presentations / the lexicon of the peripheries
The words the participants wrote under their photos, in their own language and in the language of their neighborhood. Each word says where it comes from, who wrote it, and how the same thing is said elsewhere.
Every language has its word for the place where people live, and every word already carries a story.
Brazilian PortugueseRocinha, Rio de Janeiro
« a maior favela da america latina »
The name given in Rio to the neighborhoods built by the people who live there, on the hillsides and along the bay. Long weighed down by contempt, the word is now taken up with pride.
Brazilian PortugueseLadeira da Preguiça, Salvador de Bahia
« uma comunidade sempre junta e muito linda »
The community: in Brazil, the word means both the neighborhood and the people who bring it to life.
Colombian SpanishLlanaditas, Medellín
« los habitantes de nuestra comuna »
« entre comunas »
Medellín is divided into sixteen comunas; Comuna 8, on the eastern slopes, is Llanaditas’s. People say “nuestra comuna” the way you would say “our neighborhood”.
Mexican SpanishCruz Blanca, Ciudad Guzmán
« Es la cruz blanca de la colonia. »
In Mexico, a colonia is a neighborhood of a city.
French, from the neighborhoodsCité du Nord, Drancy
« les papas de la cité »
In France, a social housing estate, and everything lived there: the neighbors, the associations, the memories.
The words for those who grew up here, and who are still growing up here.
Brazilian PortugueseRocinha, Rio de Janeiro
« Nós é cria da Rocinha. »
« los crías se refrescan del calor de Río »
Someone born and raised in the favela: you are cria da Rocinha, cria da Maré. The word has traveled: in favela ocho, the Spanish captions write “los crías”.
Tupi, in Rio PortugueseRocinha, Rio de Janeiro
« kurumins, o futuro da rocinha »
A Tupi word, the language of Indigenous peoples of the Brazilian coast: “kurumin” or “kurumí” means boy, child.
Colombian SpanishMedellín
« un pelao de Rocinha muy inteligente y perseverante »
In Colombia, a pelao, a pelada: a kid, a young person.
French, from the neighborhoodsNanterre Ville
« Avant les grands ne traînaient pas avec les petits. »
In the neighborhoods, people sort themselves by age: the little ones, the big ones, and those who hang out together, or not.
Doing nothing in particular, but together: everywhere, there is a word for that.
Colombian SpanishLlanaditas, Medellín
« tiempo de parche »
« unos hombres se encuentran para beber, comer y parchar »
The parche is the group of friends and the time spent together; parchar is hanging out, with no plan. El parchecito, the little parche, gave its name to two projects in Medellín.
French, from the neighborhoodsLa Capsulerie, Bagnolet
« toujours posés avec leurs amis depuis un bon moment »
Being “posé” means staying put, relaxed, with friends, for a long time.
Mexican SpanishCruz Blanca, Ciudad Guzmán
« Me gusta que los niños se juntan mucho a jugar. »
To get together: at the Cruz Blanca lookout, the children “se juntan” to play.
Mexican SpanishCruz Blanca, Ciudad Guzmán
Hanging around the barrio: being outside, in the street, with the others, with nothing planned.
To say something is beautiful, strong, well done, every neighborhood has its own words, often informal, always precise.
Mexican SpanishCruz Blanca, Ciudad Guzmán
« Es un mirador que está chido »
In Mexico: good, nice, cool. “Está chido.”
Mexican SpanishCruz Blanca, Ciudad Guzmán
« Un vidrio de un carro bien insano. »
« bien tumbado e insano »
Insano: impressive, wild. Tumbado: stylish.
Mexican SpanishCruz Blanca, Ciudad Guzmán
« la calle más chingona »
The best, the strongest. A very informal word that the young people chose as the title of their film and exhibition: la calle más chingona, the coolest street.
Colombian SpanishLlanaditas, Medellín
« chimba de comida »
In Colombia, “una chimba”: something excellent.
French, from the neighborhoodsLa Noue et La Capsulerie, Bagnolet
« Un reflet de fou malade dans le hall du bâtiment 7. »
« dunk de fou »
Something impressive; “de fou malade” when it’s even stronger.
Saying where you come from, and showing it.
French, from the neighborhoodsNanterre Ville; La Capsulerie, Bagnolet
« Notre quartier s’appelle Nanterre Ville (NTV) et c’est là où on a grandi. »
« Ce sont les magnifiques dessins de la Caps. »
Neighborhoods have their nicknames: NTV for Nanterre Ville, la Caps for La Capsulerie.
Flat concrete above everyone’s heads: a roof in Rio, a square in France.
Brazilian PortugueseRocinha, Rio de Janeiro
« Crianças brincando em uma laje na Dionéia »
The flat concrete roof of favela houses: kids play there, laundry dries there, kites fly from there, and that is where the next floor will be built. In the Spanish version of favela ocho, the laje becomes a “terraza”.
French, from the neighborhoodsLes Malassis, Bagnolet; l’Almont, Melun
« 32 Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, situé sur la dalle. »
The large concrete platform of neighborhoods built in the 1960s and 1970s, above the parking lots and shops: the neighborhood square, raised up. In Melun, the young people made it a title: dalle, mon futur.
Between the houses, the paths people take without thinking.
Brazilian PortugueseSalvador de Bahia; Recife
« o beco da califórnia »
« no Beco do S »
The narrow alley between the houses, often with no official name: everyone gives it their own.
Colombian SpanishMedellín
« Entre los callejones de Nova Holanda »
The alley; in favela ocho, the Spanish captions use this word for the passageways of Maré.
The future gets drawn, photographed, put in a title.
French, from the neighborhoodsLes Ruches et La Marie, Marseille
« carte du turfu »
The future, in verlan, the French slang that flips syllables. The carte du turfu is the dream neighborhood, drawn by the children; mOst turned it into a format, the quartier du turfu.
Portuguese and SpanishRocinha; Llanaditas
« kurumins, o futuro da rocinha »
« para poder seguir luchando por un mejor futuro para su gente »
The same word on both sides: in Rocinha, the future is the children; in Llanaditas, it is what people keep fighting for.
The morning coffee, and the people who drink it together.
Colombian SpanishLlanaditas, Medellín
« veo viejitos tomando tintos »
In Colombia, the small black coffee people drink at any hour.
French, from the neighborhoodsCité du Nord, Drancy
« des habitants se retrouvent un matin autour d’un café »
At the Cité du Nord, every week, residents meet at the community center over coffee, to talk about the neighborhood, about everything and nothing.
Every new workshop brings its own words. The lexicon grows project after project, with the participants: a word, the person who wrote it, the place where it is said.