Immaterial assets in the process of being registered in the IPHAN: social tensions surrounding the safeguard in the Northeast region of Brazil

Objective: Identify the most evident social tensions related to the safeguarding of five immaterial assets in the process of Registration Instruction located in the Northeast region of Brazil from 2005 to 2015. Methods: It uses the methods of exploratory research according to the objectives, documentary analysis and procedures to describe the proposals submitted and characterize them as intangible cultural heritage of the Northeast Region. Results: From the data analyzed, the most expressive social tensions unfolded about the values of representativeness, recognition, community intervention without the help of a government institution and legal guidelines. Conclusions: The intangible cultural heritage is composed of a set of practices and intangible activities that can be recreated and adapted by a social group over generations. In order to guarantee the preservation of intangible assets, the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage has a legal-administrative and social process called Registration Instruction, in which the registration of the asset in one of the books of the Intangible Heritage is made operational. The five properties in the process of registration instruction are of inherent importance for the memory, in the formation of identities, social relations, collective heritage and historical continuity. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version).