The National Museum of Rio de Janeiro, linked to the Federal University of Rio, foresees for the three-year period 2024/2027 the complete reopening of the Paço de São Cristóvão Palace, destroyed by a fire on September 2, 2018. In an exclusive interview with Agência Brasil, museum director and paleontologist Alexander Kellner said that school visits will resume between late March and early April in a new visitor center. He revealed the desire to make gradual reopenings of the palace so that the population can check the result of what is already ready in the restoration. Kellner said he was hopeful that the federal government’s attention would allow the works to gain more resources and speed – of the BRL 433 million budgeted for all actions, which go beyond the restoration of the palace, BRL 168 million still remains to be raised. “We want to do [excursões escolares] at the end of March and beginning of April, so that the National Museum will be back”, stressed Kellner. He said that the new visitor center – measuring 500 square meters – will first receive the public schools around the campus. “It’s a mini National museum. Let’s show the donations we have received. The parts will stay for some time and will be replaced so that we can always show what is being donated, like the minerals coming from Russia”, he stressed. About the complete delivery of the project, he noted that what will determine the speed of the works and the date of the total opening of the palace is the availability of resources. Only we are planning partial reopenings. Perhaps in 2024 something will open, perhaps in 2025, but it will depend on articulation and money. There is no way to rebuild the National Museum without public funds, and the MEC, through Minister Camilo Santana, proved to be very sensitive to the cause of the National Museum, which is a cause of Brazilian society”, he said. “The desire of the administration of the National Museum it is to fulfill the wish of the Brazilian population, who want to visit block 1 even before the others are finished”, he stressed. scheduled for this year. In the meantime, blocks 2, 3 and 4 will begin to be restored throughout 2023, and, according to Kellner, the works will be faster. “Now it is repeating what we have already done. It’s easier”. On the Bicentennial of Brazil’s Independence, in 2022, the National Museum managed to hand over the Jardim Terraço and the front facade of the palace to the population, which returned to the ocher color and attracts the attention of those who visit Quinta da Boa Vista. The museum director is excited when commenting on the delivery and says that the public is moved to see the main entrance to the restored palace. “The facade is crying. People even say something that maybe isn’t so absurd: maybe not even the Imperial Family saw the facade so beautiful, because it was completely restored. People are excited to see it. This demonstrates that, despite everything, we are moving forward”, he opined. The hope of support from the federal government is given in contrast to the delays caused by the lack of commitment of the previous management, said Kellner. The museum director stated that the Instituto do Patrimônio Historical and Artistic National (Iphan), during the Bolsonaro government, was remiss with deadlines and project approvals, generating delays. Likewise, the Special Secretariat for Culture, he said, did not respond to requests from the museum’s management and also made approval difficult of projects via Rouanet Law. “The Secretariat of Culture disturbed us, the lack of having the Ministry of Culture disturbed us. In the last year, Secretary Hélio Ferraz tried to make up for lost time, but, in the previous administration, despite making more than ten requests, none of us had a response. We couldn’t even get greeted for a cold coffee. We tried more than ten times “, he reported. And he added:” they hit the National Museum. The slowness of the Rouanet Law was harmful”. Kellner noted that IPHAN and MEC have already visited the National Museum this year, and in a meeting between the museum’s directors and the ministry, this month, he will present in more detail the current situation and plans More than a museum As a UFRJ research institution, the National Museum also suffered impacts from the fire on its training activities and scientific production, which lost the physical space of rooms that functioned in the palace and an important part of its collection. “The National Museum reinvented itself and got the necessary spaces by sharing the little it had. We managed to maintain the defenses of dissertations and theses from our six postgraduate programs. Yes, some projects suffered because a lot of material was lost and had to be redirected. It impacted, but did not paralyze”, he revealed. Kellner also said that the research also suffered a setback with the loss of laboratories and equipment, but donations such as that from the German government and investments such as those from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes) and the Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Faperj) allowed the work to continue progressing. and the renovation and expansion of the Central Library gave new impetus to these activities, which were not interrupted and continued the work in the midst of difficulties. “Our researchers are still struggling to have a minimally decent space to work. So, with the renovation of the library, we will already have a space that will house a good part of them”, he pondered. “With the opening of the library, we will also be able to explore the possibility of opening the Botanical Garden, where the library is located, for visitation . But for that, we need resources that we don’t have yet. We estimate around R$ 12 million”. The delivery of the library was scheduled for this month, but delays related to the purchase of air conditioning equipment should postpone the reopening until the second half. The construction of three modular buildings that will house research departments is in progress, and work on the first new permanent building on the National Museum campus should also begin this year.
Agência Brasil
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