Coleções

Pandemic Diaries — National Brazilian History Competition

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 30,000 people from different regions and age groups across Brazil participated in the National Brazilian History Olympics (ONHB/Unicamp) project, writing diaries about their experiences. The result is a significant collection, created during the first months of the quarantine (April and May 2020), which brings together accounts of the changes in daily life, doubts, feelings, and uncertainties experienced during that period. The collection presented here is a sample of this material; its incorporation into the archive is ongoing and will be progressively expanded.

A Clothesline of Emotions – A Virtual Diary of Life During the COVID Pandemic in the Rocinha Favela

The collection brings together screenshots, photographs, and videos posted on the Instagram account Varal de Emoções, created by Jennifer Monteiro and Maria Alice Balbino, residents of Rocinha (RJ). The content documents daily life in the community during the pandemic through residents’ accounts of their experiences. The collection also includes pre-production materials, such as the project proposal, records of the recordings, and images of the creative process, highlighting the importance of memory and the expression of residents’ own voices in strengthening a sense of belonging and community relationships.

Lives Matter, photographs by Erbs Jr.

This collection features black-and-white portraits of the COVID-19 pandemic, produced by photojournalist and historian Carlos Erbs Jr. From the very beginning of the health crisis, the author has roamed the streets of Rio de Janeiro, documenting the effects of social distancing measures, the actions of public agencies, civil society initiatives, gestures of solidarity, and the strain experienced by frontline workers. The images offer a visual testimony to the complexity and multiple dimensions of the pandemic in the urban landscape.

Hey there! COVID-19 has arrived among us

Here you will find firsthand accounts of the COVID-19 pandemic, written by leaders, nurses, students, teachers, elders, and young people from various Indigenous communities in northern Brazil. The narratives shed light on health conditions in the villages and document, in real time, the changes experienced in indigenous territories throughout the pandemic. At the same time, they reveal unique coping strategies, memories of past epidemics, traditional knowledge, and distinctive ways of interpreting and navigating the crisis, forming a chorus of voices that affirm the diversity and resilience of these communities.