Docomomo International would like to invite you to participate in the online course “Patrimónios Contestados” [“Contested Heritage”], with 8 sessions between April 28 and July 14, 2021. The reflection is organized by the UNESCO Chair in Intercultural Dialogue in Portuguese Influential Heritage, of the University of Coimbra, in partnership with the Público newspaper.

Political decolonization does not always mean cultural decolonization and there is still a great lack of information about historical and cultural heritage.
How to act to preserve the heritage built by the Portuguese in Africa, Goa (India), or elsewhere in the world? What is the reality of other colonizing states? If the countries where this heritage is located are the legitimate owners, what word does it have to say who built them? And what to do when the former colonized claim back the heritage (works of art, for example) taken to the then metropolises? The debate over the various heritage sites rarely sees the light of day in public opinion, and when this happens, the arguments are often extreme. To broad the debate to civil society and to decode some of the academic discussion around this topic, the Público newspaper opens the window for the discussion on “Contested Heritage” (registration is open to all interested parties).

Throughout the eight sessions that start on the 28th of April (and end on the 14th of July), participants will have the opportunity to hear the results of the investigations / reflections made by some of the most prominent national and international experts in the field. After each thematic exposition of the invited professors, and according to the questions raised by the “students”, the much-desired debate follows.

To know more, please visit Público’s website. [Portuguese]