Abstract:
The national heritage issue was a characteristic theme of the 1930s in Brazil and it came out in two public institutions: Inspection Board of Brazil’s Artistic and Scientific Expeditions and National Artistic and Historical Heritage Service. The purpose of this article is to analyze this issue through both institutions, trying, particularly, to understand the definition of natural heritage and what involved its protection. The few works aimed to think about the Brazilian natural heritage constitution usually point to the 1970s and 1980s as the period in which public policies intended to protect this type of heritage were launched. That would be the result of the broadening of the concept of heritage as well as the emergence of environmental movements on a global scale and increased pressure to seek measures to contain environmental degradation. The article proposes an analytical perspective that detaches the formulation of this type of policy from a unique conception of heritage and the exclusivity of SPHAN in its elaboration and implementation seeking to show that there have been public policies focused on natural heritage since the 1930s, a moment unanimously pointed by historiography as inaugural to this conception of heritage.
Keywords:
Inspection Board of Brazil’s Artistic and Scientific Expeditions; natural heritage; national heritage; scientific heritage; National Historical and Artistic Heritage Service