Império de Nossa Senhora D’Abadia : representações estéticas e devocionais de um Patrimônio Cultural Kalunga

Abstract

Festivals are cultural expressions that highlight local identities. Through them, annually, different groups remember and celebrate their traditions, assigning them signification and meanings. In this report, we emphasize one of the main religious manifestations of the Kalunga community, quilombola community located in the northeast region of the State of Goiás (Brazil), in a territory that includes the municipalities of Cavalcante, Teresina de Goiás and Monte Alegre de Goiás, the Império de Nossa Senhora D’Abadia (Empire of Nossa Senhora D’Abadia), celebrated during the Romaria do Vão de Almas (Pilgrimage of Vão de Almas). For the community, local religiosity and its manifestations constitute identity elements representative of its cultural heritage. For the community, local religiosity and its manifestations constitute identity elements representative of its cultural heritage. The recognition and appreciation of these practices imply the preservation of a tradition kept in the memory of the practitioners, which can be characterized as an immaterial cultural asset. Cataloging and analyzing the material and oral evidence of the memory accumulated around the referred party provide greater possible conditions for preserving it. Thus, the results of this research aim to remember trajectories that underlie the recognition of the Império de Nossa Senhora D’Abadia as an immaterial cultural asset. Therefore, the study is based on the methodology of oral history, prioritizing the narratives and reports of experience of elders, aiming to use memory as a source for the interpretation of the historical process of construction of the manifestations. Regarding the purposeful part of this research, popularly known as cultural "product", the aim is to develop educational actions directed to knowledge, appropriation and appreciation of cultural heritage, memory and identity, with the preparation of educational material, in school support material format, to be made available in digital or printed format and aimed at students and teachers of the elementary school community, especially in the second phase of elementary school.