Visible, Articulated, and Digitalised: Pathways to Community Heritage Agency in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil

By Bernardo de La Vega Vinolo, Oxford Brookes University

Within one of the wealthiest regions of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, echoes of historically silenced

voices reverberate. While geographically central, their bodies-territories remain located at

the social margins, producing counter-hegemonic practices that have long resisted epistemic

dominance, social injustice, and the enduring effects of necropolitical structures (Fig. 1). Yet

these resistances have never occurred silently, nor in isolation.

Fig. 1: Mural at the Museu da Maré depicting elements of the favela such as housing infrastructure, ways of living, and symbols of resistance as a visual archive of living memory. Photo authorship: the author.

In this ongoing doctoral investigation, conducted at Oxford Brookes Business School, I

explore two emerging pathways through which marginalised communities foster epistemic

resistance, community resilience, and narrative reclamation: (1) grassroots cross-

collaborations and (2) social mobilisation through digital tools.

With the assistance of the Society of Latin American Studies Postgraduate Research

Support Grant, I conducted fieldwork in collaboration with grassroots communities and

community networks in Rio de Janeiro. During four months of participant observation, in-

depth interviews, and participatory research practices, I immersed myself in decolonial and

ancestral initiatives across favelas, Quilombola communities, and terreiros. Here I bring a

brief glimpse into these encounters as an invitation for co-reflection and co-presence.

Building Networks, Reclaiming Narratives, and Reshaping Futures

In meetings led by community groups and grassroots networks, I witnessed heritage-making

and network-building practices unfolding collectively through intertwined ecosystems of

knowledge sharing. As shown in Figure 2, representatives from over 30 local communities,

alongside actors from the public and private sectors, gathered to formalise and

commemorate the establishment of a new social museum; a territory-based institution

centred on memory sharing, decolonial pedagogies, and political agency.

Fig. 2: Foundation of the Museu Social Quilombo do Salgueiro, an Afro-diasporic community heritage centre dedicated to safeguarding practices such as traditional cuisine, ancestral medicine, and oral history. Photo authorship: Rede de Museologia Social do Rio de Janeiro.

Fig. 3: Pré-Conferência Favela, Vida e Direitos, an event bringing together minoritised groups and public sector epresentatives to discuss the integration of formal healthcare systems with the traditional healing practices. Photo authorship: Pré-Conferência Favela, Vida e Direitos Committee.

The establishment of community networks bridging researchers, politicians, and activists

illustrated the increasingly articulated movements for social visibility and civil rights advocacy

(Fig. 2-4). These collective spaces served multiple purposes beyond the celebration, such as

for aquilombamento (i.e. spaces for healing, union, and affection building) and strategising

around political articulation. These moments revealed how local heritage practices can

function as forms of cultural preservation, social mobilisation, and local empowerment.

Digital Heritage and Virtual Forms of Mobility

Moving from the physical to the virtual domain, these groups have gradually expanded their

forms of epistemic resistance and social mobilisation into the digital sphere. In both physical

and virtual ethnographic observations, I observed the extent to which digital platforms have

been used to gather external attention and strengthen networks of solidarity.

When navigating the everyday realities prevailing in these territories, I noted how their digital

transition remains constrained by colonial legacies evidenced by infrastructural precarity,

unequal access to basic resources, and discriminatory speech online. It is within this

scenario that minoritised groups continuously develop strategies to use digital tools while

navigating the social inequalities embedded both in their physical and virtual domains.

Fig. 5: Left: Márcia Souza, manager of the tourism centre at MUF, inside a structure inspired by the traditional houses of the territory. Right: myself experiencing an immersive VR technology designed to guide visitors through the streets and landscapes of the favela, both being part of the same exhibition. Photo authorship: the author.

Subsequently, I had the great pleasure of presenting preliminary findings from this research

during the 2026 SLAS Conference at the University of Leeds, which I attended with the

support of the SLAS Postgraduate Conference Grant.

Fig. 6: Photo of my presentation during the 2026 SLAS Conference, entitled “Digital Heritage as a Pathway to Community Agency: Insights from Ethnographic Research in Brazil”. Photo authorship: SLAS Committee.

In addition to offering an enriching platform for knowledge exchange, joining the 2026 SLAS

Conference provided me with the valuable opportunity to reconnect and engage with

researchers from all over the UK, Latin America, and beyond. As a result of this

academic and social encounter, new possibilities for future collaborations and genuine

friendships were created. I am very grateful to SLAS for making these experiences possible through the Postgraduate Research Support Grant and the Conference Grant. These opportunities have greatly contributed to my academic development and personal trajectory.

Now back in the UK, I am continuing the analysis of the empirical data. These findings have

opened up opportunities to share these discussions through conference presentations and

guest lectures in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK over the coming months.

Would you like to exchange ideas or further collaborate? Please contact me via e-mail

(bernardo.dvega@gmail.com) or on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernardo-de-la-

vega/). Always happy to discuss!