A cidade colecionada: a fabricação do patrimônio no “museu de sítio” de Congonhas (MG)

Abstract

This study is based on an analysis of the permanent expography of the "Museu de Congonhas", located in the city of Congonhas (MG), to discuss different processes of symbolization related to the biography of the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, a Catholic monument which is the museum's main "operational collection". The "Museu de Congonhas" presents itself as a site museum, and because of the specificity of the term, I explore the construction of this concept and its consequences for the case of Congonhas based on: field research carried out in the city of Congonhas, especially during its main religious festivals (Holy Week and the Jubilee); formal and informal visits to the Museum; archive research and access to official narratives and documents on the implementation of the institution; resources used in the permanent expography; participant observation carried out at training meetings for the group of mediators from the institution's Educational Sector; interviews and conversations with the professionals who work or have worked there. Based on these materials, I construct a text guided by a visit to the "Museu de Congonhas", starting from its geographical location and its architectural project on the outside and continuing inside the building, through each room and its respective thematic axis of the exhibition. Taking the "Museu de Congonhas" as a way of collecting the patrimonialized city, and, in turn, taking the patrimonialized city itself as a collection, I carry out this double movement throughout the text, looking at the city through the Museum, and understanding the narrative told by the institution as a reflection of the city's debates, conflicts, tensions and dilemmas. Based on these singularities - the "Museu de Congonhas" as a site museum and the city of Congonhas as a patrimonialized city - I debate the everyday fabrication of heritage and its various forms of representation, especially "collecting", "artification", "hybridization" and "translation".