The Wounds of Memory. Disputes over heritage in The Moneda Palace, Chile

Abstract

The Moneda Palace –as a National Historic Monument– is one of the key pieces among the eternally unfinished construction of the Republic of Chile. This paper looks into the struggles and the updating of that truth regarding the foundational past, present, and possible future of this government Palace. What historical and political meanings do the State and the citizens grant to this monument? What struggles and agreements are expressed in its material and symbolic form? Through an anthropological and historical methodological approach, empirical evidence shows that although the historical meaning of its form has been reinvented once and again, wounds of memory persist in the material being and social significance of this building. After the aerial bombing suffered on September 11, 1973, the Moneda Palace –repeatedly remodeled and figuratively “laundered”– remains submerged in the ruins of that historical truth. Research concludes that despite the events seeking reparation, acts of symbolic commemoration, numerous mass demonstrations and protests in its front yard, the future remains open for its continued reinvention.