Digital Storytelling about the São Paulo Independence Monument: between Lost Memories and Italian Legacy

The Monument to the Independence of Brazil, also called the Ipiranga Monument, is a sculptural ensemble in granite and bronze belonging to the Independence Park in São Paulo in Brazil. It was initially conceived as a monument then it became a cenotaph of the emperor Dom Pedro I and only later a tomb for him and the two wives. It represents an important period for the democratic path of the country. It was envisioned by two Italian masters: architect Manfredo Manfredi was responsible for the design of the structure and artist Ettore Ximenes was in charge of the sculptural ensemble. The Monument was inaugurated as part of the celebrations of the centenary of independence in 1922, although it was only completed four years later. Since then, the story of the monument was slowly forgotten by the public becoming a true example of lost memories. This project aims at valorising the identity of the ensemble by awareness increasing activities at different layers in cooperation with Italian entities such as the Circolo Italiano and the General Consulate of Italy in São Paulo and local partners (USP university and SP Municipality). The cooperation outputs were the dissemination activities of the historical research and the digital documentation of the monument (carried out through scan to BIM process) by both in presence and online actions meant to be key moments for cultural revitalization of the site. Historical memories were thus fostered to prevent important pieces of a country’s history from being forgotten by the population.