Stories and Memories of Brasília
This exhibition proposes looking at Brasília, the capital of Brazil, from a different perspective, focusing on irregular settlements, favelas, or "invasions"
"Invasões" (1959) by Arquivo Público do Distrito FederalMuseu do Cerrado
The transfer, in 1959, of residents from Vila Amaury, a precarious settlement located near the future Praça dos Três Poderes (Three Powers Square), to the "satellite cities" of Taguatinga and Sobradinho, initiated a plan of eradicating favelas in the Federal District.
Mapa de "invasões" no DF em 1974 (1974) by Secretaria de Serviços SociaisMuseu do Cerrado
Map of "invasions" in the Federal District in 1974
Data collection on the population and mapping of irregular settlements served as the basis for defining the policy to be adopted at different times. The main concern was with the favelas located in or near the Plano Piloto (the planned city center of Brasília).
Pilot Plan and main "satellite cities", 1973
Slum eradication programs relied on relocating families to distant areas where "satellite cities" were established. This involved dismantling existing mutual aid networks and imposed a high transportation cost on the relocated residents to get to their workplaces.
Ceilândia, ca. 1971-72 (1971) by Arquivo Público do Distrito FederalMuseu do Cerrado
Ceilândia, ca. 1971-72
Until the 1970s, the removal processes were largely based on surveying the population to be relocated, dismantling shacks, and transporting them to satellite settlements, where they were reassembled by the families themselves.
Gama, ca. 1964-67 (1964) by Arquivo Público do Distrito FederalMuseu do Cerrado
Gama, ca. 1964-67
The slum removal programs stipulated that the population should act independently, but under the guidance of technicians and social workers. Under this logic, families had to build their houses and, at the same time, work to subsist.
Organograma do Grupo Executivo de Remoção da Favela do IAPI (1970) by Secretaria de Serviços SociaisMuseu do Cerrado
Organizational chart of the Executive Group for the Removal of the IAPI Slum
During the military dictatorship, plans for the removal of favelas and the resettlement of their residents in satellite towns became more elaborate and meticulous. The complex administrative structure for this involved several government agencies.
Plano de erradicação de invasões no DF (1979) by Secretaria de Viação e ObrasMuseu do Cerrado
Plan to eradicate land invasions in the Federal District
The procedures for eradicating "invasions" were gradually standardized: it began with the identification and classification of the areas, followed by an assessment of the need for the use of police force, the organization of the demolition, removal, control, and inspection.
The photos taken by the government document the stages of transferring and resettling the population in "satellite cities"; but they also raise the question: what might have been omitted or left out of these images?
The photographs do not show the violence involved in the processes of removing favelas, in which police force was present to deal with possible resistance. Nor do they show the difficulties faced by the relocated families in establishing themselves and building their homes with few resources and in places where the urban service infrastructure was very precarious.
Registro do início das transferências da Vila IAPI para Ceilândia (1971) by Diário Oficial do Distrito FederalMuseu do Cerrado
Transfers from Vila IAPI to Ceilândia begin
The main slum removal project – and also the best documented – was the transfer of more than 80,000 people from Vila IAPI, located near Núcleo Bandeirante, to Ceilândia, which was created for this purpose in 1971.
Demonstration in Taguatinga in 1982
The slum eradication programs were not received passively, but rather provoked resistance and conflict. Amidst the turbulent process of redemocratization in the country, social movements were organizing themselves, combining local problems with issues of the national context.
In the 1980s, schools, churches, and public spaces in the "satellite cities" hosted assemblies and demonstrations. The leaflets that circulated in these places attest to the struggles for housing, equality, and political rights.
Estudo para transferência de populações da Vila Areal para novos lotes (1985) by Secretaria de Habitação do DFMuseu do Cerrado
Relocation of populations from Vila Areal to new plots of land
In the 1980s, programs were initiated to promote, rather than eradicate, the urbanization of precarious settlements through the regularization of land plots and the construction of urban infrastructure. In some cases, the population was transferred to locations near where they previously lived. Even so, forced removal remained a practice for dealing with irregular settlements.
The policies of slum removal and the creation of "satellite cities" had a strong impact on the lives of people and families in Brasília. The constant changes in housing locations caused separations and reunions, determining the course of personal trajectories or imposing conditions for their continued residence in the city.
Caminho percorrido entre Ceilândia e Plano Piloto (1980) by Luísa G. Melo. A História de Brasília pelos olhos de Raquel: Ceilândia e arredores na década de 1980Museu do Cerrado
Route taken between Ceilândia and Plano Piloto
Brasilia has become a metropolis with a very uneven and fragmented territory. Daily commutes between satellite cities and the Plano Piloto (the central planned area of Brasília), for work or study, involve traveling long distances using an inefficient transportation system.
Invasão. Projeção a laser e colagem. Caixa DÁgua de Ceilândia - DF (2021) by Gu da CEIMuseu do Cerrado
Laser projection and collage. Ceilândia Water Tower
Works by contemporary artists highlight the stigmas that fall upon residents of favelas and lead to a reconsideration of how the history of Brasília has been told.
Vim pra ficar. Série Território em Trânsito (2023) by Gu da CEIMuseu do Cerrado
I'm here to stay. Territory in Transit Series.
Through images and narratives—often in unconventional artistic forms—groups living on the outskirts of Brasília construct their identities, offer critiques, and reclaim their place in the city's history and memory.
What are your stories and memories related to places in Brasília?
The experience of living in a city involves journeys and experiences that we share with family, friends, and strangers. It is also an individual experience, marked by sensations and reflections unique to each of us.
If it were possible to imagine a different Brasília from the one we already know, what would it be like? What would you change about the spaces and buildings of the capital?
The history of Ceilândia as told by its pioneers
Gu from CEI
This exhibition is part of a broader project developed by the interdisciplinary research group Capital and Periphery (www.capitaleperiferia.unb.br). The group's objective is to go beyond the usual emphasis on the Plano Piloto (Pilot Plan) and its emblematic architecture to address how the spaces peripheral to the modernist center were conceived, occupied, and represented.
This exhibition received the IAB 2025 Award in the Architectural Culture category.
Curatorship: Rosângela Azevedo Corrêa, General Director of the Cerrado Museum.
Research and text coordination: Maria Fernanda Derntl - Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism – University of Brasília.
Research: Capital and Periphery group, University of Brasília.
Collaboration: Ana Elisa Carnaúba, Davi Elias de Oliveira e Dias, Izabela Ferreira do Nascimento, Julia Bianchi, Luisa G. Melo and Paulo Henrique Honorato.
Research support: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).
Sources of photos, documents and images: Public Archive of the Federal District (ArPDF) and the Carnaúba Family archive.
Direction of the video “History of Ceilândia told by pioneers”: Gu da CEI.
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