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Javier Alvarez

Photographer
   
PRÉDIO
Public Project
PRÉDIO
Copyright Javier Alvarez 2024
Date of Work Sep 2013 - Sep 2018
Updated May 2020
Location Brazil, Sao Palo
Topics Abandonment, Capitalism, Community, Documentary, Dreams, Family, Homelessness, Human Rights, Latin America, Minority, Photography, Photojournalism, Poverty, Relationships, Workers Rights
During the ’90s, workers and proletarian social movements began to break into abandoned buildings in São Paulo, Brazil. Today, more than 40 self-claimed organizations 'squat' in hundreds of abandoned properties, allowing families, immigrants, students, or workers in homeless situations to live in these places.

On the 13 floors of the ‘Marconi’ squat, about 400 people are accommodated in offices adapted into rooms of 50 to 100 sq ft, under the uncertainty of a decent housing solution. Within it, the notion of home (a space of emotional relationships and identity) becomes as unstable as the memories and expectations of a steady future. Marconi is a place where life stories share nostalgia and experiences of loss.

Several life testimonies from the residents of Marconi invite us to ask ourselves how deep we can see within our cities. How do we deal with housing problems? Who organizes? Where is the real crime in all this? To whom is it visible, and who is not? ‘PREDIO encourages dialogue about an urban crisis within a South American historical context and what we leave behind in our identity and collective memory.

The whole body of work consists of photographs, video interviews, archival material, and collages from a personal travel journal.

In 2022, “PREDIO” was acquired by the National Center for Contemporary Arts (CHILE) to be included in its permanent collection. Ediciones Buen Lugar published the book, making the title a finalist in the Lucie Foundation Book Prize for the “First Book" category, finalist for FELIFA 2023 photobook award, and first prize for the Latin American Design Awards for best editorial design.


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PRÉDIO by Javier Alvarez
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