Preservation, representation, and cultural narrative at Museo Castillo Serrallés

Abstract

This case study examines Museo Castillo Serrallés, a historic house museum in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to analyze the intersection of preventive conservation, institutional constraints, and historical narrative construction. Drawing on direct observation and interviews with museum guides conducted in March 2026, the study documents the museum’s constraint-driven preservation practices — including visitor management, physical barriers, restricted handling protocols, and adaptive responses to Puerto Rico’s recurrent power outages and infrastructural limitations — which prioritize immediate risk management over integrated climate-controlled conservation. Beyond its technical dimensions, the analysis argues that preservation at the museum is not a neutral process: the institution presents a curated narrative emphasizing family legacy, architectural heritage, and industrial success tied to the Don Q rum brand, while offering limited critical engagement with the labor systems, racial dynamics, and colonial economies that sustained the sugar industry. The study further explores how the museum negotiates its dual identity as a cultural institution and a revenue-generating venue, examining experiential branding, heritage tourism, and event hosting as strategies of economic sustainability. The analysis concludes that Museo Castillo Serrallés exemplifies how museums actively construct — rather than merely preserve — history, shaping cultural identity through selective representation within real economic and environmental constraints.