ERNANE FERREIRA

General Coordinator and Art Educator

Ernane Ferreira, graduated in Commercial Management and post-graduated in Strategic Business Management from Faculdade Pitágoras in Minas Gerais.

Currently acts as General Coordinator of Casa Amarela responsible for proposing and ensuring the implementation of our emancipatory educational proposals, articulating and contributing to the construction of actions between managers, educators, collective / team, living in direct articulation with the territory, as well as monitoring and safeguarding these actions; operationalizes everyday practices such as activities, classes, courses, lectures and projects. The follow-up and evaluation of the results of the executed projects, guarantees us the good development of all the works related to Casa Amarela.

Passionate and with full belief in education through the arts - probably because he was himself the result of social projects - he started in afro dance in 1998 with Marlene Silva (Afro Primitivo), went through contemporary, classical, flamenco and studied theater. Then he learned from Evandro Passos (Afro Traditional), Carlos Afro (Afro Brazilian) and still works researching with the masters of Rio de Janeiro, having closely worked with Mestre Carlos Mutalla (Afro Brazilian), his last great exchange and collaboration partner. He is a member of Afoxé Filhos de Gandhi RJ, a collective which acts for the preservation and valorization of Afro-Brazilian traditions. Originating from African traditions and heritages. Ernane is a permanent dance educator at Casa Amarela Providência and continues to believe in the transformative and political impulse of popular dances.

TALITA MILANEZ

Educational Coordinator, Art Educator and Therapist

Born in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, graduated in Visual Arts with specialization in Art Therapy and Art Education, working in the social area for 8 years, Talita Milanez develops her work foreseeing art as an essentially human activity. This perspective makes it possible to build learning tools for self-knowledge.

Her trajectory has been built in dialogue with territories such as Santa Marta, Muzema, Sepetiba, Gardênia Azul and Ilha Grande, collaborating with projects like Mariscarte and Projeto Eu Sou Arte.

Today she acts as the coordinator of the Casa's pedagogical projects, coordinates other educators and assists them in their day-to-day practice with the children. In addition, she is responsible for our training plans, organization of team meetings, preparation of guidelines and reports on the learning process of our participants. She believes in education as a practice of freedom. Her role in art in the research field is a transforming agent that fosters the autonomy of being. She believes in affection, as an inexhaustible source of any liberating process.

TIPHANIE CONSTANTIN

Co-Director

Half French, half Brazilian, Tiphanie graduated in International Relations, Letters and Translation at the University of Sorbonne, Paris, France. She worked with NGOs such as FUNDAÇÃO FORD, CCFD, Casa do Menor, Autres Brésils, Filhos do Marajó and AEDA - Enfants d'Amazonie. In 2015, working on a documentary about the Port Zone for France Télévisions as an interpreter, she settled permanently in Rio de Janeiro. Which is how she met Casa Amarela, by interviewing its co-founder, Mauricio Hora. She started working at Casa as a volunteer in March 2016 and soon began a career in social entrepreneurship and cultural production.

After 5 years working at Casa and today, as co-director, she founded the Coletivo Mulheres Independentes da Providência, dedicated to the social and economic transformation of women in the territory, which won a grant in 2021 by L'Oréal '' Fund for women '' . In 2019, she co-produced the Planeta Ginga Festival also in celebration of Casa Amarela's 10th anniversary. In 2020, she starts to represent Casa Amarela in the emergency committee SOS PROVIDÊNCIA, alongside other important socio-cultural projects of Providência and the Port Region

She strongly believes in racial literacy and anti-racist agendas as necessary educational tools, as well as in the recognition of pluralities for the emancipation of each individual working in the Casa Amarela projects.

NINA SOUTOUL

Co-Director

French, graduated in communication from Roger Williams University (Rhode Island, USA), with a master's degree in International Development and Management from Lund University (Sweden). She has concentrated her studies in the development of social projects mainly for the youth. Over the years, she has worked with conflict resolution and communication strategies at NGOs such as Fundación Paraguaya (Paraguay), Global Peace Foundation (Malaysia) and Jodie O’Shea Orphanage (Indonesia). In 2016, she joined the French artist JR's team, starting her work in his New York City studio for the InsideOut project, which even sparked her interest in art as an agent of social change.

Nina has fallen in love with Brazil since she arrived 4 years ago, a country that made her develop as a woman, activist and recently mother. She is extremely grateful for continuing to develop her human rights skills through the creation and idealization of projects at Casa Amarela, and also for learning daily about the need for territorial and cultural appreciation through art and education for all.

In 2019, she idealized the Youth of the Moon Collective, elaborating forms and methods of growth and development for young people in Providência, through creative entrepreneurship and collaborative work.

DOUGLAS OLIVEIRA

Audiovisual Coordinator

Douglas Dobby, 29, was born and raised in Morro da Providência and has been working with Casa Amarela since its inauguration in 2009. He learned to photograph thanks to Maurício Hora, a photographer who also lives in Morro da Providência. He also took a photography course at the School of Art. and Tecnologia Spectaculu founded by the set designer Gringo Cardia and the actress Marisa Orth, by the activity directors: Vik Muniz, Malu Barreto and Giovanni Bianco.

He began to portray social and cultural events and people in the favela' everyday life. He has been accumulating experiences with the artists who have been frequenting Casa Amarela and developing other types of artistic language.

