THE CONSTRUCTION OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION AS A TOOL FOR RESISTANCE
By Jéssica Pires and Julia Bruce
This is the "Who Makes Redes” column, a compilation of stories of people who build our organization and make every day what we do best: actions and projects for the residents of Maré. Get to know these stories, trajectories, experiences, and the history of Redes da Maré itself - and how this work and the challenges faced during the pandemic have transformed them.
Multi-artist Matheus Affonso (25), born and raised in Nova Holanda, one of the 16 favelas in Maré, began his journey in the world of arts through drawing courses at Redes da Maré in 2008 and is now responsible for a significant portion of the imagery in the Maré de Notícias newspaper. One of the milestones in his story was his participation in local theater groups, such as Teatro Comunidades and the ATIRO group, where he began to assert his LGBTQIA+ identity.
"I was afraid of doing photojournalism because I didn't like taking everyday photos, and this was related to my effeminate body. I joined Maré de Notícias and realized that photojournalism goes beyond photographing only violence. What I photograph is very personal to me and brings the feeling that I am talking about a body, about myself," says Matheus Affonso when asked about what it means to create images about Maré in a local newspaper. Social transformation can be fostered through the visual production of various photographers who, in Matheus's view, lead people to a different context of reflection. "Today, I can do a performative intervention with a drag queen at Teixeira Ribeiro Market, and even though there is tension, no one will come to attack or silence us",he says.
His connection to photography began through a cousin who was a student in one of the first classes of the School of Popular Photographers at the Observatório de Favelas, then coordinated by documentary photographer João Roberto Ripper. This year, Matheus joined the new class of the school, which is named after the great photographer Bira Carvalho.
However, his educational journey began in 2008 when he joined a drawing course with the teacher Suelen, which he attended for eight years. In 2012, he joined Teatro Comunidades, where he performed for 3 years, and then moved on to the Theater Workshop at CIA Marginal (now ATIRO group). He participated in all the preparatory courses in the Education axis at Redes and also in the School of Cinema Olhares da Maré (ECOM). In 2014, with a scholarship from the Marear de Teatro do Oprimido group, he bought his first camera. He then took a Technical Course in Visual Communication, starting his first contact with the field and, after graduating, began working with theater groups as a graphic designer, producing materials for projects and events.
Matheus has worked with the Conexão G de Cidadania LGBT de Favelas group and started producing independent projects on LGBT activism, such as the "Eeer" Project in 2018 - photographic editorials and street performance interventions; "FAVELAMONA" in 2019 - photo shoots of Black women in Maré; and "Entidade Maré" in 2020 - a territorial writing project for the LGBTQIA+ population, launched at the 10th LGBTQIA+ Parade of Maré (which took place online and was produced by the photographer)."That's when we started studying the Night of the Stars, which were shows that took place in Maré in the 1980s and 1990s organized by transvestites and transsexuals. There were parades, beauty contest, and lip-sync performances. We started working on some audiovisual projects about it,"Matheus recalls.
Despite getting to know some of these stories only later in life and growing up with negative contexts regarding LGBTQIA+ individuals, today Matheus speaks with happiness about living with his boyfriend and visiting his family's home:"It was something very distant. When I was young, I used to say that I couldn't be LGBTQIA+. There are many violences that we go through, but they don't define us. Today, I live a movement of struggle and resistance that defines me much more than that. I am an LGBTQIA+ person who loves, cares, embraces, and is family. I am LGBTQIA+. Being LGBTQIA+ in the favela is about embracing oneself, and that's what we have managed to build today".
In June 2021, accompanied by journalist Dinho Costa, Matheus Affonso wrote an article about LGBTQIA+ initiatives that encourage diversity-driven production in Maré: "LGBTQIA+ Cultural Movements in Maré." Through writing this text, Matheus found himself thinking differently about this population."Today, I can think about the 'Mother of the Favela' series, featuring mothers of LGBTQIA+ individuals because at some point, I thought about the situations I experienced with my mother at home and also in situations where I saw myself on the streets and wished my mother were there. It's possible for mothers to be alongside LGBTQIA+ individuals".
Today, in addition to being a communicator, audiovisual producer, and photographer at Maré de Notícias, Matheus is also responsible for programming work in the Web Stories project at the newspaper with Google. When asked about his aspirations for Maré, the multi-talented artist says his biggest dream is for LGBTQIA+ individuals to be seen as part of the community and to become increasingly empowered."I hope that these individuals can reach other spaces, and that Maré can be seen from a different perspective".
