The concept of territory for institutional management of photographic heritage on human rights: the case of the National Archive of Memory (Argentina)

ABSTRACT The essay seeks to discuss the concept of territory as the structuring base of the holdings lines of institutions dedicated to the management of photographic documents. Such definition is fundamental for those institutions accomplish, with quality, their role in the consolidation and preservation on a specific photographic heritage territory. It is important to point out that such a conception does not necessarily imply the establishment of geographical borders, rather, they depend on the symbolic - and, of course, political - conformation of a documentary set and its relations with society. In concrete terms, the essay discusses the institutional conformation of the National Archive of Memory, in Argentina, and its photographic documentary holdings, analyzed from the point of view of their contextual characteristics and their relationship with the territory of human rights.