Bona Pretiosa: preservation of the memory of the Church in Pernambuco
São Cosme e Damião Church; document preservation; memory and heritage; cultural mediation.
The research object of study is an ecclesiastical documentary set acclimatized in a subtropical environment in the municipality of Igarassu, Zona da Mata Norte of the State of Pernambuco, originating from the Church of São Cosme e Damião (ISCD). It is the oldest built church in Brazil, founded in 1535, and its documents are kept in custody by the D. José Lamartine Soares Documentation Center. Investigates the selected documentation, identifying the preservation and conservation problems present in the documents that, until then, were unsupported by structural, continuous and systemic preservation strategies, and which, for this reason, were at the mercy of bio- and chemical-degrading agents for a long time. Until then, these agents had their action enhanced by erroneous curatorial practices, in many cases due to the active negligence of heritage custody agents. Added to these threat factors, the socioeconomic and, in some cases, cultural condition of their guardians have contributed decisively to the process of systemic deterioration of archival collections, especially those based on paper. The objective of this research is, therefore, the study of the effects of entropic nature (climate, environment and work practices), on the conservation and permanence of memory recorded on paper supports for a long time and for cultural mediation within the scope of these practices. of preservation. This is an exploratory, descriptive and explanatory study that reflects on the preservation and conservation of the historical cultural heritage of Igarassu's ecclesiastical documentation