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WHAT IS LOST WHEN A MUSEUM VANISHES? IN BRAZIL, A NATION’S STORY
1 According to the deputy director at the museum, a 200-year-old Rio de Janeiro institution, the fire that
burned down much of the building two weeks ago may have consumed 90 percent of the collection.
3 That’s thousands, maybe millions, of objects — incomprehensible numbers.
4 It’s always easier to think in smaller terms, specific examples. The museum preserved documentation
of indigenous languages for which there are no longer any living native speakers. Every one of those
records apparently went up in smoke, taking with it a culture, a civilization, the story of a life, a chapter
of us.
8 Because that’s what museums like the National Museum ultimately do. They piece together the narrative
of who we are, where we come from, where we belong — in the universe, on this planet, as nations,
communities, individuals.
11 For generation after generation, the National Museum, a repository of science, art and history, has been
where parents passed down to their children what it means to be human and, more specifically, what it
means to be Brazilian.
14 It’s no wonder that the fire became an instant metaphor for the country’s decline. While it was still
burning, crowds gathered at the museum gates. Afterward, a group of students issued a call for any
photographs, videos, even selfies taken with the collection and in the exhibition spaces, to create a digital
archive, a kind of virtual bulwark against forgetfulness.
KIMMELMANN, Michael. What Is Lost When a Museum Vanishes? In Brazil, a Nation’s Story. NY Times. Available at: . Accessed: SEP 30th 2018 (adapted).
In line 17, “a kind of virtual bulwark against forgetfulness” refers to
