In 2001, the film directors Fábio Gavião and Markão Oliveira, visited the community and decide to let the boys tell their story through their own eyes. So, they trained the teenagers in audiovisual techniques (filming and editing) and helped them shoot the different urban tales. As well as supplying the youngsters involved in the Projecto Morrinho with the tools they needed, the filmmakers accompanied its development as an exhibition of art, which received both national and international attention.

What started out as just a bit of fun, turned into an artistic project with multi-disciplinary ramifications – film production and editing (TV Morrinho), workshops, guided tours (Turismo no Morrinho) and volunteer work (Morrinho Social) – and something with enormous social importance; a place where  “street kids” played and recreated the reality of their life in the city and the shanty towns. Today, the 320-square-metre model of the Morrinho (Morrinho Exposição) is a warren of Rio favelas inhabited by Lego people, tin cars and bits and bobs, in a huge visual cacophony.

In recent years, the group has exhibited models on a smaller scale than the original in various places in Rio de Janeiro, as well as at the World Urban Forum in Barcelona (2004), Point Ephémère, in Paris (2005), LAFF, in Utrecht, in Holland (2007) and at the Venice Biennial (2007).

Because of the different aspects that it involves, the Projecto Morrinho is something where artistic expression meets social systems from an inclusive and unifying perspective. A meeting and starting point for a positive and global change: “Our aim is to bring about a positive change, on the one hand challenging the popular perception of Brazilian shanty towns, and on the other, making a direct contribution to the social, cultural and economic development of the surrounding areas.”

In 2008, after seven years following the Morrinho and the lives of those who created it, Gavião and Oliveira released the documentary Morrinho: Deus sabe tudo mas não é X-9.

www.morrinho.com

How to help
This is a small organisation that depends on the support of social networks to expand: communicating about the project is key. As such, you can follow on Facebook, Orkut and Twitter, or on the site, where you can make a donation. You can also get involved in volunteer work.