The Fundão dam in Brazil's Minas Gerais state collapsed on Nov. 5, 2015, releasing a deluge of mining waste that submerged rural villages, killing 19 people and displacing hundreds more on its way to the Doce River.
Once in the river's stream -- which travels through two states and 228 municipalities -- an estimated 60 million cubic meters of mud and waste wiped out ecosystems and killed fish, turtles and other aquatic species, crippling the livelihoods of thousands of people who live and work around the river. Shortly after the dam's collapse and the mining operator Samarco's assurances that the spillage did not contain toxic elements, the The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights announced that there had been “high levels of toxic heavy metals and other toxic chemicals” in the residue.
Analysts have blamed Samarco, which the Anglo-Australian giant BHP Billiton co-owns with the Brazilian company Vale, for failing to keep the dam up to code and exhibiting dubious business practices. "A dam doesn't break by chance... There is repeated, continual negligence in the actions of a company owned by Vale and BHP,” a Brazilian prosecutor told the Australian broadcaster ABC. Brazil’s Federal Police have indicted seven company executives and engineers of environmental crimes following the disaster.
The event highlighted many issues currently plaguing the South American company. Allegations of poor oversight by state and federal agencies in the mining sector along with close ties among decision-makers and mining companies have struck a nerve in a country whose political system is currently engulfed in charges of corruption connected to the Operation Car Wash investigations.
Residents of the impacted area are still suffering the social and economic consequences of the Fundão dam disaster, according to Greenpeace Brazil.
With aims to refocus the public's attention back on the human and environmental cost behind this tragedy, Brazilian artist Marcelo Tolentino has decided to cast a light on the villagers who lost their homes and livelihoods to the disaster. Through portraiture, “Art Never Forgets,” the Sao Paulo-based artist's project explores the ongoing struggling of the disaster’s unheard or forgotten victims.
In preparation for this project, which was created in partnership with the Panamericana School of Art and Design and the AlmapBBDO advertising agency, Tolentino visited the affected subdistrict of Bento Rodrigues and spoke to locals about their grievances. Along with stories, he collected mud to use for his project.
“It’s very sad to walk among the affected areas. It is like walking through post-war rubble. Villages are still completely buried,” Tolentino told HuffPost Brazil.
The artist was particularly struck by the personal objects he spotted among the wreckage. “Finding personal belongings along the way was very intense. It was really shocking,” he said.
Painted in thick, brown mud that calls to mind the sludge that submerged villages in the disaster, Tolentino’s portraits give a human face to the tragedy.
“When you get there and meet residents who were forced to leave all their memories behind, and you hear the stories of each, it becomes clear that the best representation for the feeling of loss would be the expression on each of their faces,” he told HuffPost Brazil.
Among the people he decided to paint is Zezinho Teiriro, an 86-year-old retired tiller whose house was destroyed. Also rendered in viscous mud is Neuza Da Silva Santos, a 40-year-old farmer, who lost her house and the dogs, chicken, duck, goose and quail she raised.
Tolentino has placed his portraits on billboards in the vicinity of the National Congress of Brazil building in Brasilia, the capital.
He is also making the artworks available on the project’s website, and invites Brazilians to send the images to their local politicians.
This post was adapted from an earlier version on HuffPost Brazil.