Visual Brasilianas: new perspectives on multidimensional collections

Abstract

The article discusses some experiences related to the creation, appropriation and circulation of images and imaginaries about Brazil, based on the collection of old and new ‘Brasilianas’. The so-called ‘Brasiliana’ collection is understood as a multidimensional asset about a certain physical and social place crossed by historical time, i.e., as a collection shaped by the dynamics of the processes of creation, preservation, and dissemination of material and immaterial culture related to Brazil and the Brazilians, in the past and the present. In this sense, the heritagization of identity collections and the broadening of the notion of ‘Brasiliana’ are analyzed from the theoretical-methodological perspective offered by Paul Ricoeur's (1913-2005) reflections on memory, history, and oblivion. We argue that the intrinsic nature of this kind of collection includes several types of documents, ways of collecting and forms of interaction between the social actors involved in choosing and promoting those assets. With this perspective, we point out the change brought about by digital media and their wide circulation on the web for the visuality, dissemination and appropriation of ‘Brasilianas’, as it happened with similar collections ('Americana', 'Canadiana', 'Australiana', etc.). We emphasize in this process the questioning of "national identities" and the "works of memory" explored by contemporary artists and curators.