The rise of Brazil’s far right and the fall of its cultural treasure trove
Self-styled philistine running for presidency is just fine with National Museum’s destruction
It was Latin America’s largest museum collection, from lace bugs and mummies to fossils and indigenous ceramics. Collected over 200 years, the 20 million artefacts in Brazil’s National Museum represented a vast trove of cultural and scientific treasures.
But not everyone in Brazil is mourning its destruction in a fire that gutted the museum in Rio de Janeiro on September 2.
“It’s already burnt down, what do you want me to do about it?” asked Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right populist politician leading the polls for the country’s October 7 presidential election.
Critics fear that if elected, Mr Bolsonaro would not do much to restore the museum, the world-class university courses once taught there, or to help any of Brazil’s other ailing public institutions.
He likes to be compared to US President Donald Trump but a more apt comparison might be French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.
The Brazilian was never a businessman and his family is deeply involved in far-right politics, like Mr Le Pen.
The man who could become leader of the world’s fourth largest democracy is a former army captain and politician for the conservative Social Liberal Party.
His political career has been largely defined by misogynistic, homophobic and racially charged remarks that have had columnists wondering whether he might be the world’s most repulsive politician.
Mr Bolsonaro told a Brazilian congresswoman that she “did not deserve to be raped”, said that he would be “incapable of loving a gay son”, defended the use of torture and said descendants from slaves were lazy and not “fit for procreation”.
But his popularity has risen as he has exploited public fury over crime, corruption and a crumbling economy.
An evangelical Christian and convert to economic liberalism, Mr Bolsonaro, 63, finds little value in investing public money in scientific and cultural institutions. Weeks before the fire, he made headlines by criticising art exhibitions that he deemed immoral.
“We have to gun down the creators of this exhibition,” Mr Bolsonaro said of one show.
His opponents hoped his comments on the fire at the museum – a beloved institution – would dent his popularity. But instead, his supporters rallied.
“Good riddance. Nobody went there anyway,” said Joao Vieira, a Rio pensioner.
“Brazil shouldn’t spend money on museums anyway. They should all be private,” Helena Freitas said.
“I never went and I don’t think anyone will miss it,” Orlando Carlos said.
Museum administrators, initially hoping for relief from the government, are now fearful.
“I was shocked to see how proud some people were of their own ignorance,” said Roberto Lehrer, dean of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, which maintains the budget.
“We were never a priority for any government but we were just shocked at the hatred we have received from some, as if the museum should never have existed. It is as if Brazil abandoned its history because of elections.”
Mr Bolsonaro’s adversaries, who have all expressed sorrow over the loss of the museum, have promised to invest more in the preservation of historic sites and state-owned cultural institutions. One of them will probably face him in a run-off vote on October 28.
Even before the fire, the museum suffered from decades of neglect. Its budget was slashed repeatedly in recent years to only $1.7 million, or Dh6.2m.
By comparison, the British Museum, which has half the collection size, has a government budget of $18.3m – nine times that of the National Museum of Brazil.
The ageing building suffered from leaks and termite infestations, and had no sprinklers. There were plans to move to a new site but it did not have the funding.
Administrators spent three years raising funds to celebrate the museum’s 200th anniversary in May, but even with businesses receiving tax breaks for donations, only $250,000 was pledged.
In a country with a $1.6 trillion economy, it may seem strange that the museum’s paltry budget is an election issue.
“This is our country’s new culture wars,” said singer Tico Santa Cruz, one of Brazil’s most well known cultural agitators.
“The only thing this fire had to with the election was showing we care little about our past. That’s why some voters say there was never torture, there was never political persecution during the military dictatorship.”
Mr Santa Cruz was referring to the human rights abuses under the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, which Mr Bolsonaro has whitewashed.
That the museum could become such a divisive issue is an indication of the current polarisation in the country, said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo.
“For our new right-wing to show they are different from the old guard, they need to use culture as a tool,” Prof Melo said.
“This fire was just one of the first manifestations of that phenomenon. We will see that for a long time.”
Days after his comments on the museum, Mr Bolsonaro was stabbed in the stomach by an opponent at a rally.
He is expected to return to the campaign trail shortly. Despite his absence, the fiery Bolsonaro brand of populism continues to grow in the polls.