Holy Week in Sabanalarga, Atlántico: Political Power, Experiences, and Heritagization

Abstract

This article addresses Holy Week in Sabanalarga, which is the most important liturgical celebration and popular religious practice in the department of Atlántico. The aim is to analyze the historical use of this cultural expression as a mechanism for ideological influence in political power relations. It is a process that initially was forced and over the centuries became ingrained in society, but was directed by the elites and the clergy. To achieve this purpose, information was scrutinized from the Archdiocese of Barranquilla, the General Archive of the Nation, newspapers, and a bibliographic review of the topic was conducted, along with direct observation of the festivity. In this sense, we demonstrated the existing articulation between these religious practices, recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Nation, and the political power, which seeks to consolidate itself as a representative of good customs due to its pious relationship with God.