The Ministry of Culture and the preservation of Historical and Cultural Heritage

Tanta saudade preservada num velho baú de prata dentro de mim / So much feeling kept in a silver chest inside of me
Digo num baú de prata porque prata é a luz do luar / I call it a silver chest because silver is the moonlight
Do luar que tanta falta me fazia junto do mar / The moonlight I missed as much as I missed the sea

“Back in Bahia”
Gilberto Gil

“When we talk about heritage, we are discussing what is common to me and you. What bonds us as a society.”
Luis Fernando de Almeida, president of the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute from 2006 to 2012.

With this quote, Luiz Fernando de Almeida explains the importance of discussing the preservation of historical and cultural heritage in Brazil and the relationship between heritage and the identity of a people.

During Gilberto Gil’s term at the Ministry of Culture (2003–2008), public policies on the preservation of cultural heritage have showed a broadening in their universe of action, facing new challenges.

The movement, a result of the thematic and geographical broadening in the concept of cultural heritage, brought light to dimensions which were, up to that point, excluded from the dominating vision of culture for the country.

Result of improvements in the management, which impose a growing need for society to participate in public policies. Shared management of the cultural heritage had involved different levels and areas of the government and society, in a single program.

In order to increase the preservation of heritage the Ministry created Monumenta, a strategic program for the Ministry of Culture. Its innovative concept combines recovery and preservation of the historical heritage with socioeconomic development.

Running in historical cities listed by the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute, the program’s proposal was working in an integrated way in each one of those sites, promoting restoration and recovery works of listed works and buildings.

In addition to activities of qualification of workforce in restoration, formation of local cultural and touristic agents, promotion of economic activities and educative programs.

Monumenta, which was funded by the Inter-American Development Bank [IDB, in the English acronym] and had the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO, in the English acronym] support, had as its goal assuring sustainability conditions for the heritage.

The revenue generation for the balancing of the activities developed for maintenance and conservation of historical buildings was the project’s goal.

During Gilberto Gil’s term, the Monumenta Program yielded results that have contributed for the fulfillment of the government manifesto, boosting cities’ economies by employment and income generation and by the training of qualified workforce.

One of its goals was to allow historical and artistic heritage under federal protection to have their features restored, reducing dependency on federal funding for their conservation.

Cities selected for the Monumenta Program were chosen in accordance to their historical and artistic representativeness, and their urgent needs of recovery works were taken into account.

Alcântara (MA), Belém (PA), Cachoeira (BA), Congonhas (MG), Corumbá (MS), Diamantina (MG), Goiás (GO), Icó (CE), Laranjeiras (SE), Lençóis (BA), Manaus (AM), Mariana (MG), Natividade (TO), Oeiras (PI), Olinda (PE), Ouro Preto (MG), Pelotas (RS), Penedo (AL)...

Porto Alegre (RS), Recife (PE), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Salvador (BA), São Cristóvão (SE), São Francisco do Sul (SC), São Paulo (SP), Serro (MG).

Among the selected collection, there were hundreds of landmarks such as museums, churches, fortresses, colonial-era town halls, small palaces, sculpture art, convents, forts, streets, public areas, public spaces, and private buildings, in all areas listed by the federal government.

Gil had visited the restoration works of the Casarão dos Rollemberg, Sobrado, Casarão do Oitão da Praça da República, Oficina Escola and Matriz Sagrado Coração de Jesus Church, in Laranjeiras, Sergipe state (2006).

Throughout his travels across Brazil, minister Gilberto Gil had revisited a large backland of memories and their paths. In Sergipe state, he inaugurated restoration works of the Bandeira Square and the Sobrado da Ouvidoria, in São Cristovão city.

In Alagoas, he had attended the listing ceremony as Urban and Architectural Heritage in the City of Marechal Deodoro (2006).

In the historical cities of Minas Gerais, he had inaugurated the restoration works of the Inconfidência Museum and attended the opening of the 2nd National Museum Forum, in Ouro Preto, in addition to the inauguration of the revitalization of Tancredo Neves square, in Mariana (2006).

In the Reconcave Region of Bahia, he went up to Santo Amaro da Purificação—birthland of Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethânia, where Dona Canô, mother of the Brazilian popular music icons, lived—and took part in the solemnity of presentation of the project for the restoration of the Solar Araújo Pinho.

Also known as Solar Subaé, the building was assigned to the implementation of the Samba de Roda Reference Center (2006). At Cachoeira, also in Bahia, he had inaugurated the restauration works of the Our Lady of Our Sacred Heart of Monte Formoso (Rosary of the Black Men Church).

Along with the Carmo Complex, comprehending the Carmo Convent, the First Carmelite Order and the Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel (2006). During the same tour, he attended the reinauguration of the Alexandre Alves Peixoto City Market, in Maragogipe, Bahia.

Gil also signed a memorandum of understanding for the building of a regional branch of the Museu Nacional do Mar [National Marine Museum], in Maragogipe, Bahia, aiming at identifying, protecting and valuating the Brazilian naval heritage.

The aim was to identify, protect, and value the Brazilian naval heritage by installing museological units in cities which have, in their cultural context, an outstanding relationship with the aquatic environment, with artisanal fishing and traditional Brazilian boats.

In 2003, then-minister of Culture Gilberto Gil attended the launching event of the Política Nacional de Museus [National Museum Policy]. Ahead of the office, the musician had implemented a project for the integration of Brazilian museums.

In a signed article, as introduction to the booklet “Política Nacional de Museus”, organized by the Ministry of Culture (2007), the minister Gilberto Gil emphasized: “Brazilian museums are quite alive.”

In the booklet, the ministry highlights that the revitalization of Brazilian museums and historical heritage is one of the Ministry of Culture’s [MinC, in the Portuguese acronym] top priorities.

Among the museums that were restored and inaugurated under his term, Gilberto Gil visited the PUC-Minas Museum of Natural Sciences (2003) and the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (2004).

He signed off a contract with the Brazilian Development Bank [BNDES, in the Portuguese acronym] for the building of the São Francisco River Museum, in Penedo, Alagoas state (2006), and attended the inauguration of the new department of conservation of the National Museum of Fine Arts, at Rio de Janeiro (2006).

At the National Museum of Fine Arts, the renovation increased the area from 11,840 to 18,686 square feet and featured a new climate, humidity, and temperature control system.

He attended the inauguration of the Museu da Maré [Maré Favela Museum]—the first museum located in a favela in Brazil (2006). During this inauguration, Gil performed the song “Parabolicamará” at the end of his speech.

Swinging back and forth between present and past, Gilberto Gil reflects: “I think of an old silver chest, I think of a bindle, I think of a travel project carrying bag and baggage, I think of the ark of the Convenant and I get to the reliquaries, to the barrel organs and their willing of reinventing reality.”