A Ilha da Maré é uma pequena ilha localizada na Bahia de Todos os Santos no estado da Bahia, localizada na região nordeste do Brasil. As comunidades que vivem na ilha são principalmente comunidades quilombolas que vivem da pesca e da mariscagem. Os Quilombos são assentamentos fundados entre 1500 e início de 1900 por pessoas de origem africana; a maioria dos membros dessas comunidades são descendentes de escravos fugitivos que formaram assentamentos quilombolas.
Em 1940, foram descobertas jazidas de petróleo na Bahia de Todos os Santos, baía onde se localiza a cidade de Salvador; poços de extração de petróleo foram instalados no mar da Bahia de Todos os Santos, na zona de Candeia e na Ilha de Maré, a maioria deles ainda funciona ou esteve ativa até o início dos anos 2000. Em 1950, localizada em frente ao Ilha de Maré, foi inaugurada a refinaria Ludulpho Alves-Mataripe. Em 1953 foi fundada a empresa nacional de petróleo, a Petrobras e em 1967 foi construído o Complexo Industrial de Aratu, um porto comercial para exportação de gás e produtos petroquímicos. Em 2021 a Mudabala Capital dos Emirados Árabes Unidos comprou a refinaria de Mataripe.
O Pólo Petroquímico de Camaçari e o Porto de Aratu-Candeias são responsáveis por 60% dos cargueiros que viajam de e para o Estado da Bahia, mas também, com a refinaria e os poços de petróleo, são responsáveis pelo nível de poluição ambiental e incidentes relacionados.
Em seus estudos, a pesquisadora Neuza Miranda tem mostrado a alta contaminação de Cádmio e Chumbo provenientes das indústrias locais nas crianças da Ilha de Maré.
O Racismo Ambiental foi teorizado entre os anos 1970 e 1980, sua definição tem sido usada para descrever as injustiças ambientais em uma disputa racial. O racismo ambiental ocorre quando decisões políticas relacionadas ao meio ambiente são tomadas e, como consequência, geram discriminação racial ou impactam negativamente um determinado grupo étnico/racial específico de pessoas.
A investigadora Beatriz Moreira Bispo sublinha a falta de comunicação e compromisso entre as instituições, a empresa e as Comunidades locais. Esta falta de comunicação, mediação e redução do impacto ambiental geram conflitos locais.
Apesar da comunidade da Ilha de Maré tentar estabelecer um diálogo com as Instituições e as Empresas para melhorar a situação ambiental, muito pouco tem sido feito para diminuir o nível de poluição ou os fatores que afetam a Comunidade da Ilha de Mare fazendo com que sofram de racismo ambiental.
“A Story on Oil, Pollution and Racism” documenta a vida das Comunidades da Ilha da Maré pesquisando as causas e as consequências da poluição e fatos históricos que geram um concurso de racismo ambiental.
Shell collectors search for clams in front of an extration oil well. With an increase of the industrialisation, increased also the level of environmental pollution and environmental related incidents, like in 2008 when a Norwegian ship lost in the waters lubricant oil polluting all the nearby areas. The Bahia’s researcher Neuza Miranda carried on a study that demonstrated the high contamination of Cadmium and Lead coming from the local industries in the children of Ilha de Maré.Candeias, 1950. A collage from an archival picture of Brazilian President Getulio Vargas at the opening of the construction works of the Landulpho Alves Refinery. The refinery is located in front of the Ilha da Maré and has been responsible of land-grabbing against the local communities that used the mangrove areas to retrieve shellfish, also the industrial complex contributed to the pollution of the waters of the bay.Ilha da Maré, Bahia. Diego, the son of the activist Eliete Paraguassu, shows 2 fished crabs, the main product sold by the Quilombolas. The Ilha da Mare is the home of several Quilombola’s communities that live of fishing. The waters where they fish are polluted with petrochemical residues and other chemical components. On the land of the island is possible to spot places where the oil come out from the ground. Most of the activists of the Island are women and they carry on the unity of the community and the fight for their basic rights.Aratu. A photo collage of the Aratu Port mixing a today picture of the port deposits with a archival picture shot during the port constructions.Ilha da Maré, Bahia. A group of fisherwomen during a meeting of the Community. The leaders of the Quilombo of Ilha de Maré are mainly women and are the ones that fish and catch seafood. Because of the high petrochemical pollution their still of life has been deeply affected. The Quilombolas claim they are discriminated by environmental racism.Ilha da Maré. Raw oil surfacing from the ground of some fields of Ilha da Maré. Between the 70s and the 80s several oil wells were installed on Ilha da Maré, at the time the first oil extracted were discarded lacking in purity, the company responsible for the wells discarded the oil in pits they dig close to the well and then they covered it with soil. The raw oil, which hasn’t been