In November 2015, the breach of the Fundão waste dam in the city of Mariana, Minas Gerais, was the largest environmental disaster ever occurred in Brazil – and the largest in the world in the mining industry. The Doce River, its tributaries and the life therein were deeply affected – in addition to 40 villages and their population. After the disaster, is mud all that is left?
A MOMENT FROZEN IN TIME - AND MUD
In April 2016, photographer Bruno Veiga traveled to Paracatu, Minas Gerais, to see what was left from the rupture of the Fundão dam operated by Samarco, Vale do Rio Doce and BHP Billiton. There he found one of the tributaries of Doce River, the Gualaxo do Norte River, that had more than half of its length destroyed; in Paracatu de Baixo, a scenario which he describes as a memory of the Italian city of Pompeii buried by the lava from the Vesuvius volcano more than 2.000 years ago: “the color of the river reminded us of the lava from a volcano”. In the landscape, the objects which were left behind remind us of a life no longer existing – leaving its marks as shadows that attempt to resist the strength of the mud.
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
Vidas em Suspenso by Bruno VeigaMuseu do Amanhã
President of the IDG Management Council: Fred Arruda
Director President: Ricardo Piquet
Chief Curator: Luiz Alberto Oliveira
Content Director: Alfredo Tolmasquim
Director of Operations & Finance: Henrique Oliveira
Audience Development Director: Alexandre Fernandes
Director of Planning & Management: Vinícius Capillé
Development Director: Renata Salles
Exhibitions and Observatory of Tomorrow Manager: Leonardo Menezes
Research and Writing: Meghie Rodrigues
Video Editing: Eduardo Carvalho
Content Editing: Emanuel Alencar
Photos: Bruno Veiga
Interested in Natural history?
Get updates with your personalized Culture Weekly
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.