JÚLIO DE CASTILHOS HISTORY MUSEUM AND THE ANALYSIS OF THE INVISIBLE AS A MEANS OF DECOLONIZING IT (1925 TO 1939)

Abstract

The objective of this article is to provoke reflection on the constitution of the Júlio de Castilhos History Museum's collection between 1925 and 1939, a colonial tradition, and the struggle to pave the way for the right to difference. This effort aimed to improve the decolonization process, considering the subjective impact of museum objects associated with the slavery period. The analysis is qualitative, documentary, and bibliographical, and is based on Dr. Ana Celina Figueira da Silva's (2018) thesis, which presents the transformation of the then Júlio de Castilhos Museum from an encyclopedic typology to a historical museum. The study engages with Pomian's (1984) theories that objects are semiophores when they lose their original function and acquire symbolic ones, and with Meneses's (1987) theories, which defend the museum as a social and political construction. The study aims to rethink practices, explore the subjectivity of exhibited objects, and create decolonizing and inclusive narratives.