Mulheres de Pedra: learn more about the social project that won a film award and went to the Rotterdam Festival

The Mulheres de Pedra (Stone Women) project became known when it received, in 2015, the “72 Hours” film award for the production of the short film “Elekô”. 

Its headquarters is locatedon a quiet street in  Pedra de Guaratiba neighborhood, in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro. It is a cozy house, with an open gate. The construction has 100 years of existence, with several memories stored on the walls – memories of resistance, struggle and collectiveness of black women. 

In the interview below, the founder of the project, Leila de Sousa Netto, tells a little more about the emergence and the entire trajectory of Stone Women, which even reached other countries. 

Neuza Nascimento: How was Mulheres de Pedra (Stone Women) was created? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: It would take me days to tell the complete story. So I’ll try to sum it up as best I can. I have been coordinating this project for 21 years and we come from Pedra de Guaratiba. The initiative was born, mainly, through the will of Dora Romana, a great plastic artist who lived and died in the same region. At the time, she was invited to do an exhibition in our house. And there, she had the idea of ​​bringing together a group of women to do embroidery and crochet in pieces of cloth. Thus, the first patchwork bedcover was created, our great flagship, which accompanies us to this day. 

Neuza Nascimento: How was this bedcover made? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: It is built by 15 women, in a 30X40 fabric. We created a double bedcover that can even be used on the bed, but the real purpose is to use it as a decorative panel on the wall. These bedcovers represent collective, collaborative and cooperative doing. At the time of making, all of them strip off their vanities, their egos are put aside and each one of them starts to value the group unity, . Some of them may actually be better, but when we put together every piece produced and connect everything together through the seam, it’s about the collectiveness. A whole greatness arises from doing something together, which is the best way of working in the world. Jesus already spoke of cooperation and solidarity, and this is what we know how to do, this is how we do it: in a cooperative and humane way. We have 12 themed and unthemed patchwork bedcovers, which are transformed into large creative panels, telling our story from the beginning of the project to the present day. 

Neuza Nascimento: What do you do with  these bedcoverss? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: The beadcoverss have already traveled throughout Brazil and abroad, exposed in exhibitions. We took a four-year walk to Paris, from 2010 to 2014. We walked with these bedcovers, showing the potential of each one, as they also aim to show the best within each woman. Today, we have many women who have turned into true artists, starting with patchwork bedcovers. 

Neuza Nascimento: Who are Stone Women and why did you decide to name the group that?  

Leila de Sousa Netto: We are a collective of women that values the role of black women in building another world, in which relationships are established through art, education, solidary economy and cultural diversity. The name came up in a collective work, led by black women, feminists and who work with gender, race, ethnicity and with all the issues that could be disturbing for them. We are Mulheres de Pedra (Stone Women). 

Neuza Nascimento: What is the purpose of the project? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: Our purpose is to do collective good, in solidarity, cooperatively and fairly. 

Neuza Nascimento: What are the activities carried out by the project? 

Leila Sousa Netto: We hold Conversation Circles with the theme of Restorative Justice. It’s about restorative justice, because enough of the punitive, we’ve had enough! We see our black girls, boys, women and men dying every day. So, we work with restorative justice, through circles and training, with extremely prepared people. And we know that this kind of justice is already within the norm, within the forums. In penitentiaries, this is already being worked on, thank God. But it still needs to be deployed within schools, within groups, everywhere. It is a beautiful, divine and powerful work, in which we see the world in a different way, with a restorative look. Once I went through this training, I was restored as a human being. It is a way of dealing with conflicts that exist within “common justice”, through welcoming mediations, in which there is no punishment and where both the defendant and the victim will be heard. It will not simply punish, after all, the punished defendant is also a victim. Restorative justice looks at the human being through the context of conflicts, which, in this way, are mitigated, worked on and heard. Listening is a key factor. 

Neuza Nascimento: Are there other activities? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: Yes, we have held the Spring Festival to celebrate our 10 years of existance, with music, dance, theater, cinema, good food, conversation circles and workshops designed on the spot. Another activity is the “Vivas”party, also held annually, and where we  have “Experiences and Interactions of Afro-Brazilian Women”, an activity that has been taking place for seven years, always on July 25 (when it is celebratedBlack Latin and Caribbean Women’s Day. The event lasts a whole day and we invite black women, matriarchs like me, to pay homage. It’s a day filled with Jongo, Maracatu, food, and conversations with our honorees and guests. We have already received the writer Conceição Evaristo, a black poet and novelist, a great Brazilian author who has already distinguished herself around the world. I believe everyone knows the book Olhos D’Água, one of her novels. In addition, we honor Isaura de Assis one of the greatest Afro-Brazilian dancer in Rio de Janeiro. My daughters and I were honored to take classes with her, and we consider her an aunt, a mother, an icon, a symbol. We also paid homage to Dona Tuca, 82, a resident of Cidade de Deus. She is a poet, visual artist, musician, Reggae composer and, above all, a dancer. She has released books and paintings painted by herself. And, finally, we have conversation circles throughout the year, working with Restorative Justice and Solidarity Economy. 

Neuza Nascimento: Is there a team? And if so, is it a paid job? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: There is a collective of women. When we have resources, there is remuneration. When we don’t have it, we work in a solidary and collaborative way. Until today, most of the resources came from our participation in public notices and through spontaneous donations from each one of us. 

