Urban Quilombo

This project is a testimony of a place that no longer exists. Eight years ago sixty families occupied the "Galpao da Araujo Barreto”, an abandoned chocolate factory in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. Prior to establishing in this place, these families lived throughout the dangerous streets of the city. In 2003 theses families came together to seize this deserted factory, which lay in ruins, and they transformed it into a home. Since 2009, I have been documenting Barreto. From my studies in sociology, I understood that this was a unique community. This vast sub culture within the greater city became one extended family. They created a microcosm in which the problems of drugs, prostitution and violence tackled with the support of the community.

This project is a testimony of a place that no longer exists.

Eight years ago sixty families occupied the "Galpao da Araujo Barreto”, an abandoned chocolate factory in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. Prior to establishing in this place, these families lived throughout the dangerous streets of the city. In 2003 theses families came together to seize this deserted factory, which lay in ruins, and they transformed it into a home.

Since 2009, I have been documenting Barreto to explore how communities formed within fragmented societies as a mechanism of survival.. From my studies in sociology, I understood that this was a unique community. This vast sub culture within the greater city became one extended family. They created a microcosm in which the problems of drugs, prostitution and violence tackled with the support of the community.

Today, life in a community is a form of revolution. Barreto was a place where the exchange of ideas, goods and services created a bond of identity that allowed the survival of its members in a society that marginalizes them.

Since my first visit, I continued to return several times by myself until March, 2011, when the government evicted these families from the factory, as one of the many attempts to clean up the visible poverty of the center of Brazilian cities. This is mainly due to the upcoming international events to be held in Brazil in the next years, like the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.