Record TV Sentenced to Pay R$2 Million for Painting Over Rock Art in Diamantina

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Prehistoric art preserved for centuries on a wall in the city of Diamantina, Minas Gerais, no longer exists. It was erased -or rather, painted white- to form the setting of Record TV‘s biblical mini-series ‘Rei Davi’ (“King David”).

Nearly ten years after the recording of one of the mini-series that became a hit in TV drama and the network‘s secret to boost its audience, the broadcaster, after it appealed a trial court decision, was sentenced to pay R$2 million (US$500,000) for having covered the rock art wall with paint.

The natural scenery of Serra do Pasmar, in Alto Jequitinhonha, seemed perfect for filming at first sight. The television network invested some R$30 million in the mini-series, including recordings in the desert areas of Cache Creek and Kamloops, Canada. However, in Brazil, the team chose to change the landscape. A chemical analysis report on the archaeological site found the presence of white vinyl paint in the cultural heritage area used for filming.

In its defense submitted in court, Record denies that it was possible to link the paint found on the site to its presence in the cave, since the expert examination was conducted nineteen months after the completion of recording Rei David. In addition, the media company stated that the filming of the mini-series yielded benefits to the municipality of Diamantina, such as increased tourism and national projection and that, therefore, it should not pay compensation for social damage. It further emphasized that there was no record that the site used for filming was either an archaeological site or a nature preservation area.

The historical center of Diamantina, a colonial city nestled between mountains, is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site for preserving the history of the 18th-century diamond miners who explored the region. But research conducted by the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and the Federal University of Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys (UFVJM) shows that Diamantina and the surrounding municipalities have a much older history to explore.

The Serra do Pasmar was classified as having a high archaeological potential, according to the work of Professor Andrei Isnardis, from UFMG, carried out from 2009. Excavations have found cave paintings and lithic remains (site of removal of stone tools) of prehistoric groups that inhabited the region up to 11,000 years ago.

Evidence shows that the area painted over by Record contains archaeological records of up to 4,000 years before the colonial invasion began. “Across the region, there are about 220 archaeological sites recorded,” says the researcher.

Isnardis explains that compared to other areas in Minas Gerais, the region of Diamantina is fairly well preserved. “The local population intervenes less. Many have always lived as collectors and use the rock shelters [where the cave paintings are located], but scribbling is not common,” he says. At most, soot is found from fires set up near the paintings. “The case of Record is different, the result of a profound ignorance of the value of cave paintings and archaeological heritage,” he says.

This ignorance is even reflected in the deadlock among the appellate court judges as to the cost to be paid by those who destroy archaeological heritage. In the lower court decision, judge Tiago Ferreira Barbosa sentenced Record to restore the environmental damages, to pay for the expert examination, to pay environmental compensation in the amount of R$1 million and to pay compensation for collective moral damages, also in the amount of R$1 million, for damages to the cultural heritage of the municipalities of Gouveia and Diamantina. He further convicted the owner of the area, Maria Geralda de Almeida, for allowing access to the site without ensuring the rehabilitation of the degraded area.

As Record appealed, it was left to the judges to debate the merits of the case. The amount to be paid as compensation, for a crime that is seldom the subject of a complaint, was a matter of controversy. For one judge, R$400,000 would have been enough to remedy the wrongdoing. But it was the vote of the rapporteur, Judge Paulo Balbino, that prevailed, and with it a large part of the verdict determined in the lower court, iincluding the R$2 million. The media company can still appeal.

Is it possible to place a price on what was lost? “It is an exercise that I am incapable of doing … because it is priceless. We’re talking about another kind of worth. A historical, cultural, anthropological, human worth of people who had another way of life. Rock painting is the most visible trace of other peoples. It is priceless,” laments professor Isnardis.

Source: El País