O Patrimônio Documental Arquivístico Brasileiro

This paper aims to develop a brief discussion on the notion of heritage in the Brazilian context through a historical analysis of the activities of the main public agency responsible for shaping the country's cultural heritage: the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN). The objective is to understand what is considered heritage and the status of archival records within this framework. To carry out this exploratory research, we employed the Bibliographic Research method, consulting key authors who address the concept of heritage both within and beyond the Brazilian context. Based on the historical trajectory of IPHAN, it was possible to examine the concept of heritage adopted by the agency and draw a parallel with the context of archival records. We found that the concept of heritage employed by IPHAN is currently in a phase of “expansion,” though there is still a long way to go for this concept to become more comprehensive and to adequately incorporate permanently preserved archival records.