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SPECPAT - "The Liberation Struggle Museum in Luanda: a study on the spectacularization of heritage"

public.project.responsible_investigator_cria: Ruy Llera Blanes

public.project.research_group: Environment, Sustainability and Ethnography


public.project.keyword

Angola |Heritage | Memorialization | Spetacularization | Decoloniality

public.project.institution_funder

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

public.project.state

public.project.closed

public.project.start_date

01-01-2024

public.project.end_date

31-12-2024

public.project.reference

PExCRIA/2023.2/SPECPAT


public.project.abstract

In June 2023, the Prime Minister of Portugal Antonio Costa made a state visit to Luanda where he visited the premises of the future Museum of the Struggle for Liberation, located in the former Casa de Reclusão, place of imprisonment for several protagonists of Angolan independence. As this was the first time the project was made public, Costa's visit was filled with political symbolism that is relevant in the context of post-colonial Lusophone cultural and heritage diplomacy. But, taking into account that the space in question also embodies a history of extreme post-colonial violence, what are the epistemological and political costs of the project? Based on the case study of the new museum, we propose to debate the processes of public ritualization and heritage performatization of the post-colonial Lusophone space. To this end, we will use the operative concept of “heritage spectacle” to discuss the actors, relationships and representations surrounding heritage processes.

public.project.team

Full members

André Soares

Diana Espírito Santo

Associated researchers

Fabiana Leonel de Castro

Full members

João Mineiro

Full members

Paulo Raposo