Accessibility as practice of social inclusion of the public in cultural heritage: obstacles and incompabilities at Ouro Preto (MG)

Abstract

Colonial cities, monuments and sites listed as cultural heritage are constitutive elements of the concept of human time and space and therefore need to be preserved as a form of expression of the memory and identity of a people. For that its social function is exercised, it is necessary that there be universal accessibility as a way of experiencing the past in the face of the transformations that are characteristic of the present. This study aims to guide the understanding of accessibility to the cultural heritage as a citizen's right to the forms of cultures in their historical and tourist bias. The methodology is qualitative with an observatory approachand participant in the Town Council of the city of Ouro Preto (Minas Gerais - Brazil), besides the documentary research. It is concluded that, although several adaptations for new uses have been made throughout the history of operation of this building, none of them met the requirements of current accessibility legislation as guarantee for the social use of the public with reduced mobility. It is necessary to rethink the uses of the past for its social character, in a dialogical and fluid way of politics of preservation and the legislation of accessibility, in the process of insertion of the public in cultural heritage.