Clique aqui para Português

1960s

1967 – Construction of homes begins

1990s

1992 – Struggle against eviction begins

Jane Nascimento, September 2 2007

1993 – Court battles over removals begin

1994 – Residents are granted 99 year titles to land

2000s

2005 – Community is declared Special Zone of Social Interest

October 2, 2009 – Rio is awarded the 2016 Olympics and original plans maintain Vila Autódromo

2010

February 10, 2010 – Protest against city-wide evictions

March 3, 2010 – Residents meet Mayor and propose plan for remaining

March 11, 2010 – Rock in Rio site construction begins in “Protected Area” that includes Vila Autódromo

2011

February 27, 2011 – Court authorizes demolitions of some homes

May 3, 2011 – Competition to design Olympic Park begins

August 22, 2011 – Winning Olympic park design maintains Vila Autódromo

Tree-lined entrance to Vila Autódromo, October 16, 2011

MEDIA: December 7, 2011 – RioOnWatch video coverage of City actions in Vila Autódromo

2012

January 2012 – Judge suspends private bids for Olympic Park

MEDIA: March 4, 2012 – The New York Times coverage

June 6, 2012 – 4,000-strong protest in Vila Autódromo

July 26, 2012 – People’s Plan created

August 16, 2012 – Residents present People’s Plan to Mayor

November 8, 2012 – Public meeting about BRT highways planned for Vila Autódromo area

2013

March 4, 2013 – City employees go door to door to convince residents to leave

March 5, 2013 – Evictions discussion with threatened communities across Rio

MEDIA: April 2013 – MIT report ‘Displacement Decathlon’

May 15, 2013 – 2013 Popular Committee Human Rights dossier is launched

June 5, 2013 – Vila Autódromo team participates in Evictions Cup

June 24 (week of), 2013 – 5 homes marked for removal

June 28, 2013 – Confrontation between residents and city officials

June 30, 2013 – Protest against evictions in Rio

July 17, 2013 – Vila Autódromo and Horto team up for anti-evictions vigil

July 20 2013 – Vila Autódromo residents organize a march [see photos]

Protest against evictions begins in Vila Autódromo, July 20, 2013

August 9, 2013 – Mayor agrees to permanence of Vila Autódromo

MEDIA: August 13, 2013 – The Rio Times coverage

September 27, 2013 – Communities threatened with evictions discuss strategies

October 2, 2013 – Residents prepare for meeting with Mayor

October 6, 2013 – Mayor meets some residents; other residents insist on attending [see photos]

October 30, 2013 – City forges protest with 20 residents who want to leave

November 7, 2013 – 100 residents protest removal tactics and forged protest

December 2013 – People’s Plan wins Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award

Vila Autódromo Peoples Plan, 2013

December 3, 2013 – Public hearing on Rio removals

2014

March 19, 2014 – Mayor states no families will be forced to leave and residents demand release of plans for proposed roads

March 21, 2014 – Demolitions are temporarily suspended

March 22, 2014 – City pits residents against each other

March 25, 2014 – Injunction preventing demolitions is overturned

March 26, 2014 – Five families sign contracts to leave and their homes are demolished [see photos]

Housing demolitions resumed March 26, 2014, the day after the court injunction was overturned (3/25). So far, all demolitions were families who opted for financial compensation or Parque Carioca resettlement housing.

April 28, 2014 – Mayor: residents who want to stay can stay but majority “want” to leave

May 2014 – 187 families confirm they want to stay

June 15, 2014 – 2014 Popular Committee Human Rights dossier is launched

September 24, 2014 – Residents hold solidarity and protest breakfast

November 7, 2014 – Vila Autódromo residents share experiences at dossier launch

November 2014 – Vila Autódromo documentary screening

Snapshot from the shore, 2014

2015

March 11, 2015 – More houses demolished

March 19, 2015 – City declares eminent domain, marks 58 families for eviction

March 24, 2015 – Protest and barricade at Vila Autódromo

MEDIA: April 2, 2015 – International Business Times coverage

April 16, 2015 – Tadilmarco is told his house will be demolished imminently

MEDIA: May 14, 2015 – Globo: R$95 million has been released to compensate 116 people

May 2015 – Jane Nascimento testifies to Human Rights Commission

May 20, 2015 – Demolition of one house damages another

June 3, 2015 – Attempted demolition leaves residents injured and draws international media coverage

