Paper short abstract:

I will explore conflicting notions of past, present and future in a series of mining-government meetings in Miguel Burnier, Brazil. Here, I ask whether imagining a different future for Miguel Burnier - through preserved architecture - may mitigate a troublesome present characterized by depopulation

Paper long abstract:

Cultural heritage, while preserving achievements of the past, is used by companies to offset future industrial activities. Looking at a series of meetings between a mining company, the affected community in the small district of Miguel Burnier in Ouro Preto, Brazil, and mediators between the former two - members of a municipal council for cultural heritage (COMPATRI) - I explore conflicting notions of past, present, and future. Having suffered from the mining industrial pollution for decades and subsequently from deficient infrastructure and depopulation when businesses closed down, residents in Miguel Burnier found themselves between a rock and a hard place. The expansion of the mining area desired by the current company brings the promise of a better future (jobs) and the risk of a worse quality of life (pollution). Residents' concern was at odds with the mining company's offer to invest in heritage in compensation for the expansion of its business in the area. When looking at hierarchies of priorities between the parties involved, I analyse the material implications of temporality and participation in development policies in empty cities.