Fordlandia is a community built on the ruins of Henry’s Ford’s failed rubber plantation, built in 1927 and abandoned in 1934. Hoping to cultivate a steady supply of rubber for his motorcar empire, Ford brokered a deal for the land with the government of Brazil, but after a series of disastrous setbacks, including fires, insect infestations, failed attempts to bring suburban American amenities such as golf courses and swimming pools to the Amazonian jungle, and multiple worker revolts, he was forced to abandon the project. He built a second city nearby in 1933, but met the same problems and sold the land back to the Brazilian government at a great loss, and shut down the factories by 1946. Fordlandia is now a city of about 2000, in a jungle region suffering from continuing deforestation and development.

The radioee.net team, including host Agustina Woodgate, producer Stephanie Sherman, graphic and sound designer Sebastian Bellver, and production operator Hernan Woodgate, travelled to Brazil to produce a two-day radio event on September 16 & 17, 2017. In Brazil, they worked with Brazilian sound collaborators Ruli Moretti, Mat Guzzo, Veronique Isabelle, Gabi Marthino, and Angelo Madson, and Fordlandia educator and community leader Risomar de Silva. In the weeks leading up to the broadcast, the radioee.net team worked with the local team and the Fordlandia school to reactivate the local FM radio station, bringing equipment for the station and offering workshops to train local youth and community members to run the station. Community members in the workshop, along with local partnering artists, created soundworks that were included in the radioee.net broadcast, which was streamed online and broadcast from the revitalized station, 95.7FM Fordlandia. The broadcast included music, discussions, interviews, field recordings and sound art in Portuguese, English, and Spanish. The broadcast was part of the apexart Franchise Exhibition program and funded in part by a successful Kickstarter campaign. The archive includes over 30 hours of radio programming. - Described by Wave Farm Radio Artist Fellow 2020/2021, Jess Speer.