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Devastating Fire at the Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro

 

Yesterday, a huge fire broke out at the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro. Those of you who participated in the ICOM-UMAC 2013 in Rio may remember the Museum’s beautiful building, situated in the middle of a city park.

The Museu Nacional is a university museum, part of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. It is the oldest museum in Brazil, created in 1818. It hosts one of the largest scientific collections in the world, comprising c. 20 million specimens and artefacts of natural history, anthropology, archaeology, as well as historical archives and libraries.

At this point, the full extent of the destruction remains unknown and so does the cause of the fire. Fortunately, there were no victims. UMAC hopes at least part of the collections have been saved.

There is certainly a need for a full investigation, debate and answers, but for now, this is already one of the largest catastrophes in museum history anywhere in the world. It is most important to recognize the significance of this enormous tragedy and irreplaceable loss for science, education and culture, in Brazil and the world, and to demonstrate solidarity and support to our colleagues at the Museu Nacional.

Presently, UMAC is exploring possibilities of expressing our support in more tangible ways. Meanwhile, we are compiling all supporting messages arriving from all over the world. In due time, we will forward them to the Director of Museu Nacional and to the administration of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Marta C. Lourenço, University of Lisbon

UMAC-ICOM President

Lisbon 3 September 2018

See also ICOM Statement (3 September 2018) on this tragedy.

 

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UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections, their Diversity and their Role in Society

 

It’s never too late to remember the UMAC community that this remarkable recommendation exists since November 2015 to promote museums and their communities all over the world. In five languages.

UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections, their Diversity and their Role in Society (2015)

 

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The Archivio Lombroso is now online!

The vast number of documents that Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) donated to the University of Turin are now accessible online — an incredible resource for the history of science and the history of Italy and Europe.

Ritratto di fronte e di profilo di un galeotto. Fa parte dell’Album dei delinquenti n. 1, seconda metà del XIX secolo (Archivio Lombroso, Univerità degli Studi di Torino).

The Lombroso Project was established by the Museum System of the University of Turin, with the support of the CRT Foundation and the Department of History of the University of Turin.

Read about the Lombroso Project and access the documents here.

Also, read about the  Museo di Antropologia Criminale ‘Cesare Lombroso’ in UMAC World Database of University Museums and Collections.

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UMAC will meet in Dresden in 2021 — with Universeum!

The UMAC Annual General Meeting approved the proposal by the Technical University Dresden (TU Dresden), in Germany, to host UMAC 2021. Kirsten Vincenz, UMAC member from TU Dresden, was in Miami to make the proposal, which was unanimously approved.

Photo: Creative Commons.

More importantly, UMAC will meet with the European University Heritage Network, Universeum.

The fantastic collections of TU Dresden can be explored in the UMAC World Database of University Museums and Collections — search them here.

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Our Annual Conference in Miami, US, was an extraordinary success!

Largely due to the partnership with, and commitment of the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries, US, our latest annual conference at the University of Miami mobilised almost 400 participants from 23 countries. 

One of the UMAC-AAMG 2018 sessions, at the University of Miami, 21-24 June 2018.

UMAC is grateful to the AAMG and we hope to continue developing activities together in the near future!

Read more.

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COMPETITION T.D. Lee Science and Art Lecture Fund, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

 

The SJTU TD Lee Fund of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China) was established in 2013 with the aims of studying and exploring new scientific achievements, encouraging cooperation between scientists and artists, and creating artistic works to show the science itself or the influences that science brings to humans, society and the environment.

The Fund holds scientific symposiums and Science and Art Competitions on one specific scientific theme every year.  Since 2014, four competitions have been successfully held whose themes are “Synchrotron Radiation”, “Gravity and General Relativity”, “Parity Nonconservation and Neutrino Physics” and “Quantum and Topology”. In 2018, the theme is “Time Reversal”.

See below how to apply:

Submission Information and Calendar

Submission Form

More information, please contact Xuwei CHEN (xwchen@sjtu.edu.cn)