Altares vemos, significados no sabemos

Abstract

This work consists of a photographic essay about domestic altars accompanied by their owners’ narratives. It aims to address the Catholic religiosity which is practiced on a daily basis in non-ecclesial spaces. This ethnographic work (based on photographic records and interviews) is focused on the altars’ materialism (which makes beliefs visible) and on narratives giving account of their symbolic meanings as well as appropriations and uses of Catholic images in the believers’ daily lives. We deal with three scenarios for the assembly and practice of these shrines; domestic (they are usually private, individual and are located inside the homes). Semi-private (in workplaces such as offices, market stalls, bars and workshops), which even though they are cared for by only one person they are exposed to the public and used for religious practices by those who attend these places. Public ones (streets or neighborhoods) are placed in open spaces (a sidewalk, square or street corner), activate collective practices and are often protected by a community. We consider it a novel methodological proposal to approach the understanding of these religious experiences on their non-ecclesial logic.