when the houses becomes memory

Memory, contrary to what we imagine, is not the past recovered, a story told in the same way every time, much less a faithful narrative of something that has already ceased to exist.

Memory is, in fact, a construction exclusive to the present, the product of a process that is adaptive, fluid, mutable, and always malleable to social dynamics¹.

One may say, and easily observe, that memory is the product of a process of management, fully capable of forging and manipulating certain narratives at the expense of others, which are silenced or erased.

When we turn our attention to the mechanisms that select and reproduce memory, we inevitably encounter the institutions that legitimize it. Museums, archives, and preservation policies do not merely safeguard the past; they also delimit it, making visible the narratives they wish to perpetuate. The choice of what should be included or excluded reflects a social hierarchy, for it is in these spaces that memory ceases to be merely a diffuse experience and comes to be recognized as heritage, often through the validation of public institutions that determine what should or should not be preserved.

It was from these concerns that I deepened my research into women’s house museums, seeking to understand which female trajectories, so frequently erased, have managed to ascend and establish themselves within Brazil’s cultural sphere. But what are house museums?

According to Paulo Eduardo Barbosa, who holds a Ph.D. in Architecture and Urbanism from FAU-USP, they not only convey the stories and life trajectories of those they honor through their collections, but also invite discussion about ways of living and the configuration of cities within the urban phenomenon².

But how can a space originally designed for domestic use be reconfigured to meet the demands of a public institution or one open to visitors? Added to this is the challenge of interpreting the house’s collection in a way that retells the stories of its former inhabitants without resorting to caricatured representations or compromising documentary and historical rigor³.

These reflections take on new dimensions when articulated with the presence of women, both as the figures being honored and through the recurring association between the domestic sphere and femininity.

Women’s house museums reveal the complexity of these questions, as the construction of memory intersects with disputes surrounding private space and the visibility of female narratives within cultural history.

Based on an unprecedented survey of women’s house museums in Brazil, I observed a focus on the exceptional nature of these trajectories, with an emphasis on women portrayed as “pioneers” or “ahead of their time.” This is reflected in two house museums I visited: the Casa do Sol – Instituto Hilda Hilst, in Campinas, and Casa Ema Klabin, in São Paulo.

Listed as a municipal heritage site, Hilda Hilst’s former home derives much of its heritage value from the author’s life and her recognition within the literary field. With a body of work that intertwines poetry, prose, and theater, marked by formal experimentation and themes related to sexuality, religion, and death, Hilst devoted herself entirely to literature after moving into Casa do Sol in 1966. It was in this space that she produced a large part of her work and transformed the house into an environment of intellectual exchange, frequented by artists, writers, and students, establishing it as an active center of cultural production.

Casa Ema Klabin, located in Jardim Europa and included within the neighborhood’s municipal and state heritage protection area, was designed and built by the engineer-architect Alfredo Ernesto Becker in the 1950s to house the collection assembled by Ema Klabin, a member of São Paulo’s elite whose life was closely associated with the patronage of the arts and culture. The house presents visitors with an extensive collection of paintings, furniture, decorative objects of historical significance, and personal belongings.

The desire to transform the residence into a museum originated with Klabin herself toward the end of her life. Her way of inhabiting the house continues to be reflected through curatorial choices involving her bedroom, bathroom, and other rooms, allowing visitors not only to observe the collection but also to experience the lifestyle associated with São Paulo’s elite during the second half of the twentieth century.

These two examples (among the thirty-five cases analyzed) are particularly illustrative of the predominant profile of women honored through house museums in Brazil.

They are artists, intellectuals, or elite women whose trajectories are narrated through the ideas of exceptionality, pioneering, and distinction. Furthermore, both houses are protected through heritage listing, demonstrating that not only the lives of their former inhabitants but also the materiality of the buildings and their architectural typologies are considered worthy of preservation.

Although these are extremely relevant trajectories and culturally rich institutions, capable of inspiring important reflections on femininity, the research required a critical shift in perspective. It became necessary to question why these particular trajectories achieve legitimacy and visibility while so many others remain on the margins.

Where are the memories of poor, Black, and peripheral women, or of women connected to popular ways of inhabiting spaces and producing culture? Throughout this research, I sought to interpret memory as a field of dispute, shaped by choices that determine which narratives will be remembered and transmitted to future generations, and which will continue to be erased or silenced.