able to serve as a point of identification based on mutual
differences.
Turning our attention to Pereira
o specifically, we need to question
whether Morrinho can be considered a socially engaged or participatory
artwork of the kind described in the introduction. As argued in the
previous section, the attribution of social meaning often happens
uncritically, in which the projects grassroots origins lead interpreters to
assume a social agenda and its successful realisation.11 This highlights a
crucial difference between Morrinho and the majority of communitybased artists. The latter move from the art world into a certain community
(as artists with the specific intention of making art), and establish their
social goals accordingly. Morrinho did the opposite: it started out as an
integral part of the community, as a form of play with various social
functions, and gradually developed artistic goals.
This development might be compared to a recent discussion of
community-based art projects by Grant Kester. He argues for a longterm, open-ended and generative involvement of artists in a certain
community, instead of a predetermined social solution (Kester 2011: 134

40). Morrinhos participants, I argue, made a similar move, but in reverse.
During the projects 15 years of development, these favela residents
gradually engaged themselves in the art world
a move that was neither
planned nor predetermined. Regarding this process, it should be noted

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S. Kalkman

that the participation and mediation of local institutions has been of

critical importance. Throughout the years, Morrinho has worked with
various social, artistic, and political organisations, such as local film
producers, NGOs, tourist agencies, and governmental institutions. These
not only helped to establish Morrinhos status in the art world, but also
actively influenced their formulation of goals and strategies. This development, it has been shown, not only led participants to actively reflect on
their own position in society, but also enriched their artistic representation. As such, while Morrinhos participants are still community members,
much as community-based artists always remain artists, the projects
development has complicated this position. Participants are now simultaneously part of their own favela community, stigmatised as favelados in
the city at large and, on certain occasions, valued as artists and/or social
workers. It is this complex position
and especially Cilans mature and
active reflection on it
that makes the Morrinho Project unique among
the variety of favela representations that circulate as well as the increasing
amount of community-based art projects.

Conclusion
While the incorporation of this grassroots project into the world of High
Art shows how projects from a so-called marginal background can gain
access to artistic institutions, the article has shown that this specific
incorporation is not without its problems. The insights presented are
therefore relevant in the art-historical interpretation of artistic projects
working with marginal communities, and/or celebrated for combining
artistic and socio-political goals. The article has shown how both the longterm development of such projects and the (shifting) roles of the different
actors involved are crucial to take into account for a complete understanding of the project in question. Furthermore, my findings show the
necessity of an interdisciplinary approach that combines a firm sociological understanding of the community in question, a knowledge of
relevant art historical debates, and a first-hand understanding of the
present functioning of the project.
A lack of either one of these elements leads, at least in this specific case,
to a simplified interpretation. Regarding Morrinho, there firstly exists a
one-sided focus on the participants poor and marginal background,
which fails to address their development into articulate young men who
cross Rio de Janeiros physical and ideological borders. Secondly,
Morrinhos status as a community project often leads to superficial
assumptions regarding the projects social impact. In contrast to these
predominant views of the project, I have argued that Morrinhos social
and artistic relevance can be found in its fluctuation between various sites
(the art world, the city of Rio de Janeiro, the favela in general and Pereirao

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specifically). The participants favela origins gain importance in this

continuous (re)definition of their identity in terms of inside and outside.
Accordingly, Morrinhos artists should be seen as intelligent and articulate
men reflecting on this position, rather than as street kids who need an
escape from the drug traffic. Looking at the artwork itself, the article
discussed that, instead of a miraculous social solution for youth at risk,
Morrinhos favela model is a dynamic and always evolving artwork that
addresses some of the fundamental issues Rio de Janeiro society has to
face.
Notes
1. Due to the combination of formal and informal interviews, I will not
provide specific references for every quotation used. It will be clearly
stated when I quote from interviews I conducted, which all took place
in the two months of my fieldwork (March/April 2012). All interview
quotations are translated from Portuguese by the author.
2. Morrinhos short films can be viewed on the projects official YouTube
channel: [http://www.youtube.com/user/ProjetoMorrinho]. Several
other short films from TV Morrinho are presented by film director
Fabio Gaviao, who worked with the youngsters of Morrinho during the
early years of the project: [http://www.youtube.com/user/gaviaofabio].
3. Asfalto literally means asphalt, and was used to differentiate the
formal, asphalted parts of the city from the informal favelas. It is
noteworthy that many favelas are nowadays also asphalted.
4. Numbers are taken from a 2010 survey from the Instituto Brasileiro de
Geografia e Estatstica (IBGE), published in newspaper O Globo: O
Globo. 2011. Rio e a cidade com maior populacao em favelas do Brasil.
O Globo Pas (online version), 21 December 2011.
5. My analysis of the art-world interpretation of the Morrinho Project is
based on archival research examining exhibition and catalogue texts,
reviews and journalistic accounts, as well as several interviews with
curators.
6. This claim might seem contradictory to Cilans quotation on p. 277.
It is noteworthy here that that quotation was taken in one of my first
interviews, when Cilan was mostly repeating Morrinhos official story.
In later interviews, he presented a more nuanced view.
7. Sunde, Benedicte. E-mail interview, 25
29 February 2012.
8. This short film can be seen on Morrinhos YouTube channel: [http://
www.youtube.com/watch?vc5RHNY3Fa5s].
9. Angelique Spaninks, personal interview, 22 February 2012; translated
from Dutch by the author.
10. Looking at the concept of community, we must recognise that in the
case of the favela the term has a specific meaning, since most favela
inhabitants address their neighbourhoods with the word communidade
(community) rather than favela. Cilan explains this the following way:
Outsiders say favela, we say communidade. Favela is a word of

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prejudice. It refers to areas of risk and poverty. Communidade refers to

a group of people living in unity and harmony, helping each other. It is a
place where people of the lower classes live, trying to make a life. It
is interesting to compare this with discussion of the concept by
Miwon Kwon, who sees it as a label of otherness defined by artists or
institutions (Kwon 2004: 151
5). For Kwon, the term is based on
negative factors and emphasises a groups marginality, while in the
case of the favela the term differentiates asfalto and favela based on the
latters positive elements. Favela inhabitants thus use the word
community to avoid a marginal status.
11. The fourth branch of the project, Morrinho Social, does engage in
temporary social projects (mostly educational projects with favela
children), yet this social program was formed in a later stage of the
projects development, and exists separately from its artistic goals. It is
Morrinhos least active branch, and often depends on collaboration
with other NGOs (such as the successful organisation Viva Rio). As
such, these practices are based on rather than part of the Morrinho
artwork.
Notes on contributor
In 2012 Simone Kalkman finished two graduate studies in the Netherlands: Art
History at Leiden University (MA), with the specialization Art in the Contemporary World and World Art Studies, and Latin American and Caribbean Studies
at Utrecht University (MSc), from which she graduated with honors. Her theses,
nominated for several thesis awards, focus on contemporary art projects in Rio de
Janeiro favelas. They are based on an interdisciplinary theoretical framework and
research methodology drawing on both art history and cultural anthropology that
included two months of individual fieldwork in Rio de Janeiro. She is currently
working on a research proposal to continue her academic career as a PhD student.

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