IN-PERSON London Heritages. Section A

Abstract

This paper aims to critically develop the resignification of built and lived environments as a way for the decolonization of heritage. Focusing, empirically, on the history of the ruins of the former Portuguese colonial setting of Chaul, and field investigation notes from a research mission that took place in January 2024, I propose to address how resignifying processes, such as attributing new meanings or giving a different function to that which was originally planned, can be used to decolonize built heritage. Namely, to decolonize heritage built on multi-interconnected layers of contested histories, as the case of the proposed case study. Portuguese colonial presence in Chaul, a port settlement since antiquity, started in the early 16th century. First, a factory was established in the area. Later, in c. 1521, with a fortified structure by the sea that became known as “Lower Chaul”, while the larger preexisting city, in the hinterland, was then known “Upper” Chaul. The Portuguese presence came to an end in 1740, following a war with the Maratha kingdom. Once fulfilled with a vibrant urban life, the bulwarked perimeter of “Lower” Chaul became unpopulated and converted into a highly productive land filled with palm groves. To these historical strata and scattered heritage with Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, and Christian sacred sites, a landscape of cultural encounters, with distinct communities and religions negotiating their presence, developed. Recently a new layer of land use as been added – as Revdanda (former Chaul) rematerialized itself as the touristic ultimate experience.