The mismatch between an academy structure and a museum structure in university museums: the case os the Museu Nacional (UFRJ)

Abstract

The National Museum/UFRJ was created in 1818 by D. João VI. In its two hundred years of history, it went through the process of structuring its collections and being incorporated into the University of Brazil in 1946, currently the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), becoming a national and international reference for areas of Natural History and  Anthropology, through its collections and excellence in teaching, research and extension. The fire on September 2, 2018 marked another important chapter in its history – the struggle for its reconstruction. Part of this effort was the 
composition of a committee of servants that looked at the revision and the construction of a new statute for the institution. Thus, this paper analyzes the complexity of the structure of National Museum and discussing some practical problems that hinder its filled role as a museum and as an integrating part of a university. This debate is extensible and necessary
to all museums immersed in a university framework, where the museum structure may be limited by a university structure that encompasses only
standard academic units or supplementary organs with no autonomy, not contemplating the particularities of typical museums. Lastly, the creation of a museum-academic structure is proposed where all categories of civil servants could act collaboratively in favor of a diverse, dynamic, plural institution, openly dialoguing with the university and society, ready to face the new paradigms of the 21st century.