In the shadow of heritage

Abstract

Based on fieldwork on heritage sites of Islamic origin in Portugal, and on heritage sites of Portuguese origin in Mauritania (Ouadane), I will explore the cultural landscapes, diplomatic rethorics and agent's dialogues involved in the patrimonialization processes of these sites. Through an ethnographic survey of these encounters I intend to engage on the ongoing debate regarding cross culture heritage and its expressions across borders. While deconstructing the islamophilia that allegedly presides to Portuguese national heritage politics, I will comment on the uses that some Spanish Muslim communities currently make of the Islamic sites that shape this tamed heritage landscape, puzzlingly feeding the Portuguese fulfilled national identity. While revisiting sites of Portugal imperial nostalgia in Mauritania and its current Muslim tenants I will comment on the local tailoring of heritage in order to incorporate these sites in previously empty landscapes, where suddenly spontaneous and mobile local museums bourgeoned, in the shadow of overseas monuments.