Mala de Histórias brings 40 children from a vulnerable community in Goiânia to a contemporary art museum on April 11 — their very first visit.
On April 11, forty children from the Terra do Sol Community in Aparecida de Goiânia, Brazil, will step inside a museum for the very first time. The nonprofit Mala de Histórias (Stories Suitcase) organized the outing as a celebration marking the end of their latest reading workshop cycle held within the community.
The destination is the traveling exhibition of the 36th São Paulo Biennial, hosted at MAG Goiás inside the Oscar Niemeyer Cultural Center in Goiânia. The children will experience the show “Nem todo viandante anda estradas” (Not Every Wanderer Walks Roads) and encounter contemporary art for the first time.
Active participants, not just visitors
The visit will be guided by the NGO’s own team, designed to spark curiosity, observation, and dialogue among the children. For Bárbara Wendel, president of Mala de Histórias, every detail of the day is intentional.
“The entire dynamic of the outing is so that the children feel safe, welcomed, and protagonists of this experience — not merely participants, but active subjects in this cultural journey.”
The program also includes a trip to a bookstore, where each child will get to choose their own book — a moment Bárbara describes as especially meaningful within the broader work the organization carries out.
A museum as a doorway to new worlds
For vice-president Leticia Cezario, taking children to a museum is a natural extension of reading. “Bringing a child to a museum for the first time is an experience very close to what we do with reading — we open a door to a new world full of possibilities,” she explains.
Leticia also highlights the symbolic value of the visit. She sees museums as a first encounter with heritage, memory, and cultural production. “It’s a chance for them to realize that stories aren’t only found in books, but also in objects, images, and the spaces around them,” she adds.
Six years building readers in the outskirts
Mala de Histórias, recognized as a Ponto de Cultura (Culture Hub) by the Brazilian government, has been working in the Terra do Sol community since 2020. The area, located near a landfill in Aparecida de Goiânia, is home to around 748 families. Over the years, more than 250 children aged 0 to 18 have taken part in the organization’s activities, with 183 attending reading workshops on a regular basis.
In Terra do Sol alone, 16 workshops were held in 2024 and another nine in 2025. A total of 1,257 literary books have been donated to the community, and each cycle reaches an average of 60 children.
“Beyond the numbers, what these figures show is the construction of a continuous process. Reading becomes part of these children’s daily lives — not as an obligation, but as a real possibility.”
How to support
Anyone wishing to help fund the April 11 outing can sponsor a child by contributing R$ 150. Institutional partnerships, financial donations, and product donations are also welcome.
Event Info
- Event: Mala de Histórias visit to the 36th São Paulo Biennial traveling show at MAG Goiás
- Exhibition: Nem todo viandante anda estradas (Not Every Wanderer Walks Roads)
- Date: April 11, 2026
- Venue: MAG Goiás — Oscar Niemeyer Cultural Center, Goiânia, Brazil
- Sponsorship: R$ 150 per child
- Phone: +55 (62) 99952-3805
- Email: contato@maladehistorias.org
- PIX: pix@maladehistorias.org
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