Memory narratives and documentation of the collection at the House Museum of Italian Memory

Abstract

This study aims to identify intangible cultural expressions of Italian heritage revealed in two documentaries made during the musealization process of the House Museum of Italian Memory in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. The memory narratives of descendants of Italian immigrants who lived in the house before it became a museum are captured in audiovisual testimonies. These findings link the intangible dimension to specific objects in the collection, seeking to enrich discussions on identity and community. The study is grounded in the symbolic aspects of Museology and in the interplay between Intangible Heritage and the collective memory of social groups. The topic fits into a recent theoretical debate in museology that extends cultural heritage to house museums, examining their relationship with intangible culture—a space where intangible memories are preserved through the representation of the domestic setting, bearing witness to the families who once lived there. This exploratory investigation adopts a qualitative approach, drawing on primary documentary sources (testimonies) and secondary bibliographic materials, and includes a survey to identify intangible cultural assets in the form of memories. The analysis allowed for the creation of an inventory and led to the identification of twenty-three intangible cultural assets linked to the musealized objects in the collection, providing complementary information for the museum’s documentation, research, and communication initiatives. Reflecting on the memories collected in the documentaries—cultural manifestations that constitute heritage—the house museum is seen as a stage for affective recollections and the re-signification of everyday life.