yuri testimony

Era assim, quando a gente era pequenininho…já faz um tempinho já. Aí pra subir a minha casa é muito escuro por causa do mato, aí ficava um bandido ali na base. Passava das 9 horas da noite, eles saiam. Não sei o que aconteceu…eles iam embora dali. Assim que eles iam embora dali, a gente subia tipo assim…com eles dava segurança. Sem eles, dava medo. Pra eu subir aquilo ali, subir sózinho, teve uma vez que eu subi chorando, porque ficava olhando pro mato. Olhava, olhava, olhava assim, e subia correndo. E com ele dava tranquilidade, dava uma paz.

It was like this: when we were really small, awhile ago now - to go up the way to my house, it is really dark because of the forest, and there was a trafficker who always had his spot there. After 9:00 at night, they left. I don’t know what happened, but they left that spot. As soon as they left the area, we went up sort of like…with them we felt safe. With them gone, we were scared. For me to go up that whole part there, go up alone…there was one time when I climbed up crying, because I kept glancing at the forest. I looked and looked like this, and then ran up. And with them there, we felt calm and peace of mind.

Text from testimony and images:

Three sculptures in acrylic, approximately 40 x 50 cm each and archival ink jet print. Photographed in Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.