At slavery-era sites in Rio, app unearths an uneasy history
| Rio de Janeiro
Just as rush hour begins in Rio de Janeiro鈥檚 Port Zone, bordering the city鈥檚 bustling downtown, Gabriele Roza looks kitty-corner across a busy street. Between buses and taxis rushing through the intersection, she points to a small plaza: half a dozen buildings fan out, all tagged with graffiti and some with broken windows. They鈥檙e a reminder of the city鈥檚 uncomfortable history聽鈥撀燼lthough there鈥檚 no way to tell at first glance.聽
鈥淭his was the main area of resistance,鈥� Ms. Roza says. 鈥淭his is where Africans and their descendants would do things that were banned.鈥� From capoeira martial arts to samba to 肠补苍诲辞尘产濒茅 religious traditions, some of the modern-day cultural hallmarks of Brazil were fostered clandestinely behind these walls during the days of slavery.
There鈥檚 not much sign of what this region used to be: the ; a gruesome slave market; the center of economic activity for not just colonial Brazil, but the entire Portuguese Empire.
Until now. As Roza looks at her cell phone, a flashing icon appears. Click, and a photo with text pops up: She鈥檚 standing in what was called the 鈥淐asa de Zungu,鈥� the app explains, where cheap angu, a dish made of corn, was sold to dockhands and freed slaves. Today, one restaurant in the small plaza has continued the tradition, keeping angu on the menu.
It鈥檚 part of a new augmented reality app called the Museum of Yesterday: a deliberate contrast to the flashy Museum of Tomorrow, built ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympics. Its creators, local journalism nonprofit Ag锚ncia P煤blica, describe the app as a combination of journalism, art, and technology, inspired by Pok茅mon Go.
For years, many Brazilians have said the country鈥檚 story of slavery is being buried from view 鈥撀爈iterally, in Rio, where new developments have hidden key historical sites. The consequences of that 鈥榠nvisibility,鈥� they argue, are felt today, in the diverse country鈥檚 urgent debates about racial inequality, with mixed-race and black citizens disproportionately impacted by poverty and violence.
The Museum of Yesterday app is trying to make that invisible history visible. As users walk through Rio鈥檚 Port Zone, icons on its map flash at points of interest, and users can 鈥渦nlock鈥� information: old photos and illustrations, informational text in English or Portuguese, recordings of old newspaper ads for slaves, and other scenes of everyday life during the 18th and 19th centuries.
鈥淚n order to understand racial divides today, we have to look at the legacy of slavery 鈥撀燘razil didn鈥檛 get this way out of nowhere,鈥� says Roza, a member of her university鈥檚 black student group who conducted research for the app.
Legacy of yesterday
Activists, educators and historians have long been troubled by the lack of recognition the area gets for its historical significance 鈥撀爓hich they say is emblematic of Brazil鈥檚 current-day struggle with racial inequality. Civil society is left with the responsibility of keeping the neighborhood鈥檚 dark history alive and in the public鈥檚 consciousness.
鈥淚t鈥檚 never been a big priority by the government to preserve this part of history and culture of Brazil,鈥� says Mariana Sim玫es, a manager at Ag锚ncia P煤blica. 鈥淚t鈥檚 sad that we don鈥檛 have a lot of resources devoted to this, and that there are few initiatives that are trying to bring more visibility to this history.鈥�
It鈥檚 estimated that from the transatlantic slave trade 鈥撀爉ore than 10 times the number brought to the United States 鈥撀燼nd some 2 million docked in Rio and the surrounding region. Today, more than half of Brazil鈥檚 200 million people identify as mixed-race or black. But only 5 percent of companies were of the legislature were black or mixed-race. Seventy-two percent of residents in Brazil鈥檚 low-income favela settlements , and three-quarters of those are black men.
鈥淭he port breathes black history and culture, but for the government and others throughout history to erase this 鈥撀爄t鈥檚 as if the story isn鈥檛 legitimatized, as if it never existed, and as if there are no problems to address today because of this legacy,鈥� Roza says.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our history, so we鈥檙e trying to grasp it, reconstruct it and remember it,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭hese initiatives to rescue history end up coming from social movements, the black movement and academic groups.鈥�
A central city
Ms. Sim玫es says the Port Zone was an obvious choice for a history-driven augmented reality app.
鈥淪o much of Brazil鈥檚 history is in this region 鈥撀燾olonization, slavery, the seat of the Portuguese royal family in Brazil, even modern-day corruption,鈥� she says, referring to for the area ahead of the 2016 Olympics, which is now part of the nation鈥檚 largest-ever corruption investigation. The app has five different tours, including one focused on corruption and聽another on samba.
Lately, improvements have brought much more visibility and foot traffic to the neighborhood, she says, but there hasn鈥檛 been much attempt to do its history justice 鈥撀爓hich makes it the perfect time and place for an app to 鈥減ut history in your hand.鈥�
Brazil was the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery, in 1888. Since then, however, many accuse the country of deliberately covering up that legacy: in Rio, for example, slave wharves were filled in with landfill, the names of streets and plazas were changed, and the world鈥檚 largest known mass grave for enslaved people was built over with houses.聽
But in recent years, some of this history has been unearthed. A family living on top of the cemetery rediscovered the mass grave in 1996, and made it into a small museum. Before the Olympics, a massive revitalization project unearthed the Valongo Wharf, where enslaved people disembarked after the Middle Passage. The wharf鈥檚 remnants, a focus of the Museum of Yesterday tour, gained World Heritage status last month from UNESCO, which called them 鈥渢he most important physical trace of the arrival of African slaves on the American continent.鈥�
'Open your eyes'
Just a few blocks past the Valongo Wharf lies the Valongo slave market 鈥撀爐oday, an unassuming plaza.
鈥淥pen your eyes and ears to realize what鈥檚 in front of you: a shop for slaves!鈥� the app says as users approach the site, which functioned as a slave market for more than 100 years. 鈥淭hese were warehouses of people 鈥� sitting on benches or lying on the ground, chained up and waiting for buyers.鈥�
Users also see the roots of samba music at sites like Pedra do Sal, a granite mountainside that was once a community for escaped slaves, and the hangout spot for sambistas after slavery was abolished 鈥撀爐here are still free samba performances here every week. Near the slave market, users pass the Casa Tia Ciata: a small museum that鈥檚 homage to a 肠补苍诲辞尘产濒茅 priestess who鈥檚 credited for being a leader of the samba resistance movement.聽
Since the app鈥檚 launch a month ago, there have been more than 2,500 downloads. Ag锚ncia P煤blica is hoping to expand its reach by holding workshops for professors, teachers, and tour guides to encourage them to incorporate the technology into their work.
鈥淭he app is meeting a demand; people are interested,鈥� Sim玫es says. 鈥淏razilians are definitely curious to know more about their own history.鈥�
