One Year After a Devastating Fire, the National Museum of Brazil Has Announced Plans for a Partial Reopening

Last year, the world looked on in horror as the National Museum
of Brazil—the oldest and most significant historical and scientific
museum in the country—was consumed by flames.

Now, a year after the tragedy, the institution has announced
plans for a partial reopening, aiming to open its doors in three
years.

The news comes from a press conference held at the Brazilian
Academy of Sciences with Denise Pires, the head of the Federal
University of Rio de Janeiro, which is in charge of the site.

“Our intention is to inaugurate a part of the reconstructed
palace in 2022 with expositions that let us celebrate the
bicentennial of Brazil’s independence,” she told the press,
according to La
Vanguardia.

Some 11 million reales ($2.7 million) have already been spent
addressing the damage to the museum. Pires announced at the
conference that the museum had raised 68 million reales ($16.4
million) for reconstruction. The money has mainly come from the
Brazilian government, but also includes donations from
international organizations such as UNESCO and foreign
government, most notably Germany. Exactly how
much the total restoration of the institution will cost is not yet
known.

Following the fire, which was caused by a malfunctioning air
conditioner, it was initially believed that as much
as 90 percent of the museum’s collection was incinerated. While the
final toll was not quite so devastating, the extent of the loss is
still great: 17 of its 34 collections were completely or partially
destroyed, amounting to about half of the museum’s holdings.

These range from its entomology collection, featuring a unique
catalogue of 5 million insect specimens, to its collection relating
to native cultures. One indigenous researcher compared the
destruction of those artifacts to “a new genocide.”

After an extensive effort, recovery crews were able to boost the
number of recovered items from 1,500 to 2,000, according to a
report from the AFP. Among those were
objects initially thought to have been lost, such as the
11,500-year-old skull of “Luzia,” the oldest human ever found in
the Americas, and the Bendegó meteorite, the largest ever
found in the country.

This week’s press conference also unveiled some new objects that
had been saved, including a 19th-century samurai mask and a bronze
statue of the Egyptian goddess Bastet.

Reconstruction of the facade of the historic building is
scheduled to begin in September.

The post One Year After a Devastating Fire, the National
Museum of Brazil Has Announced Plans for a Partial Reopening
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