COLÔNIA SANTA ISABEL: BETWEEN MEMORIES AND EXPERIENCES

Abstract

This work is part of a master's research aimed at creating a tourist itinerary for Colônia Santa Isabel, an urban complex inaugurated in 1931 in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The original purpose of the colony was to compulsorily segregate leprosy patients according to the sanitary policies of the time, a practice that persisted until the 1980s when isolation ended. This period also marked the reintegration of patients into society and the abandonment of these segregation sites by the state, partly mitigated in 2000 with the municipal heritage listing of Santa Isabel as a cultural heritage of Betim. Based on bibliographical analysis of the history of Colônia Santa Isabel and oral history work, the research allowed for the reconstruction of the various stages that comprised the isolation in Santa Isabel through the accounts of former residents. It focuses on their experiences, occupation processes, sociability, and the different uses of this urban complex over time. The dual movement of re-signifying memories and reflections on the stigmas and traumas brought by the experience of isolation, but especially the stories of resilience and interaction with the space, make Colônia Santa Isabel a place of memory.