The Voices of the Women Who Speak to Our Morro: Art as an Activator of Memories

Abstract

This article presents a reflection on the potential of art as an activator of memories within the context of the Monte Serrat community in Florianópolis (Santa Catarina, Brazil), based on a pedagogical experience at Marista Escola Social Lúcia Mayvorne. The study begins with the sensitive listening to the voices of women from the community — mothers, grandmothers, educators, artists — who build and keep alive the collective memory of the territory. The investigation focuses on the interdisciplinary project Mama África, developed with third-year secondary school students, which sought to recover silenced histories and highlight the role of women in community organisation. Drawing on authors such as Paulo Freire (1992) and Célia Xakriabá (2020), the text explores the centrality of territory in educational practice, advocating for a school that is committed to listening, oral expression, and popular knowledge. In this context, art is understood as a language capable of mobilising affections, revealing subjectivities, and giving visibility to historically marginalised experiences. By valuing memory as a constitutive element of identity and collectivity, the work proposes that art contributes to strengthening belonging and autonomy among individuals. Through the practices developed, the study reaffirms the importance of an education that recognises both territory and people as a living body and a producer of knowledge, thereby building relationships between school and community. The experience described points to pedagogical pathways that intertwine memory, art, and territory, envisioning an emancipatory, affective, and transformative education.