Museum of Tomorrow Reopens in Rio After Nearly Six Months Closed

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Museum of Tomorrow, at Mauá Square, Rio de Janeiro’s port area, reopened to the public yesterday, September 5th, after being closed for almost six months. Activities were suspended on March 16th, as a result of social isolation measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

As health prevention measures, recommended by the International Council of Museums, the institution is taking visitors’ temperature and demanding the wearing of masks. The museum has also stepped up the sanitation of interactive equipment, provided sanitizer points and mats and changed the exhibition’s route, eliminating the option of returning to prevent crowds in the halls.

The number of visitors is restricted to 300 per hour, or a total of 1,200. The sale of tickets is done exclusively online and the purchase is confirmed in automatic totems. For the time being, the museum will be open between Thursday and Sunday, from 10 AM to 5 PM. Tickets cost R$26, with guaranteed free admission and half price as provided by law.

According to Ricardo Piquet, director-president of the institute that manages the museum, losses during the period in which the institution was closed amount to approximately R$6 million.

“Because of the pandemic, the Museum of Tomorrow failed to raise some R$6 million in 2020, with losses in ticket sales, event and store rental, restaurant and café. Yet, we maintained security, cleaning and maintenance operations, and developed an online program to stay connected to our public and update the long-term exhibition.”

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The long-term exhibition at the Museum of Tomorrow has been updated. The initial video Cosmos, shown in a 360-degree dome projection, now includes new sensations guided by the experience of the pandemic.

Satellite photos of cities during the quarantine, with empty streets, were also included in the Earth area. The Anthropocene area, which shows the evolution of the environmental movement and the footprint that humanity will leave on the planet, ran up to the Paris Agreement in 2016 and has now reached the “Coronacene” era.

The ‘Cidades Conectadas’ (Connected Cities) interactive attraction shows how the pandemic has spread around the world. A video by Dr. Jurema Werneck, current executive director of Amnesty International in Brazil, discusses the social and economic impacts of the pandemic and another with Marcia Chame, biologist of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), discusses the biological factors that influence the emergence of epidemics.

During the period in which it was closed, the Museum of Tomorrow operated online, with activities such as weekly debates, monthly meetings on sustainability and virtual tours to the temporary Pratodomundo – Food for ten billion exhibition.

Other museums

The Museu de Arte do Rio (Rio Art Museum – MAR), also at Praça Mauá, remains closed and has not yet announced its resumption of on-site activities. The same is true for two downtown museums: Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (Bank of Brazil Cultural Center – CCBB), and the Caixa Cultural, in Largo da Carioca. The Museu de Arte Moderna (Modern Art Museum – MAM), at Aterro do Flamengo near downtown, is scheduled to reopen next Saturday, September 12th.

The National Historical Museum, at Praça 15 downtown, is following the instructions of the Brazilian Institute of Museums (IBRAM), directed to federal institutions, and will remain closed until October 15th, as will the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts), at Cinelândia.

Source: Agência Brasil