Museu Nacional (Rio de Janeiro, 1818-)

Linked since 1946 to the Universidade do Brasil (from 1965, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, its current name), the Museu Nacional was founded in 1818 as Museu Real (Royal Museum) by decree of the king of Portugal, John VI or Dom João VI. With the installation of the royal family in Brazil in 1808 as a result of the Napoleonic invasions, Rio de Janeiro became the capital of the Portuguese empire and was endowed with new cultural and educational institutions. After Brazil’s independence in 1822, the museum kept its name and remained in the Palácio Imperial. After the coup that overthrew the monarchy and established the republic in 1889, it was renamed Museu Nacional (National Museum) and moved to the Paço de São Cristóvão. It was in the 20^th century that the museum expanded and prospered the most as a scientific institution, especially in the areas of anthropology and archaeology, housing the most important and complete collection of ethnological pieces from the indigenous peoples of South America. Unlike the museums that experienced a decline as science-producing centres, the Museu Nacional was an epicentre of postgraduate training and research in anthropology in Brazil, especially from the 1960s and 1970s. The large fire that destroyed its historical building on 2 September 2018 affected not only the permanent exhibition, the reserves and laboratories, but also the library of the postgraduate programme in social anthropology, a testimony to more than fifty years of disciplinary history. Despite the physical destruction of the anthropology department, the research and activities of the postgraduate programme were not interrupted. The project to restore the palace combines the Brazilian state, multilateral cooperation – especially through UNESCO – and private initiative. New buildings are to be built and equipped for a scientific campus, the collections rebuilt and exhibitions held on a participatory basis with different communities and in line with the scenario of global climate change; it constitutes the most extensive museum intervention in the world. Research and public engagement with indigenous peoples, peasant populations and urban collectives remain an institutional hallmark of the Museu Nacional, in line with its historic mission in the field of anthropology and the natural sciences.

Keywords: Museum Anthropology | Anthropology | Archaeology | Linguistics | Ethnology | Social anthropology | Indigenism | 20^th century | 19^th century | 21^st century | Brazil | Amerindian studies | Afro-brazilian Studies | Ethnology Museum | Research Institute | Roberto Cardoso de Oliveira | David Maybury-Lewis | Luiz de Castro Faria | Roberto da Matta | Ford Foundation