PADIM CIÇO: THE SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATIONS OF FAITH THROUGH ARTIFACTS
Padre Cícero, Material Culture, Symbolic power, Memory, Design.
Whether they are relics or souvenirs, handcrafted or industrial, artistic or utilitarian, the preserved items that carry the image of Padre Cícero can play important roles, both in the processes of constituting the culture and identity of a people, and in maintaining the memory of the priest. The research aims to investigate the symbolic representations of a group of contemporary artifacts and analyze their dimensions and functions, generating interpretative syntheses that facilitate the understanding of the different contexts in which they are inserted and how they are related to the social life of individuals. This dissertation is divided into two parts: the theoretical basis and the research itself. The first consists on literature based on the three elements under investigation: Brief history of Padre Cícero, symbolic power and semiotic. The second part describes the research process, including the exploratory study and the results, which point out that the expressive profusion of Padim's image, allows the language of investigated artifacts to provide diverse interactions and interpretations in their receivers, whether faithful or not.