On 2 September 2020, a digital panel discussion marking the second anniversary of the devastating fire in the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro will dicscuss the risks and opportunities of reopening museums during the pandemic. The event will be streamed live on the Goethe-Institut's YouTube channel from 3 to 4:30 PM (CET) in English and simultaneously translated into Portuguese.
The Museu Nacional and the Goethe-Institut jointly invite to an international conference in Rio de Janeiro, which will provide a framework for the discussion of current issues and future-oriented exchange between natural history and ethnological museums in South America and Europe. Due to the Corona pandemic, the planned conference will take place in physical form in Rio de Janeiro, probably from 3-5 June 2021.
The time leading up to the conference will be used for a series of workshops on issues related to the reconstruction of the museum, which will take place as a collaboration between the Museu Nacional and museums and other partners in Germany. On 2 September 2020, the anniversary of the catastrophe, a digital panel discussion will focus on the risks and opportunities of reopening museums during the pandemic. Participants in the panel include Alexander Kellner (Director Museu Nacional), Gabriela Rangel (Director Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires), Barbara Plankensteiner (Director Museum am Rothenbaum Hamburg) and Johannes Vogel (Director General Museum für Naturkunde Berlin). The participants and guests of the panel discussion will be welcomed by Minister of State Michelle Müntefering for the Federal Foreign Office and Secretary General Johannes Ebert for the Goethe-Institut.