Cidade Nova is a neighborhood on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Formerly a swamp, the area was drained and in the 1970’s occupied by favela dwellers who were banned from the city center in Rio together with other low-income families. The original Cidade Nova in Rio was torn down when the government decided to build its administrative center there. When favela dwellers moved to the new location on the outskirts of the city, they took the name with them.
While doing some research here, Annelies detected a sense of discontent among the people she was interviewing. They complained about the favela’s lack of ‘community’ and were interested in learning more about their neighbors. During the 'Jornal do Bairro' workshop, Annelies asked the children to be journalists for half a day and report about life in their neighborhood in words and images. Each of the children received a template of a newspaper spread in which he or she had to write an article, design a title and illustrate it with a drawing or photo. For the ones who couldn't write yet, there was a template with just a drawing. The artworks were photocopied and distributed at various locations throughout the community where people could gather in groups and read about their neighbors’ lives.