Between the disregard of indifference and the shadow of remembrance: the archiving of the listing studies and their role in the construction of the contemporary history of the preservation of the cultural heritage of São Paulo (1982-2020)

• Grant number: 21/05383-1
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): October 01, 2021
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Brazil
• Principal researcher: Cristina Meneguello
• Grantee: Lucas Henrique Gregate de Araujo
• Home Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Enacted in 1988, the current Federal Constitution of Brazil established, in its article 216, new guidelines that would serve as legal presumptions used in the formulation and application of public policies for the preservation of cultural heritage throughout the country. However, even in the face of the undeniable influence of national legislation, the state preservation agencies would experience, over the 1980s, very particular dynamics and chronologies regarding their heritage safeguarding practice, especially regarding the catalog of what they would choose to preserve and, on the other hand, ignore. The State of São Paulo, specifically, since the General Elections of 1982, would witness intense internal movement in its preservation entity, the Council for the Defense of Historical, Archaeological, Artistic and Tourist Heritage (Conselho de Defesa do Patrimônio Histórico, Arqueológico, Artístico e Turístico, CONDEPHAAT, in portuguese) founded in 1968. Thus, the present research project aims to problematize the contemporary historiography of the preservation of São Paulo's cultural heritage, its relations with the transformations in the national practice which gained ground during the period of revival of civilian rule in Brazil and the ruptures and continuities in relation to the CONDEPHAAT practice during that period. To this end, the heritage listing studies interrupted between 1982 and 2020 by the agency will be analyzed, with the choice of 6 exemplary cases. This choice is due to the intention of understanding the possibilities and limits in the construction of the narrative of the regional and state heritage, from the discussion on the documentary and historiographic value presented by the processes that did not result in listed heritages or any other type of legal protection.