Mitzy Quinto Cortes

Title of Research: Destroyed but not lost: How to overcome an earthquake? Community-based disaster risk management for Places of Cultural Significance

The multidisciplinary PhD research will propose ways of community engagement and involvement in the disaster risk reduction management of Places of Cultural Significance, while studying how to systematically and efficiently prepare for, respond to and recover from earthquakes such as those occurred in September 2017 in southern Mexico, that affected historic Catholic churches and convents. These places are cultural hubs and are part of living cultural landscapes, where religious, social, economic and tourist practices are performed as part of the dynamics of the local communities, and therefore have cultural, devotional, historic, social and economic values, and occupy a crucial role in the communities’ social cohesion and engagement, while building their cultural identity.

The original contribution of this research is to put together the Environmental Humanities, Disaster Risk Reduction, Critical Heritage Studies, and Contemporary Conservation, where a bottom-up, inclusive approach is followed, in which communities have a voice and a role in the conservation decision-making process of their Places of Cultural Significance. Through two case studies in Mexico: Xochimilco, Mexico City and Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, both located in earthquake-prone areas, this research proposes community-based disaster risk reduction management plans, that could be applied in future earthquakes, and would increase the resilience and coping capacity of local communities.

Funding 

• CONACYT (National Council on Science and Technology) Mexico
• SEP (Ministry of Public Education) Mexico

Education

• BA Conservation, ENCRyM-INAH (National School of Conservation, Restoration and Museum Studies, National Institute of Anthropology and History) Mexico, 2012
• MSc Maritime Archaeology, University of Southampton, UK, 2015

Quinto-Cortes, M. A. and Vega-Carillo A., 2010. Reintegración formal de faltantes en patrimonio cultural metálico. In  Memorias del 3r Foro Académico ENCRyM, Mexico: INAH. ISBN: 978-607-484-265-4

Quinto-Cortes, M. A., 2012. Carnero y el Magníficat: una representación novohispana de tradición europea. In Memorias del 5to Foro Académico ENCRyM, Mexico: INAH. ISBN: 978-607-484-464-1

2013 International Conference on Metal Conservation Metal ICOM-CC, Edinburgh, Scotland

Poster “In situ conservation of metallic underwater heritage at Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve, Quintana Roo, Mexico”.

2014 International Congress on Underwater Archaeology IKUWA V, Cartagena, Spain

Poster “Autenticidad y Pátina en el Patrimonio Metálico Subacuático”.

2016 ICOM-CC Wet Organic Archaeological Material Conference, Florence, Italy

Conference “Preservation In Situ of Wooden Shipwrecks in Estuarine Contexts: The essential relationship between the material remains and their environment”.

2016 International Conference on Science and Engineering in Arts, Heritage and Archaeology, SEAHA, Oxford, United Kingdom

Conference “Preservation In Situ of Underwater Cultural Heritage in Estuarine Contexts: Understanding the relationship between the material remains and their environment”.

2016 International Congress on Underwater Archaeology IKUWA 6, Fremantle, Western Australia

Conference “Preservation in situ of UCH in estuarine contexts: the relationship between the material remains and the environment”.