Maria da Penha is injured during attempted eviction. Photo by Katia Carvalho

June 8, 2015 – Residents protest June 3 eviction attempt

August 15, 2015 – #OcupaVilaAutódromo festival and light show

August 2015 – Neighborhood Association president Altair evicted

August 2015 – Jane Nascimento is evicted

MEDIA: August 15, 2015 – BBC: Mayor says people who want stay can stay

September 12, 2015 – Presentation of aerial map of Vila Autódromo

September 12, 2015

September 17, 2015 – Heloisa Helena publishes first open letter on eviction terror

October 2, 2015 – Jane Nascimento speaks at Museu da República

October 23, 2015 – Lightning evictions include Dona Mariza’s home

MEDIA: October 25, 2015 – Globo: Mayor says people who want to stay can stay

November 9, 2015 – Jane Nascimento speaks at Getúlio Vargas Foundation

Before and after: Park revitalizationNovember 14-15, 2015 – Residents and supporters revitalize the community park

November 21, 2015 – Sandra Maria leads visiting groups around Vila Autódromo

November 2015 – Photographer Guilherme Imbassahy launches campaign “Evictions Have a Face”

November 28, 2015 – Residents host second Cultural Festival

December 9, 2015 – 2015 Popular Committee Human Rights dossier launched

MEDIA: December 11, 2015 – The Guardian photo coverage

December 12, 2015 – Residents plan daycare center

December 26, 2015 – Solidarity football tournament

MEDIA: December 27, 2015 – Time magazine coverage

2016

January 11, 2016 – Heloisa Helena receives death threat

January 13, 2016 – Municipal Guard builds wall dividing community

January 14, 2016 – Municipal Guard removes community barricade

January 14, 2016 – Heloisa Helena’s house is surrounded by guards and bulldozers

January 19, 2016 – Mayor says only one more family needs to go

January 21, 2016 – Shock troops enter in force

Photo by Marc Ohrem-Leclef

January 21, 2016 – Opening of photographer Marc Ohrem-Leclef’s Olympic Favela exhibition in Studio X

January 25, 2016 – Screening of Olympic Favela documentary in Vila Autódromo

January 27, 2016 – Protest march outside Olympic Park

February 6, 2016 – Popular Committee and Vila Autódromo residents release video defending human rights dossier

February 11, 2016 – Three homes are demolished behind Residents Association

February 12, 2016 – Mayor confirms houses isolated in Olympic Park cannot remain

Februrary 13, 2016 – A burst water pipe causes flood

February 22, 2016 – Residents put out SOS; suspension of Neighborhood Association demolition order is overturned; supporters camp overnight in Vila Autódromo

February 23, 2016 – Heloisa Helena publishes second letter on eviction struggle

February 24, 2016 – Neighborhood Association building and Heloisa Helena’s house demolished [see photos]

Residents with Olympic social legacy sign before troops arrive to demolish Neighborhood Association. Photo by Meg Healy
February 24, 2016 – Amnesty International highlights Vila Autódromo evictions as human rights abuse

February 27, 2016 – Latest version of People’s Plan is launched, along with #UrbanizaJá campaign

March 5, 2016 – Raquel Rolnik launches book in Vila Autódromo

March 5, 2016 – Former Vila Autódromo residents express discontent with Parque Carioca public housing

March 8, 2016 – International Women’s Day: Penha’s house is demolished and Penha receives award from State Assembly

March 8, 2016 – Mayor releases upgrades plan to invited press

March 15, 2016 – Residents demand Mayor presents plan to them directly

March 23, 2016 – Heloisa Helena writes letter to the UN from the US

March 26, 2016 – Poverty torch event

April 13, 2016 – Residents agree terms of upgrades with Mayor

April 19, 2016 – Residents announce plans for an Evictions Museum

April 23, 2016 – Work on Evictions Museum begins

May 11, 2016 – Heloisa Helena receives Dandara Award from State Assembly

May 18, 2016 – Evictions Museum opens

May 28, 2016 – Vila Autódromo hosts FLUPP literary festival workshop

May 28, 2016 – The Fallen Trees of Vila Autódromo and Rio Olympics Environmental Legacy

June 2016 – Construction of new homes proceeds quickly

June 25, 2016 – Traditional June festivities celebrate memory of Vila Autódromo

MEDIA: June 27, 2016 – Vox video: City of Rio’s project to hide the poor

June 2016 – Report of death of former Vila Autódromo resident in public housing project

