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| Museu dos Tropicos | |
|---|---|
| Name | Museu dos Tropicos |
| Native name | Museu dos Trópicos |
| Established | 1944 |
| Location | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Type | Cultural museum |
| Director | Pável Lacerda |
Museu dos Tropicos is a cultural institution in Rio de Janeiro founded in 1944 to document and interpret life in tropical regions. The museum has served as a nexus for scholars, artists, and policymakers, connecting collections with exhibitions that address urbanization, agriculture, and cultural identity in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Its activities intersect with major institutions and figures in Brazilian and international cultural history.
The museum was founded under the auspices of the Brazilian state led by Getúlio Vargas during the mid-20th century and was linked to initiatives from the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística and the Ministry of Education; early patrons included intellectuals associated with Oswald de Andrade, Mário de Andrade, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s the museum developed collaborations with the University of São Paulo, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and international partners such as the Smithsonian Institution and the British Museum. During the military regime that began in 1964 the museum negotiated programming with agencies including the Ministry of Culture and surviving curators maintained ties with scholars from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and the Getúlio Vargas Foundation. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the institution expanded networks with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Bank, and cultural NGOs like Itaú Cultural and the Fundação do Museu do Índio. Recent directors have sought partnerships with museums such as the Museu de Arte de São Paulo and the Museum of Modern Art, New York to mount traveling exhibitions.
The museum occupies a modernist building influenced by architects linked to the Congresso Internacional de Arquitetura Moderna and designers associated with Oscar Niemeyer and Lina Bo Bardi aesthetics. The complex includes galleries, laboratories, and archival repositories adjacent to botanical displays that reference plantings from the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro and comparative collections like those at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Its landscape design echoes projects by landscape architects collaborating with the Instituto Moreira Salles and integrates artworks reminiscent of commissions by sculptors connected to the Bienal de São Paulo and the Venice Biennale. Structural interventions over time involved firms with ties to restoration projects at the Palácio do Catete and the Museu Nacional (Brazil), balancing conservation standards promoted by IPHAN and international charters such as those advanced by the International Council on Monuments and Sites.
Collections emphasize material culture, visual arts, and ethnographic documentation from tropical regions with holdings complementary to the Museu do Índio, the Museu de Arte do Rio, and the archives of the Instituto Moreira Salles. The museum preserves textile assemblages comparable to those in the Victoria and Albert Museum and ceramic repertoires analogous to collections at the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photographic archives include works by photographers associated with the Revista O Cruzeiro, the Agência Brasília, and international photojournalists exhibited previously at the International Center of Photography. Exhibitions have showcased artists linked to movements represented at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, including painters and sculptors connected to Candido Portinari, Tarsila do Amaral, and contemporaries exhibited at the Casa França-Brasil and the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil. Natural history displays align with comparative displays at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the American Museum of Natural History while archival maps and manuscripts relate to collections at the Arquivo Nacional (Brazil) and the British Library.
The museum supports fellowship programs in partnership with universities such as the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, the University of Brasília, and international centers like the School of Oriental and African Studies and the University of Oxford. Research covers topics addressed in publications by scholars tied to the Getty Research Institute, the Humboldt Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council. Educational outreach collaborates with school systems coordinated through the Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro and cultural curricula promoted by the Fundação Palmares. The institution houses conservation labs that follow protocols developed with the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional and technical exchanges with the Tate and the Musée du quai Branly.
Public programs include lectures featuring figures connected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters, film series curated with festivals like the Festival do Rio and the Mostra Internacional de Cinema de São Paulo, and artist residencies linked to networks such as the Pro-Helvetia and the Goethe-Institut. Community initiatives partner with NGOs like Instituto Socioambiental and social movements historically allied with the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra and cultural organizations including AfroReggae. Collaborative projects have been funded by agencies such as the IADB and the European Commission cultural programs, and they have featured exchanges with museums participating in the International Council of Museums.
The museum is located in Rio de Janeiro near transit nodes connected to landmarks such as the Botafogo waterfront and is accessible from stations on routes serving visitors en route to the Sugarloaf Mountain and the Christ the Redeemer. Visitors can expect rotating exhibitions, public programs, and a research reading room with procedures similar to those at the Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil and the Arquivo Nacional. Ticketing, opening hours, and accessibility follow municipal guidelines administered by the Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro and cultural policies consistent with national standards overseen by the Ministry of Culture.
Category:Museums in Rio de Janeiro (city) Category:Cultural heritage in Brazil