Cultural heritage in dispute: preservation and resistance in the territories affected by the rupture of the Fundão dam, in Mariana, Minas Gerais

Abstract

The collapse of the tailings dam called Fundão, under the responsibility of the mining companies Samarco, Vale and BHP, which occurred in the municipality of Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, on November 5, 2015, among several consequences, affected the victims’ ways of life and their life projects and resulted in damage to cultural heritage. Since then, companies and public institutions have been developing actions in the field of heritage preservation, although not always based on the demands of the affected population. In this sense, this article presents an overview of these actions and seeks to emphasize the victims’ relation with the territories affected by the tailings, which is strengthened through sociocultural practices and resistance movements developed by them since the disaster. The methodology includes empirical research with affected communities, with emphasis on the accompaniment of parties and meetings held in affected territories; collection of reports from victims of the disaster from the newspaper A Sirene; and bibliographical and documentary research. In a context of continuous violation of rights, the fight for the right to cultural heritage is expressed in the reappropriation of the affected territories, as places of memories of the victims of the disaster.