The Universitat de València shows its support to the National Museum of Brazil

  • Office of the Vice-Principal for Culture and Society
  • September 5th, 2018
 
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The Universitat de València shows its support to the National Museum of Brazil following the great fire that has destroyed it. The museum belonged to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and is the oldest museum in Brazil. It was built in 1818 and had one of the largest scientific collections in the world. It contained more than 20 million specimen and objects of Natural History, Palaeontology, Anthropology, Archaeology, as well as historical archives and libraries.

The fire occurred last Sunday and destroyed 90% of the collections. “200 years of work, research and knowledge have been lost,” pointed out the president of Brazil, Michel Temer, in the social media as the firefighters were still extinguishing the fires.

The building was the most important cultural centre of the country. It was the Royal Palace of the Portuguese king João VI and his family in 1808. The declaration of independence and the first Constitutional Assembly happened in the palace. Later on, the palace became a museum. The government of Brazil has already announced that the building will be rebuilt.

Both the Universitat de València and the National Museum of Brazil belong to ICOM (International Council of Museums). This is an international organization of museums and professionals that has a formal relationship with UNESCO and has also expressed its support due to the catastrophe.

File in: Cultura , Exposicions