July 5, 2016 – Maria da Penha speaks at the United Nations in Geneva

July 2016 – 10 meter banner by PUC students documenting 7 years of urban transformations displayed in Vila Autódromo

July 25, 2016 – The Fighter film launched about Naomy, child evicted

MEDIA: July 26, 2016 – HBO‘s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel features Vila Autódromo’s story

July 28, 2016 – Heloisa Helena is recognized as Front Line Defender

July 29, 2016 – Remaining 20 families receive keys to new homes

Residents in front of new homes

August 5, 2016 – Rio Olympics begins

MEDIA: August 11, 2016 – UOL reports on the heavy psychological cost of Olympic evictions

August 12, 2016 – Resident of last standing original home in Vila Autódromo tells foreign media of ‘terror’

August 19, 2016 – Vila Autódromo ‘occupies’ Olympic Park with celebration and protest

August 21, 2016 – Rio Olympics closing ceremony

September 15, 2016 – Olympic film featuring Vila Autódromo is launched

September 25, 2016 – Cultural occupation in Vila Autódromo celebrates memory, resistance and hope

October 6, 2016 – Vila Autódromo mother describes education from the vantage point of the community

October 17-20, 2016 – Sandra Maria represents Vila Autódromo at Habitat III conference in Ecuador

November 23-26, 2016 – Vila Autódromo participates in UrbFavelas seminar on favela upgrading

December 15, 2016 – Sandra Maria speaks on panel at ‘Favelas in the Media’ report launch 

2017

March 2017 – 110 families take the City to court over just compensation

March 14, 2017 – Residents show visitors how Vila Autódromo is realizing its vocation as a model for resistance

April 2017 – Heloisa Helena gives an interview on life after eviction and her fight against religious racism

MEDIA: April 24, 2017 – Reuters publishes documentary featuring Altair entitled “One man, one city, three evictions: the human cost of Rio’s growth”

May 18, 2017 – Evictions Museum archive is transferred to Brazil’s National Historic Museum on International Museum Day

May 19-21, 2017 – Vila Autódromo’s Eviction Museum hosts a course on ‘Social Museology: Poetics and Politics in Movement, Based in Concrete Experiences’

MEDIA: July 21, 2017 – WBUR radio features Vila Autódromo one year after the Games

July 31, 2017 – Maria da Penha speaks at launch of the PACS Institute’s analysis of Olympic legacy

August 5, 2017 – ‘Favela Olímpica’ documentary about Vila Autódromo premieres

September 12, 2017 – Book release of Rio 2016: Olympic Myths, Hard Realities, on the impact of 2016 Olympic Games

MEDIA: May 24, 2018 – Catalytic Communities Executive Director Theresa Williamson interviewed by O Globo about her chapter on Vila Autódromo’s Olympic struggle

September 19, 2017 – Eviction Museum presents its strategic Museological Plan

October 8, 2017 – Jane Nascimento and Altair Guimarães speak at launch of ‘State of Exception’ documentary on evictions ahead of Rio’s mega-events

November 7, 2017 – In ‘The Future of Memory’ event, residents and allies present on artistic and urban interventions to recover and preserve memory

November 13, 2017 – Vila Autódromo joins communities across Rio to march against eviction

December 15, 2017 – ‘Occupy City Hall: Feast of the Poor’ event unites neighborhoods with past and current eviction threats

2018

March 2, 2018 – Residents of Vila Autódromo show solidarity with other communities under threat of eviction in protest outside of mayor’s office

May 19, 2018 – Evictions Museum commemorates 2nd anniversary, launches official website, and hosts ‘Hyperconnecting Publics—The Universality of Discourse Against Eviction’ roundtable

June 30, 2018 – Residents of Vila Autódromo hold annual June festivities, celebrating hope and perseverance

August 3, 2018 – Maria da Penha participates in ‘Housing Rights and the Fight Against Evictions’ public debate at City Hall

August 5, 2018 – Two years after 2016 Olympics, residents and supporters celebrate successful resistance movement, reflect on memory and struggle, and look toward the future

September 23, 2018 – Evictions Museum launches walking tour to evoke memories of Olympic Evictions at 12th ‘Museum Spring’

September 27, 2018 – Maria da Penha participates in public hearing on ‘Settlements Occupying Public Land’ at Federal Public Defender’s Office