The Margins of the Spectacle: Subversive Appropriation of Cultural Heritage in a Contemporary City

In recent decades, we have witnessed a rise in the circulation of images that aim to promote cities in a spectacle market. In order to attract people, some patrimonialized cultural properties have been granted uniqueness. Based on a case study in Joinville, Santa Catarina, this communication aims to discuss the uses and appropriations of a stereotypical image of the city, Alameda Brüstlein (cultural property listed by the municipality), based on the analysis of practices and representations related to attacks against cultural heritage, stigmatized as “vandalism.” Mobilizing official sources and publications in the print media, we propose a dialogue on the different ways to relate to the presence of the past in a contemporary city. When investigating these subversive appropriations, we can better understand the plurality of functions that this cultural property has been playing, as well as the ways it was inserted into everyday living, bringing to light ways of living on the margins of spectacularized images.