The Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro Disaster
Thursday 21 February 2019
Venue: Wolfson Room, British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH
2.00pm tea and coffee
2.30pm Welcome
Paper 1 3.00-4.00pm: Luiz F. D. DuarteThe National Museum in Rio de Janeiro: its history, its role in Brazilian science, its tragic fire, and some prognostications.
Paper 2 4.00-4.30pm: João Pacheco de Oliveira Memories of indigenous peoples through National Museum collections: history, losses, and prospects
4.30-5.00pm: tea and coffee
5.00-6.00pm Discussion
6.00pm drinks
7.30pm (latest) drinks end.
Paper 1
Luiz F. D. Duarte (Professor in the Department of Social Anthropology, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
The National Museum in Rio de Janeiro: its history, its role in Brazilian science, its tragic fire, and some prognostications.
A brief summary of the 200 years history of the Museu Nacional will allow for a better understanding of its strategic role in the development of science in Brazil. It will also illuminate the characteristics of the cultural, historic, artistic and scientific heritage that was so harshly hit by the recent fire that destroyed the main building, the Palace of São Cristóvão. As a natural history museum, the institution covers many different scientific areas, with collections, laboratories, libraries and graduate study programs, besides the obvious exhibitions and associated educational services. The extent of the losses may highlight the extent of the present efforts to reconstruct the Palace and to reorganize the academic structures that survived and those that need an almost complete new foundation. The description of the sundry initiatives in progress – national and international – will introduce the general frame of present needs and the quest for further international support.
Paper 2
João Pacheco de Oliveira (Professor in the Department of Social Anthropology, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
Memories of indigenous peoples through National Museum collections: history, losses, and prospects
The reports about the fire that destroyed the main building of the National Museum always repeat a given about the ethnological collections, speaking about 40,000 objects lost. But it is important to know how these collections were constituted, when and by whom. This is what we intend to do in this brief communication, talking about the collections formed over 200 years by donations of travellers, naturalists, military, administrators and, finally, anthropologists. We will show some pieces that have become icons of MN and important for a discourse on diversity in the formation of the Brazilian nation. Some paths will be indicated that the curators used to seek to overcome the little information about the peoples and cultures represented there. Experience will be reported in the establishment of new forms of collection and registration, explaining how such initiatives, including digital data, will guide the reconstruction process of the collections from now on.
On Friday 22 February we will hold the Brazilian Anthropology Day.
These events are free, but tickets must be booked. Each day is ticketed separately.
For Thursday 21 February please go to https://brazilian-anthropology-day.eventbrite.co.uk
For Friday 22 February please go to https://brazilian-anthropology-day-friday.eventbrite.co.uk
Supported by the British Academy, British Council and the Embassy of Brazil.
