After the Fire: Developing Reconstruction Strategies and Public Outreach at the Museu Nacional/UFRJ

Abstract

On the night of 2 September 2018, a globally reported fire destroyed the main headquarters of the Museu Nacional/UFRJ in Brazil. Located in the neighbourhood of São Cristóvão, north of Rio de Janeiro, this institution is not only Brazil’s first museum, but also its first scientific organisation. Recognised as one of the largest natural history and anthropology museums in Latin America, about 85 per cent of its 20 million items were consumed by flames. Rebuilding the palace, one of the main architectural monuments in Brazil, became a challenge for the institution and its collaborators. Actions related to management, museology, cultural heritage, restoration, and recovery of collections were, and remain, decisive in tracing the paths of an ambitious ongoing project called Museu Nacional Vive (The Museu Nacional Lives). In this article, we offer an insider’s perspective to provide an account of the main stages of the project and its implementation, presenting the strategies and key points of focus for what can be regarded as the most challenging cultural project presently being developed in Brazil. We primarily focus on the first two years after the fire, documenting the complex relationship between the management of a Brazilian public museum and communication strategies, and provide a historical record of an enduring initiative that has since proven influential in the field of museums, cultural heritage and science.