A reforma do Pelourinho: o período pré-1992

Abstract

This work attempts to reconstruct the various activities of a state of Bahia institution: the Foundation and eventually Institute for the Historical Heritage of Bahia Instituto do Patrimônio Artístico e Cultural (IPAC). It does so covering the period from its creation in 1967 to 1992, when a major transformation/crises occurred in the institution itself, in the old city center of Salvador and, last but not least, in the policies they have been developing for the area. In order to do so, one deals with urban sociology in the first chapter, with the recent economic history of Salvador, trying to answer the million dollar question: why cocoa has not done to Bahia what coffee has done to S. Paulo is dealt with in the second chapter. In the third chapter one tackles the research the institution has produced about the old city center, the bibliography about the area is dealt with also and what does the press has to say about it, is also there. In doing so one discovers that all throughout the eighties there is a slough down in its activities. There seems to be a lost decade for everyone in the area, known generically as Pelourinho. In chapter four there might be some contribution to the knowledge of the people who lived there and how they see the transformations that took place from 1992 onwards. These transformations were the result of a major state intervention in the area. In it there are the voices of those who work for IPAC; those who have lived in there most of their lives or were born there, and also try to earn their living from there; but some of the persons interviewed are migrants from the decadent sugar fields areas of the Recôncavo and of the northeast of Brazil. Their lives history as well as their view of life in the district poses several questions to most of the bibliography on this subject. My conclusions in the last chapter indicates that instead of repeating clichés from other colleagues works, one should listen to the individuals who have lived through that experience daily. There might be what to learn from peoples empirical experience as well as from ongs owners, which is mostly what it has been done so far. The material gathered here may be show that even the life of a small area and a community that mostly enjoys the face to face relationship is dense and full of nuances and therefore is always a challenge to any institution.