When history burns
I have never been to Brazil. I’ve not walked the sandy beaches of Rio de Janeiro, nor have I seen the great National Museum of Brazil. Sadly, no one will be able to see the collections held by that museum anymore. On Sept. 3 the palatial 200-year-old National Museum of Brazil burned.
The most important question the media have asked in the past weeks has been “How could that happen?” As a member of the curatorial staff at the Esplanade Museum, I am reminded every single day of the responsibility I have to the people of this community and the collection of artifacts and stories we hold.
The foremost responsibility we have as a museum is protecting the history of this community. We keep the stories and the artifacts — the links to our past — safe and secure. We provide public access to the collections (come see us and ask!) and we present our research on them through exhibits and programming. We record the stories and artifacts in both analog and digital formats, and we keep offsite backups of our files in case something happens to the collections or our computer servers. We don’t do this to make money. We don’t do it for pride or to polish our own egos. We do it because it must be done. We do it because it is the core of our culture.
Culture is built on stories. The stories that tell us who we are and why we matter. Most people have their family stories, and sometimes artifacts that go with them, and they tell and re-tell these stories to their children. That is how we develop our families. This is what makes one family different from another. This happens for communities, too. At the museum and archives, we collect and preserve the stories, the documents and the artifacts from the community. This community really is something like a family. There are ups and downs, sadness and joy, success and failure, and it all makes up the story of Medicine Hat. It makes this city different from others, and we take pride in our city, just as we do our families. It is what makes us who we are. Why did the National Museum in Brazil burn? Why are all the collections lost? Why have the people of Brazil lost almost 20 million of the artifacts and stories that form their culture and history? Ultimately, it was due to a lack of resources. The government cut funds and withheld funding and the museum gradually suffered. When the flames began to lick at the walls, it became obvious that it was too little, too late.
Thomas Hulit is museum technician at the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre.