MEXRES · Restoration and Faith: practicing religion and conservation in Mexico's historic churches

Restoration and Faith: practicing religion and conservation in Mexico's historic churches

The central motivation behind the research project was to investigate the tensions inherent in the concept of ‘religious heritage’: does the designation of an object, building or space as heritage fundamentally change its meanings and its use for religious communities or the population at large? Heritage can be understood as one process through which cultural elites and nation-states “canonize culture,” that is, produce authoritative understandings of culture and history by isolating and defining particular features of history as essential to their society’s identity. As such, a fundamental feature of heritage is the desire to prevent or reverse visible changes that have occurred since the historical events or period that is deemed interesting or valuable. While this may not be controversial in cases where the objects are no longer in active use, heritage principles have increasingly come into conflict with the religious practices and beliefs of local communities. For these groups, these objects and places may not primarily be evidence of a past culture or event, but rather contemporary features of their religious practice and beliefs, which are important in their everyday lives. On the other hand, the ongoing use of objects and spaces for religious purposes may place them at risk from the point of view of heritage conservationists. This may lead to frictions or outright disagreements between heritage professionals and religious communities. As such, the question of whether heritage designation is fundamentally at odds with the beliefs, desires and rights of religious communities is an important one for policy-makers and society more generally, as they struggle to balance the cultural rights of minorities and subaltern groups with the social, educational, and historical desires of society at large. The project investigated this issue by considering the case of a ruined sixteenth century Dominican monastery that is currently being restored in the village of Santa Cruz Mixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. The monastery is attached to the still-functioning Catholic church, which serves the entire Mixtepec parish, where the vast majority of its 3,500 inhabitants identify as Catholics. The central research questions were: 1. What cultural, religious, and vocational ideologies and beliefs come into conflict as actors work through restoration projects together? 2. How are the material and immaterial aspects of sacred and historically valuable objects understood by different kinds of actors? 3. How are relations of power manifested and reinforced or resisted? The project shows that there are significant points of juncture and disjuncture between religious and heritage perspectives in Santa Cruz Mixtepec. All stakeholders agree that the items and architecture in the church are valuable, however understandings of this value and its meaning for society differ greatly. Although all parties are interested in continuing the restoration work, municipal and catholic authorities would prefer that the resources were spent on restoring the antique carvings of saints rather than the architectural features of the monastery cloister. While the monastery’s architecture is more significant and unique from an historical/heritage point of view, the building is significantly less important to the local Catholic community. Despite these differences, stakeholders plan on continuing to work together. These observations will be used to contribute to current debates in the fields of anthropology, religious studies and heritage studies.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union