.png){kind=logo}
On September 2, 2018, the National Museum of Brazil was destroyed in a horrible fire. 200 years of scientific research, history and culture were lost. This monumental event was felt all over the world, and it reminded us how important it is to fund cultural institutions. Without proper funding, we can't protect our cultural heritage.
So here is my rant. My plea. Please, fund museums. In any way that you can. FUND MUSEUMS.
Here’s the thing. Museums aren’t about things. They’re about people, They're about our shared cultural heritage, the history that made us all who we are today. It’s a place to tell stories, OUR stories. Places where we can learn from this past collective, grow from it and reach new heights. People made or found all of those things inside that museum. We need to remember that. Funding museums isn’t just about protecting things, it’s about protecting ourselves.
Museums are living places, they are filled with things that define who we are. And if we let them fall by the wayside, we’ll become equally lost. We won’t remember where we come from, and we especially won’t know where we’re going. When we lose a museum, we lose a bit of who we are.
More Resources
9 Priceless Treasures Lost or Damaged in the Blaze at the Brazil National Museum
Henri Neuendorf
Fire Devastates Brazil's Oldest Science Museum
Michael Greshko
Brazil museum fire: Funding cuts blamed as icon is gutted
Brazil museum fire: ‘incalculable’ loss as 200-year-old Rio institution gutted
Brazil National Museum: as much as 90% of collection destroyed in fire
What Was Lost in Brazil’s Devastating Museum Fire
Two hundred years of work—and millions of priceless specimens—have been destroyed in a preventable tragedy.
Ed Yong
