Destruction of Rio’s National Museum exposes deeper crisis

“Greatness. With problems.” That’s how Alexander Kellner described Rio de Janeiro’s National Museum, back in May, to journalist Marco Aurélio Canônico. In the year of its 200th anniversary, the museum scrambled to operate with the bare minimum – ten of its 30 rooms were closed, and the building battled an infestation of termites. The financial situation of the National Museum was so dire that its administration was forced to set up a crowdfunding campaign to be able to display its Maxakilisaurus skeleton to the public, the largest dinosaur skeleton ever to be found in Brazil.

On Sunday (September 3), the National Museum’s decay took a dramatic turn, with the building becoming consumed – and almost entirely destroyed – by flames. The fire department was called at 7:30 pm – two and a half hours after the museum closed for the day. The flames were only controlled by around 2:00 am, by which time authorities believe almost everything inside has been destroyed. “We lost 200 years of history. It’s not only the building and its objects that we are losing, but part of the effort to create the Brazilian civilization,” said Paulo Knauss, director of the National Historic Museum on television.

National Museum: budget problems

The fire is only the latest instalment in a story of neglect. Inaugurated on June 6, 1818, Rio de Janeiro’s National Museum was Brazil’s first art gallery. It is located in Quinta da Boa Vista, a building next to the Maracanã Stadium which served as the residence of the Portuguese royal family. It was there that the Brazilian Declaration of Independence was signed and where Emperor Pedro II was born.

Its archive holds over 20 million items – including Latin America’s largest collection of Ancient...