Between memories of Portugal and Africa: the heritage policies in the port area of ​​Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

This article analyzes the effects of Brazilian urbanization and cultural heritage enhancement policies on the physical and symbolic configuration of urban spaces, focusing on the Rio de Janeiro City Council’s contemporary interventions in the port area as well as the counter-discourses, resistances and reconciliations raised by these actions. Social groups that self-identify as African-Brazilian articulate memories regarding the African slaves market and confronted the City Council when it valued the memory of Portuguese colonization in their cultural heritage actions. In reflecting on heritage policies, I explore the hypothesis that any imagination process regarding a historic site, whether designated Portuguese or Afro-Brazilian, affects self-awareness of the townspeople and generates unforeseen political and social processes.

Keywords

• Memoria
• Patrimonios culturales
• Proyectos urbanísticos
• Identidad afrobrasileña
• Río de Janeiro