Arquimemória 6

ArquiMemória 6 – International Meeting on Conservation of Built Heritage is, unquestionably, the largest and most important forum for debate on the preservation of the built heritage in Brazil. Around 800 professionals working in the most diverse areas: professors, students and researchers from renowned Brazilian and foreign universities; officers and technicians public agencies for the conservation of the cultural heritage and urban planning and development from all over Brazil and abroad; professionals working in the areas of design and restoration works; etc.

The event is jointly organized by the Institute of Architects of Brazil, through of the Department of Bahia (IAB-BA) and the Faculty of Architecture of the Federal University of Bahia (FAUFBA), through the Postgraduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism (PPG-AU) and the Professional Master's Degree in Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Historical Centers (MP-CECRE) and will take place in Salvador, Bahia, between November 05 and 08, 2024.

In this 6th edition the theme is: Democracy, diversity and reconstruction.

The deepening of the debate, in all fields of knowledge, on democracy, human rights and respect for diversity in its multiple expressions has never been more urgent than today. As a result of a fundamentally social and political construction, the field of memory and heritage preservation cannot avoid this debate, and must even face it with the centrality that the global context and the growing threats to democracy, institutions and human rights, posed by the rise of an authoritarian and autocratic extreme right and by armed conflicts such as those plaguing Ukraine, Sudan and Palestine, request.

In addition to these threats, memory and heritage cannot currently be thought of, in their selection, recognition and management processes, without considering the demands and claims posed by social, ethnic, racial and gender issues that mobilize societies around the world, as well as the impacts caused by climate change and ecological imbalances.

The Institute of Architects of Brazil (IAB), through the Department of Bahia (IAB-BA), and the Faculty of Architecture of the Federal University of Bahia (FAUFBA), through the Postgraduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism (PPG-AU ) and the Professional Master's Degree in Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Historical Centers (MP-CECRE), propose that ArquiMemória adopts democracy and diversity as its central theme for this sixth edition, associated with the idea of reconstruction – in its most diverse meanings – as possibility of rescuing and strengthening cultural assets, both tangible and intangible, destroyed, compromised or weakened by warlike actions and policies of an anti-democratic and anti-social nature, as well as by natural disasters, such as the flooding of São Luís do Paraitinga, in the State of São Paulo; fires such as those at the National Museum, in Rio de Janeiro, and the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral; and announced tragedies, such as the ruptures of the Brumadinho and Mariana dams, in Minas Gerais, with immense impacts on cultural and natural heritage. It is, therefore, a broad call to reflect on the contemporary role of memory and heritage policies as means of strengthening democracy, cultural diversity, social justice and solidarity between peoples.

In the year which the 60th anniversary of the Venice Charter and the 30th anniversary of the Nara Conference on authenticity are celebrated, ArquiMemória 6 also proposes to promote reflections on the relevance of these documents that supported the look at the heritage built in recent decades, as well as its applicability in the most diverse cultural contexts today.