absorbed by the soil, is today surfacing. Despite the wells on Ilha de Maré are not extraction any more oil the areas were never reclaimed.Candeias, 1950. A detail from an archival picture of Brazilian President Getulio Vargas showing a hand stained with oil at the opening of the construction works of the Landulpho Alves Refinery. The refinery is located in front of the Ilha da Maré and has been responsible of land-grabbing against the local communities that used the mangrove areas to retrieve shellfish, also the industrial complex contributed to the pollution of the waters of the bay.Aratu. An Infrared color image of gas deposits of Aratu Port. The Aratu-Candeias Port that is responsible for the 60% of the cargo ship travelling from and to the Bahia State. With an increase of the industrialisation, increased also the level of environmental pollution and environmental related incidents, like in 2008when a Norwegian ship lost in the waters lubricant oil polluting all the nearby areas.Ilha da Maré, Bahia. Children from Ilha da Maré play while searching for seafood. The Ilha da Mare is the home of several Quilombola’s communities that live of fishing. The waters where they fish are polluted with petrochemical residues and other chemical components. On the land of the island is possible to spot places where the oil come out from the ground. Most of the activists of the Island are women and they carry on the unity of the community and the fight for their basic rights.Ilha da Maré, Bahia. Daily life in the Quilombo of Ilha da Maré. The community lives of fishing mainly provided by fisherwomen. The Quilombo’s communities of Ilha da Maré are deeply affect by the pollution caused by petrochemical factories located in the area.Landulpho Alves Refinery. A photo collage of the Landulpho Alves Refineryt mixing a today picture of the refinery with an archival picture shot during the first years it was working.Ilha de Maré. A view of the mangrove field surrounding the island. Mangrove are essential for the economy of the local communities that live of shellfish hunting in this natural habitat. The industrialisation of the area caused a pollution of the mangrove forest and a reduction of the mangrove area deforested by the building of new industrial complexes.Ilha da Maré. Infrared color image of an oil well located on the Island.Ilha da Maré. A view of the seafront of PAria Grande, one of the communities belonging to the Ilha da Maré’s Quilombo. The Quilombos are Brazilian settlement founded by people of African origin; most of the founders of these communities were escaped slaves. Despite the community of the Ilha de Maré’s Quilombo tried to established a dialogue with the Institutions and the Companies to improve the environmental situation, very little has been done to decrease the pollution level or the factors that affect the Community of Ilha de Mare making them suffer of environmental racism.
Tommaso Rada é um fotógrafo documental Italiano residente em São Paulo desde 2016 que trabalha sobre assuntos sócio/económicos. Os projetos fotográficos do Tommaso descrevem a sociedade com a finalidade de levantar perguntas e estimular debates. O trabalho dele ja foi publicado em vários jornais e revistas internacionais como Financial Time, Der Spiegel, Monocle, , Expresso, Helsingin Sanomat, Courrier International, Le Pelerin, Washington Post e o British Journal of Photography.
Os projectos do Tommaso ganharam diferentes prémios de fotografias e fizeram parte de diferentes exposições:
Prêmios: Bird in Flight - Shortlisted (2021); Palm Photo Prize 2021 - Finalist (2021), Urbanautica Institute Awards - Winner (2020), PDN Photo Annual Awards - Personal Category - Winner (2018), Sony World Photography Awards - Natural World - Shortlist (2017), APAD Backyard Storytelling Grant (2016), Ideas Tap - Magnum Photos Photographer Funds - Longlist (2015), Fotovisura Grant For Outstanding Multimedia Project - Honorable Mention (2015), International Revela Award - Finalist / Madrid, Spain (2014), Estação Imagem - 1st prize in the "Environment" category / Mora, Portugal (2012).
Exposições:
Phest Festival Internazionale di Fotografia e Arte Monopoli - Personal Exhibition - Monopoli, Italy (2022); Ragusa Foto Festival - Colective Exhibition- Ragusa Italy (2022); Belfast Photo Festival - Decade of Change - Collective Exhibition - Belfast, UK (2022); Incadaqués International Photo Festival - Decade of Change - Cadaques, Spain (2022); CinEast - Down the Walls - Colective Exhibition, Luxembourg, Luxembourg (2019); Maison Ville Nouveau, Personal Exhibition, Aosta, Italy (2018); RPS Print Exhibition 159, Colective Exhibition, London, UK (2016); Encontros da Imagem, Collective Exposition, Braga, Portugal (2015); Outono Fotografico, Collective Exposition, Ourense, Spain (2015); GuatePhoto, Collective Exposition, Guatemala (2015); Kolga Tbilisi Photo Festival, Tbilisi, Georgia (2015); Estação Imagem, Cordoaria Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal (2014).
