The Death of Brazil’s National Museum

Abstract

On September 2, 2018, a fire destroyed the 200-year-old National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, along with the vast majority of the nearly 20 million items it housed. Located in the historic São Cristóvão Palace, the museum originated as a colonial institution, and its history was intertwined with that of the Brazilian nation. Among the millions of items consumed in the flames were more than 40,000 indigenous artifacts, as well as a rich Africana collection reflecting the relationships developed between Brazil and the African continent during the era of the Atlantic slave trade. This article summarizes the history of the National Museum and its holdings, details Brazil’s long-term neglect of its tangible heritage, and highlights the magnitude of the museum’s loss—a loss not just for the national and international scholars who researched its collections, but also for the low-income residents in the neighboring areas for whom it was the only accessible institution of its kind.