Cámara ardiente: restauración de la memoria

Abstract

This work explores the complex relationship between memory, death, and funerary rituals in Colombian culture, based on personal experiences and childhood memories linked to funeral spaces. Through the evocation of smells, childhood games, and symbolic elements like mamoncillo and lemon, the author reconstructs an intimate vision of spaces of mourning and their transformation over time. The research focuses on the sensory and emotional dimension of the funerary rite, highlighting the importance of preserving collective memory in a context where urbanization has profoundly altered these rituals. The thesis also offers an aesthetic analysis of the wake room as a space of dialogue between life and death, between the sacred and the profane. It addresses topics such as the cultural evolution of coffins, the symbolism of funerary objects, and the Catholic ritual process from death to exhumation. Finally, it reflects on the deritualization of death in contemporary society and the need to rescue funerary traditions as a fundamental part of Colombian cultural identity.