2025 · Les Ruches, Marseille · the T.L., Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro · 2025
la galerie des ruches · rencontres la t.l
summer 2025October 1, 2025
At Les Ruches, the children photograph, draw and record their neighborhood with the artists Maymouna Baradji and Myriam Rabah-Konaté, then meet, through images, the children of the T.L., high up in Rocinha, in Rio.
with the centre social La Maurelle, Fotogracria, Maymouna Baradji and Myriam Rabah-Konaté
les ruches, 2025
“Les Ruches is friendly. In the neighborhood everyone knows each other. It’s lively and nice.”
Their text says what they love, their homes, their toys, the trees “because they help us breathe,” going downstairs to meet up and have fun, and what they would like: new plantings, a soccer field, playground games, a swimming pool, and even a trampoline.
With Maymouna Baradji and Myriam Rabah-Konaté, they explored their neighborhood and its memory through drawing, photography and sound. This first encounter paves the way for a larger project on the neighborhood’s memory with the two artists.
From the text the children wrote for the exhibition, translated from French.
land at Les Ruches ↘Eight years ago we moved to Les Ruches, but I don't remember it. I was too little.
film photographtwo neighborhoods answer each other
Their images talk with those of the children of the T.L., the Terra da Lama, at the top of Rocinha, and of Fotogracria, a photographer born on rua 4, with whom mOst led “Os Crias da T.L.”: shared acerolas, barefoot soccer, the Paula Brito shower on a hot day.
land at Les Ruches ↘In the neighborhood, a ball and Algeria. Always.
film photograph
land in Rocinha ↘JG is a player. Biel is a player. We’re Rocinha kids, born and raised.
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land at Les Ruches ↘Samira bonding with Peachy, the neighborhood dog.
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land in Rocinha ↘Kauã Davi and his faithful buddy cool off under the big outdoor shower at Paula Brito on a scorching summer day.
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land at Les Ruches ↘Those are the flowers that come up over there. We don't know their name.
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land in Rocinha ↘Rocinha is a favela. It's a community of different people and animals. People think Rocinha is dangerous, but Rocinha is a peaceful place.
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land at Les Ruches ↘That's my sister, she's so cute!
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land in Rocinha ↘I like eating acerolas. I’m really happy like this. Like the other people in the Rocinha favela.
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land at Les Ruches ↘Yliès and Fayze.
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land in Rocinha ↘We like soccer because it’s exciting. It’s really fun for us and we’re happy playing. We hope to become players. In the favela there are lots of kids who play ball and want to be players. That’s the reality of the favela, playing barefoot.
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land at Les Ruches ↘“I'd like there to be no more rubbish, for them to fix up a pitch for us, to put games in the garden.” “I'd like them to get rid of the electric scooters, the dirt and the flies.” “I dream that everyone becomes Black so there's no more racism.” “I dream of a park, a swimming pool and a slide.”
film photograph
land in Rocinha ↘Children playing on a rooftop slab in Dionéia, in winter. In Tupi, “kurumin” or “kurumí” means “boy” or “child.” The author believes the future begins with the respect and teaching that elders give to children.
film photographles ruches
the t.l
The children of the T.L. eating and sharing acerolas.
film photograph
Allan is a very smart, determined boy from Rocinha. His dream is to be a great skater. That day, he was trying to go down a really steep slope on Rua 4 and, after many attempts, he made it.
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Rocinha seen from Macega.
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the poem
Les Ruches reminds me of the Bâtes.
It’s where I grew up, where I changed.
It’s a part of my life.
The life of mini-me, disappearing little by little
One building after another
The black building, the 22s, the 24s, the Roses
There’s the same sad silence
As if waiting
Then all at once, like a breeze waking up: here come the children.
The children coming home from school,
The children coming back from the beach,
From the store,
Waking up from a nap.
The children who went to call out
And then from silence to voices everywhere
To the sound of balls
That keep the traces of what was and what will be
A new burst, a new breeze slipping through
It’s the bikes, the scooters and skateboards
Going back and forth in their dances.
On the way down to the petit séminaire
In the parking lot
Suddenly, Les Ruches comes back to life
And the bees are buzzing.
Les Ruches ça me rappelle les Bâtes.
C’est là où j’ai grandi, changé.
C’est une partie de ma vie.
Celle de mini-moi, qui disparaît petit à petit
Immeuble après l’autre
L’immeuble noir, les 22, les 24, les Roses
Il y a le même silence triste
Comme en attente
Puis d’un coup comme une brise qui s’éveille : il y a les enfants.
Les enfants qui rentrent de l’école,
Les enfants qui rentrent de la plage,
Des courses,
Qui se réveillent d’une sieste.
Les enfants qui sont allés appeler
Et puis du silence aux voix de toute part
Aux bruits des ballons
Qui gardent les traces de ce qui fût et ce qui sera
Un nouvel éclat, une nouvelle brise qui se faufile
Ce sont les vélos, les trottinettes et skates
Qui dans leurs danses font des va-et-vient.
Dans la descente jusqu’au petit séminaire
Sur le parking
Soudainement, les Ruches reprennent vie
Et les abeilles bourdonnent.
The exhibition poem, by Maymouna Baradji, translated from French.
drawing on glass
With Maymouna Baradji, a mosaic artist, the children draw the neighborhood on transparent sheets: portraits, landscapes, architecture. Hung in the exhibition, the sheets let the light through and overlap, like the layers of a map.
the exhibition
On October 1, 2025, at the centre social La Maurelle: fifteen panels where the images of Les Ruches and the T.L. answer each other, with the children’s titles and words, in French or Portuguese, and the hanging drawings on plexiglass.
land here, in 3D ↘the hanging
wall by wall
the voices
The voices recorded with Myriam Rabah-Konaté: exploring Les Ruches, the children’s dreams, Samira the reporter, and the day the Petit Séminaire disappeared.
project details
la galerie des ruches · rencontres la t.l
At Les Ruches, the children photograph, draw and record their neighborhood with the artists Maymouna Baradji and Myriam Rabah-Konaté, then meet, through images, the children of the T.L., high up in Rocinha, in Rio.
- when
- 2025
- where
- Les Ruches, Marseille · the T.L., Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro
- partners
- centre social La Maurelle, Fotogracria
- invited artists
- Maymouna Baradji, Myriam Rabah-Konaté
- mediums
- photography, drawing on plexiglass, sound, crossed perspectives
- public presentation
- “la galerie des ruches · rencontres avec rocinha et la t.l,” shown on October 1, 2025 at the centre social La Maurelle: fifteen panels and hanging drawings on plexiglass, bringing together the images of Les Ruches and the T.L.
- credits
- Photographs: the children of Les Ruches and the T.L., Fotogracria and the mOst team. Drawings, maps and sound: the children of Les Ruches with Maymouna Baradji and Myriam Rabah-Konaté.
next project · 2023
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