Museums have contributed enormously towards classifying and preserving heritageMuseums have contributed enormously towards classifying and preserving heritage. The anthropologist Regina Abreu observed that the meaning of the term, ‘heritage’, expanded beyond the realm of the private, referring to the assets of an individual or of the aristocracy for example. Triggered by the same ideal that brought about the French Revolution, ‘heritage’ has come to be understood as the common assets that make-up the material and moral wealth of the nation-state. Abreu also notes that the effect behind the concept is of a sense of loss and the need to preserve the artistic legacy responsible for the collective feeling of national identification. Moreover, observing the etymology of the word, it is interesting to note how it addresses both the individual and the collective. In English, ‘heritage’ includes inherited property but also encompasses other elements that can be passed down from preceding generations such as tradition; while ‘patrimony’ refers specifically to that inherited from one’s father, such as an estate or an endowment belonging to a church through ancient right. It can also refer to anything derived from ancestors, though it is less commonly used with that connotation. Therefore, ‘heritage’ is closer in meaning to the Portuguese word ‘patrimônio’, found in the Aurélio Buarque de Hollanda dictionary with the following definitions: paternal heritage; family assets; wealth, which in the figurative sense may mean moral, cultural or intellectual wealth; and in law, material and immaterial assets, such as shares, which can bring economic benefits.
It is the connotation of heritage as legacy or tradition which is the focus of the present reflection. Since the 3.551 decree, issued in Brazil in August 2000, aimed at the establishment of an institute for ‘immaterial or intangible cultural heritage’, this arena has become particularly fertile, both for research and cultural mobilization. If previously the focus was on the preservation of buildings and churches, now there is renewed interest in more intangible manifestations, such as dances, rituals, religious celebrations, songs and traditional knowledge. This is motivated by the ideal of diversity as a driving force in the contemporary world, as opposed to an illuminist concept of culture as erudite. But what does it take for a cultural manifestation to be eligible for selection?
IPHAN, the National Institute for Historical and Artistic Heritage, created in 1937 during the government of Getúlio Vargas, is the institution in Brazil responsible for retrieving from the past those cultural manifestations deemed worthy of being listed, and inscribe them into the present. The project was conceived by the prominent writer and intellectual, Mário de Andrade, with the collaboration of other illustrious figures, such as the architect Lúcio Costa, and the writers Oswald de Andrade, Manuel Bandeira and Carlos Drummond de Andrade. Its first focus was the preservation of architectural jewels, then of documents and ethnographic collections. Later geographical landscapes were added and, finally, immaterial wealth.
The list of cultural manifestations that have been granted such status, available on IPHAN’s official site, may shed light on what appeals to those with the power of the pen. Examples of material and immaterial cultural manifestations include a number of different crafts from a variety of regions in the northeast of Brazil, cave paintings in Serra da Capivara, beautiful landscapes, such as the riverbank in the town of Corumbá, a type of canoe from the south of Brazil, churches, some old towns, samba de roda, various foods and the capoeira mestre João Pequeno, who received a prize for immaterial heritage in 2010.
Maria Lionza, a mythical figure in Venezuelan folklore, is an example of an intangible cultural manifestationThis phenomenon is not restricted to Brazil. The equivalent of IPHAN in Venezuela is the Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural (IPC), created by the Ley de Protección y Defensa del Patrimonio Cultural in 1993. According to its mission statement, it attempts to elaborate policies and tackle issues that form the basis of Venezuelan cultural identity, while being committed to socialist ethics and values. The institute also aims to strengthen ‘the democratic, participatory and protagonist process of communities’ and preserve both tangible and intangible heritage. In an article about the struggle against the illicit traffic of cultural artifacts, the president of the IPC, Raúl Grioni, states: “la memoria histórica de nuestros pueblos se construye con creaciones del genio humano expresadas en bienes culturales tangibles e intangibles”. In other words, the historical memory of the nation-state, is about reclaiming material and immaterial human creations.
The inventory aims to protect these from the threat of extinction. Maria Lionza, a mythical figure in Venezuelan folklore, is an example of an intangible cultural manifestation. She is the central figure in the Espiritismo Maralioncero, a syncretic religious tradition that combines catholic saints, indigenous cosmologies and African deities, resulting in a hybrid type of cult not unlike the Caribbean Santeria or the Brazilian Umbanda. As a superhuman being, the protector of the waters and goddess of the harvest, she lives in the mountains of Cerro de Sorte, which provides a pilgrimage area for her followers. Maria Lionza is also a symbol of mestizaje, the racial and/or cultural intermixing of Europeans, Amerindians and Africans. This helped inform a political ideology in the first half of the twentieth century that promoted unity, social progress and national identity throughout Latin America. A sculpture depicting Maria Lionza as a white female who rides a tapir can be found in Caracas. It is interesting to note that the mountain, or cerro, associated with María Lionza was declared a natural monument through decree in 1960.
Paradoxically, these localised initiatives, with their explicit national agenda, are affected by new power configurations which lie beyond the nation-state. Many of them, already given national heritage status, may be proposed for UNESCO’s selection process and hopefully will become 'Intangible Heritage of Humanity', as is already the case with some on IPHAN’s list. Another interesting twist is that the inclusion of immaterial culture means that the focus is no longer on ‘preservation’ and continuity with the past, as with churches, buildings and landscapes, but that transformations over time are also worth registering. On the same note, we could tentatively suggest that humans, besides being classifying animals have, over the years, become eager to register and secure for posterity some of what was created during their own time on earth. Political interests, notwithstanding, the creation of a cultural archive of human achievements is a noble endeavour, even if the criteria by which a cultural manifestation gets to be listed remain obscure.
