Caruaru Cordel Museum: possible resistance to the vulnerabilisation of popular collections

Abstract

This article exposes the processes of formation and maintenance of the Museu do Cordel Olegário Fernandes (Caruaru-PE) in the light of the social, historical and political contexts that produce them. The objective is to analyze how the Fundação de Cultura de Caruaru has been relating to this institution of popular origin, circumscribing the way in which its integral heritage has been included or neglected from and in the cultural policies of promotion and safeguarding of local manifestations. In this direction, it is discussed how the absence of state participation can determine the vulnerability of collections, their producers and, thus, the social function of museums. Finally, it defends the formulations of Social Museology as fruitful for the undertaking of a decolonial attitude towards museum heritage, capable of inserting it in the field of rights. Methodologically, the text is based on bibliographic review, fieldwork and semi-structured interviews.