Neuza Nascimento: How do you manage to keep the project moving? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: The fact that we have our own headquarters, a house of our own, from Stone Women, already helps a lot. It is a heritage in which we maintain all our identity and which will be memorized. Today, in life, we are already donating to the community. And we have the objective of transforming the headquarters into a museum, to tell the whole story of Stone Women. We want to leave this as a memory, as a heritage. And we can, because we have that strength and ability. 

Neuza Nascimento: How many women are direct beneficiaries? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: Around 30 women. 

Neuza Nascimento: How people can join the project?

Leila de Sousa Netto: All you need is the desire to be here. If you are interested, participate in our meetings, activities and feel like a woman made of stone, you are already one. 

Neuza Nascimento: Do ​​you have a team? 

Leila de Souza Netto: There is a work group made up of women. It is a group in which everyone commands and does what is necessary, when it needs to be done. With each project, we define the teams together and what each one will do. From what needs to be developed, we create the groups, the decoration, the production, the kitchen, the conversation circles. But always with the participation of all, the decision never comes from just one. When the project ends, the teams are dissolved until another one takes place.

Neuza Nascimento: What do you consider a victory in your trajectory as a Mulher de Pedra? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: The victories  are everything that allowed me to get here. We are almost 22 years old with Mulheres de Pedra (Stone Women). We had a lot of music and a lot of art, performed by big names. We managed to hold monthly events in an artistic, cultural and playful way. We are known here, in Pedra, and throughout Brazil, in addition to other countries. Another achievement was participating, in 2015, in a short film festival, the “72 Hours”. A collective from Mulheres de Pedra, mostly young black women, decided to enroll in this festival. It was necessary to record 72 hours of video, in addition to editing and the soundtrack, for a six-minute short film. There were only two meetings for filming, but we all always believed a lot. My daughter, Olivia, who also supports the space and the project, asked for help on Facebook to see if anyone had a camera and a clapper board to borrow. At the time, she lived in São Cristóvão and put her apartment at our disposal, because the filming had to take place in Praça Mauá. And so we produced Elekô. 

At the awards, everyone was very excited when they finally announced: “1st place for Mulheres de Pedra! Elekô!”. From that day on, our life changed. The short film was watched by many people, which ended up taking us to other countries. As a result of the award, we also participated in the most famous festival in the world, the Rotterdam Festival. Mulheres de Pedra went to Rotterdam! 

Neuza Nascimento: Does the project have any supports?  

Leila de Sousa Netto: Yes, they are all those who frequent the house: the community, neighbors, family and friends. Those are the real supporters. 

Neuza Nascimento: How is the involvement of the neighborhood with the project? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: Before, there was little involvement. They hardly entered and made use of the space. But nowadays, with so many events and activities being held, people come, open the gate and participate in everything, in a very united way. There are schools that support us and local institutions that know and seek us out. Just talking about schools makes me feel happy, because it’s about the future generation taking ownership of that space, starting now. 

Neuza Nascimento: What are your biggest challenges? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: The biggest challenge has always been to transform this house into a space, a territory, even though it already is, in a way. But the idea is to make it more and more known, so that everyone can take ownership of it and understand this space as a territory for black women. This is a big challenge within the project. We still live in an extremely racist, patriarchal, prejudiced and problematic society. We have wonderful neighbors, but there are also some who are very racist and prejudiced. For example, when we hold a Jongo event: for them, this is macumba, because they don’t know about our culture and customs, as resistant black women. Overcoming this barrier is a major obstacle that we found here, but we have managed. Today, thank God, through a new look at what we do, things are changing.

Neuza Nascimento: Was the house closed during the pandemic? What happened? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: In February and March 2020, we closed everything. But around July and August, the situation got very difficult for everybody. And it was even worse for women who didn’t have a job. So, at that time, Lívia Vidal carried out a benefactory to raise funds. With that, we were able to contemplate 25 women from the project, with R$300.00 each, for three months. Then, Telecine contacted us and offered 400 basic food parcels. 

But this, in fact, generated a very great fear. I kept thinking about how I would make donations in the middle of the pandemic and how I would form teams, after all, we would only be able to carry out the work that way. And we set up groups with the Stone Women. 

But, on the other hand, we decided that the food parcels would not be just for Pedra de Guaratiba. So, we got a group from Campo Grande, West Zone of Rio, and Quilombo Camorim. The following month, they sent another 400 kits, divided between food, hygiene and cleaning. And they kept sending it, until November 2020. 

Neuza Nascimento: What are the needs of the project? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: As we want to transform the house into a museum, we need financial resources to pay the costs of the process and documentation.. We also need funds to carry out maintenance on the house as it is now 100 years old. With that, something always happens: tiles breaking, walls cracking, dripping gutters. So, if any material store could help us, it would be very valid. Finally, we need help keeping fixed expenses, such as electricity, telephone, hygiene and cleaning materials. 

Neuza Nascimento: Would you like to add something? 

Leila de Sousa Netto: No, I think I managed to express myself in a very nice way, telling my trajectory. We can always forget something, after all it’s been 20 years, but the most important things have been said. 

If you are interested in helping with building materials or want to financially support the process of transforming Casa das Mulheres de Pedra into a museum, please get in touch. 

Phone: +55 (21) 9 8640-8468 

E-mail: leilamulheresdepedra@gmail.com 

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Pix: leilamulheresdepedradepedra@gmail.com