Manguinhos: Cultural Strategy as a Tool for Social Inclusion and Mental Health

Mapping local cultural initiatives in a group of Rio favelas to support vulnerable people’s mental health and influence public policy.

Creativity and Mental Health
Crédito: Franciele Campos

Project Overview

This project explores the relationship between sociocultural initiatives and the wellbeing of residents of Manguinhos in Rio de Janeiro. 36,000 people live in this culturally vibrant group of favelas, where several arts projects, collectives and creative experiences take place.

People’s Palace Projects, Fiocruz and FGV, with co-researchers from the territory have identified around thirty active cultural and creative initiatives: ranging from slam battles, language schools and the production of local newspapers to environmental workshops like the well-known green rooftops.

Roundtables and Catalogue

The study promoted roundtables with local cultural producers to hear directly from their experiences about relationships between sociocultural experiences, care and social inclusion – as a strategy for building better public policies for vulnerable populations suffering from mental distress.

Playlist Roda de Conversa

The mapping of these initiatives will be presented in a digital catalogue, giving visibility to such initiatives and strengthening the discussions around arts and mental health in the territory. The catalogue will be widely disseminated alongside the Manguinhos community.

 

Posdcast O Manguinho