Project Morrinho


Project Morrinho is a social and cultural project based out of the Favelas Cariocas and the Favela (Pereirão) in the Laranjeiras neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Morrinho, which was started by local youth in 1997, is a 450m² model of the city constructed from bricks and other recycled materials. It began as a simple childhood game to escape the realities of violence and corruption that surrounded the teens and their community.
Within this miniature urban world of Morrinho, participants act out a role-playing game with the numerous people made from Lego that inhabit the model, recreating life in Rio's favelas. Morrinho reproduces the favelas of Rio de Janeiro as an intricate and multifaceted model. In addition to the Lego people, Morrinho includes cars, police vehicles, and a helicopter, representing the reality lived by these young people. Throughout the years, Morrinho has garnered increasing attention for its aesthetics and the ingenuity of its child creators, growing from a local phenomenon to a popular international exhibit. It has been able to use that attention to evolve, not only as a work of art, but also, into an organization with aspirations for social change. Currently, more than 20 teenagers are following in the example of Morrinho's founding members.

History

Project Morrinho was created in 1997 by Cirlan Souza de Oliveira, a 14-year-old boy who had recently moved to Rio de Janeiro. Oliveira was impressed with the architecture and style of life in the city's favelas and he decided to playfully reproduce this reality in his own backyard with bricks and paint left over from his father's work in construction. This diversion caught the attention of seven other local youths, and what began as a game became a hobby.
In 2001, on a visit to the community, film directors Fábio Gavião, Marco Oliveira, and Francisco Franca invited the boys to participate in their work of image captivation. This partnership became a non-governmental organisation composed of four components: tourism at Morrinho, TV Morrinho, Expo Morrinho and Morrinho Social. In 2008, after seven years of chronicling the history of Morrinho and the lives of its creators, filmmakers Fábio Gavião and Markão Oliveira released a full-length documentary titled Morrinho: God Knows Everything But Is No Snitch.
Curators and critics have recognized the unique character and innovation of the Morrinho model as a legitimate expression of contemporary art, and has drawn considerable international attention from journalists, architects, musicians, scholars, and tourists. Smaller scale replicas of the Morrinho model have been exhibited throughout Brazil and Europe, including the 2004 Urban World Forum in Barcelona, the 2005 Point Ephémère in Paris and the 2007 Venice Biennale. In Venice, on the occasion of the Biennale Visual Art Exhibition, the project was selected by the Director, Robert Storr, and Morrinho Project was also performed, in a radio-dramatic version, for a promotional radio format in collaboration with Radio Sherwood, called Radio Morrinho.

Components

Morrinho has four components: Tourism at Morrinho, TV Morrinho, Expo Morrinho, and Morrinho Social. Each is important to shaping the project as a whole.

Morrinho Tourism

Morrinho is open to the public and encourages travelers and locals to visit the project. This facilitates an exchange of ideas and allows a better understanding of the project and its meaning to the community.

Television Morrinho

TV Morrinho serves as a center for original independent and contracted video productions that derive from the model. TV Morrinho is a performance-based exhibition that began after the success of the 2007 Venice Biennal. The work debuted at the Wiener Festwochen in 2008, and recently won a grant from the Ministry of Culture of Brazil. With TV Morrinho Live, the group builds a miniature favela, a replica of the Rio original. For the performances, they develop a scripted role-playing drama involving the LEGO-figurine 'inhabitants' of the favela. The story is then played out and projected live via three video cameras onto a large screen for the audience to follow. The exhibition also features a music performance by MC Maiquinho, one of the Morrinho youth who has become a renowned funk singer.
In addition to productions created specifically for exhibitions around the world, TV Morrinho has produced numerous independent videos based on stories that have been developed in Morrinho.
TV Morrinho InstitutionalTV Morrinho Independent

  • Institutional films
  • Commercial firms
  • General record of events
  • Music vídeos set in the Morrinho model
  • Children's series for the television channel Nickelodeon
  • Independent short films, médium length films, and full-length features
  • Movie experience
    • TV Morrinho has also been contracted by clients such as British Gas Brazil, Casa França-Brasil, the Brazilian Ministry of Health, BHP Billiton, Junior Achievement and Nickelodeon Brazil.
    TV Morrinho has also won the prize for Best Video at Visions of the Periphery Audiovisual Festival.

