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Ilha Bela, memory, identity, heritage.
This work aims to analyze the memory built for the community of Ilha Bela, located in therural area of the city of Ceará-Mirim, which is part of the metropolitan region of the capital ofRio Grande do Norte. More specifically, the study analyzed here starts from the memories ofthe reminiscences of Ilha Bela in the present time, the time of ruins. The community went intoa process of ruin in the 1990s, when its last residents were forced to leave their homes, whichwere then demolished, leaving only the ruins of the Sugar Mill building, which was theeconomic base of the island's population and part important role in sugar production in thecity of Ceará-Mirim. From the 1990s onwards, when the houses were demolished, the groupof reminiscences who experienced the place at the time when the plant still produced andserved as an employment bond felt the need to continue to meet to remember the years ofpractice and experience. in the place that is part of their life stories. The meetings of formerresidents of Ilha Bela began in 2002, and since then they have taken place every year inDecember, bringing together individuals who today inhabit different states of the country. Themeetings grow in number of subjects each year, and served as inspiration for the writing of amemoir about Ilha Bela, the book was written by the former resident of the community,Francisco Canindé Dias, who published his text entitled “ Memories of Ilha Bela”, in 2007.The book composes the main sources analyzed in this study about the memories of Ilha Belain the present time, the memories that have been built over the years in the annual meetings,and which serves as an object of representation for the group that persists in remembering thespace.