He is the official photographer of Casa Amarela and loves to portray the life of its participants. He graduated in Physical Education, and dreams of gaining the world photographing, New York will be the first stop, before many others!

Lucas Pereira

Administration and Logistics Manager

He started his professional life in 2008 at the age of 9 in the local transportation of the favela, where he worked for a long time.

In 2009, in contact with the artist JR, he participated in the Women are Heroes project, enabling access to the territory.

In 2018, he worked with contracts and bids at the Hospital Federal dos Servers, but he had to interrupt his work to provide military services. His duties in the militaries included inventory control and logistics.

Currently Lucas is responsible for the Logistics sector at Casa Amarela, reopening the cycle he had started in 2009.

GABY MAKENA

Pedagogue and Literacy Teacher

She works as a permanent literacy teacher at Casa Amarela together with the Kekerê and Erês groups, having implemented literacy and literacy classes building an educational path with the children of Morro since their early childhood. She believes in education as a practice of freedom and has as her main concern the issues around the black struggle and its contributions to anti-racist education - aims in her teaching and researches the implementation of African and Afro-Brazilian content in children's daily lives.

PhD student in Education at Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), in the line of research Studies on the Daily Life of Popular Education; Master in Education graduated at the Center for Human and Social Sciences at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO); Graduated in Pedagogy from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ);

She has worked as a pedagogical assistant and teacher throughout her career; Currently, she has a scholarship from Fundação Cecierj, acting as Academic Articulator of the Teacher Training course at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, tutoring the subjects of Literacy 1 and 2 and Educational Psychology.

MIRIAM GENEROSO

MiP Coordinator and Educator (Afr0Cine Ípadé)

Woman, black, lives in a favela, resident of Morro da Providência. Graduated in Law. Studying a master in Justice and Public Security at Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF). Ifaísta, initiated to the Traditional Yoruba Cult.

Co-creator and producer of Afro Cine Ípadé, a cine club with Afrocentric perspectives whose objective is to encourage reflections and debates on issues related to the black Brazilian population and their condition in society.

Afro entrepreneur and owner of Coser da Nêga, which aims at researching and making traditional garments focused on popular culture. Costume designer for two afro dance shows presented by Casa Amarela by the Afro educator Ernane Ferreira.

Currently coordinator of the Collective MIP- Independent Women of Providência, seeking to be an agent of transformation in the construction of female empowerment through self-care practices.

MARCIA ADRIANA

General Services Assistant

Márcia began working at 12 years old as a nanny and cleaning lady in family homes to help her mother support the household, and from then, it became her main occupation throughout her life.

At 20 years old, she decided to come to Rio de Janeiro and settle in Morro Providência, looking for opportunities to take care of her children.

Currently, she works in charge of cleaning and organizing Casa Amarela, having fundamental functions in this period of confronting COVID-19, such as cleaning the environments for the activities of the participants, preparing the bases for our good functioning and assisting with the day to day necessities.

Márcia is a great supporter for her children, 4 of whom have already spent time or remain at Casa Amarela in different classes and programs. She is also part of our women's collective MIP and is studying literacy through it.

The decision to resume literacy came from her, even though it has been strongly encouraged by our team. She believes in the possibility of achieving autonomy while in the learning of writing, in addition to being able to motivate and monitor her children's studies.

RODOLFO ADRIANO

Photography Intern

We would like to introduce our young photography intern, Dodô.

This internship program is very important for our pedagogical practice, as it acts as an incentive for our youth and an economic guarantee to continue their studies. it is an honor to welcome our youth from the community with whom we have worked for years within a new learning proposal focused on freedom and autonomy.

A little about Rodolfo Adriano, better known as Dodô, 17 years old.

“Born and raised in Morro da Providence, I study, take boxing classes at Professor Cachorrão's school, I also participated in the photography project 100Cameras with Professor Scott Bennett, and in photography classes with Professors Thayna and Ana Beatriz. At this moment I am a photography intern at Casa Amarela under the mentorship of the photographer Douglas Dobby.

This internship is bringing me new experiences, helping me to meet new people and gain knowledge. I am very grateful to Casa Amarela for their trust and support and for not letting me give up, this is one of the things I like most these days, I just have to thank all the members of the Casa for giving me this opportunity and for be supportive so far, my words of gratitude. ”

MAURICIO HORA

Founder

Local photographer and resident of Morro da Providência, Mauricio Hora created Casa Amarela with JR following the project Women Are Heroes, in which he collaborated. Mauricio uses photography to document the life in conflicted areas, and his projects have been known internationally. With more than 20 years of dedication to photography and his knowledge of the community, Mauricio also helps in communicating with its residents and spread the word about the work that is being done at Casa Amarela Providência.

JR

Founder

JR, French artist and photographer opened Casa Amarela Providência in 2009 after his project Women Are Heroes giving a voice to the women of Morro da Providência through art. He always wanted to find a way to help the community through the art, and Casa Amarela Providência was created in an effort to support the children of the community, opening a cultural center that would become their safe space to grow and develop their artistic skills.

MARC AZOULAY

Executive Director / Studio Director and JR Executive director based in NYC

Studio director and JR's producer in New York City, he leads the Brazilian team on a weekly basis. Marc lived in Brazil for more than 2 years and fell in love with this country’s culture and singularity. Through his involvement with Casa Amarela Providência, he gets to stay in touch with this appreciation for Brazil and his knowledge of the Brazilian culture is definitely an asset for his team on the field.