    Morrinho Exhibition

    Project Morrinho has been recognized domestically, as well as internationally at various exhibitions and festivals. At these events, a small scale model was built by the members of Morrinho to display to spectators. The following is a list of exhibitions:
    Month & YearExhibitionLocation----
    Nov – Dec 2002Vitrine da loja RupeeRupee no Rio Design da Barra. Natal da ConscientizaçãoRio de Janeiro, Brazil----
    May – June 2003Parque das RuínasRio de Janeiro, Brazil----
    Sept – Nov 2003Morrinho PereirãoRio de Janeiro, Brazil----
    November 2003Morrinho de Lazer, residential condominiumMaricá, Brazil----
    November 2003Morrinho no Show do RappaBrazil----
    April 2004Mostra Sociedade Viva Natal, Brazil----
    August 2004Mostra Sociedade Viva Recife, Brazil----
    September 2004Mostra Sociedade Viva Campo Grande, Brazil----
    September 2004Domingão do FaustãoBrazil----
    September 2004II Fórum Mundial UrbanoBarcelona, Spain----
    October 2004Circo VoadorBrazil----
    October 2004Mostra Sociedade Viva Campo Grande, Brazil----
    October 2004Mostra TangolomangoCastelinho do Flamengo, Brazil----
    November 2004Coleção de Verão Filhas da Mãe JoannaRio de Janeiro, Brazil----
    December 2005Point EphémèreParis, France----
    June – Aug 2006Haus der KunstMunich, Germany----
    October 200627th São Paulo Biennial: Retratos da vida na favela". by Paula TropeSao Paulo, Brazil----
    June 200752nd Venice BiennaleVenice, Italy----
    December 2007Mostra SESC de ArtesSão Paulo, Brazil----
    May 2008Brut im KünstlerhausVienna, Austria----
    May 2008Hebbel am Ufer – Hau ZweiBerlin, Germany----
    November 2008Swarovski KristalweltenInnsbruck, Austria----
    November 2008SESC Art Show ExpositionSao Paulo, Brazil----
    December 2008Umbria Jazz FestivalPerugia, Italy----
    April 2009Conference for Tourism and Social Responsibility at the Universidade Veiga da AlmeidaRio de Janeiro, Brazil----
    May 2009Latin American Film FestivalNetherlands----
    May 2009University of Wisconsin and Easy Going AgencyMadison, Wisconsin----
    July 2009Fourth Annual Tourism CongressSao Paulo, Brazil----
    July 2009The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)New York City----
    July 2009Cultural exchange with "Video Nas Aldeias"Pereira da Silva, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilNovember 2010
    Contemporary Art Festival in Oslo Capital of Norway
    Event held over two weeks with a small-scale exhibition of the Morrinho Project    		July - September 2010Festival Brazil at Southbank CentreLondon, England
    February 2010Screening at University of MiamiMiami, Florida----
    March 2010Screening at Georgetown UniversityWashington, DC----
    September 2012Screening and Panel Discussion at Graduate Center CUNYNew York, NY----
    March 2013 - 2015Installation at Museu de Arte do RioRio de Janeiro, Brazil----
    September 2013Permanent Exhibit at Queens CollegeNew York, NY----
    July–September 2016Installation at the Horniman Museum's Festival of BrasilLondon, England----
    !!!!
    Traveling exhibitions 3 states of Brazil
    : Itaú Cultural / Rumos / Producer Numen @MorrinhoProject
    Artistic Name of the Process: Micror Residências Project Morrinho 2017
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    Morrinho Social

    Morrinho Social, the fourth component, was still being developed as of August 2009. Following the slogan "Initiating a Small Revolution", Morrinho Social intends to offer profession qualification workshops to the residents of the Pereirão community. The idea has been developed over the past two years and aims to odder an education al component that complements the overarching values of Morrinho of social justice and economic mobility.
    Through informal means Morrinho Social will develop the area of education and professionalism under the following courses:
    • Audiovisual
    • Art Education
    • Youth Leadership
    • Youth and Citizenship

    Goals

    Morrinho aims to bring positive change to the local community, as well as challenge the popular perception of Brazil's favelas. Through its work, Morrinho contributes directly to the socio-cultural and economic development of the surrounding areas. The belief that favelas are merely dominated by drug trafficking and violence is not all encompassing. Morrinho communicates the realities of life through film, plastic arts, theater and music and shows that life in the favela is multi-dimensional.