Brazil's gutted National Museum seeks funds in Europe

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Brazil's National Museum director headed to Europe Tuesday for a two-week fundraising trip to help finance the rebuilding of the institution devastated by fire last year.

Alexander Kellner told AFP he would visit Germany and France in search of support after failing to get the much-needed aid in Brazil.

"Our objective is to show our reconstruction efforts and explain how institutions from other countries can contribute," Kellner said before boarding a plane in Rio de Janeiro.

"This tragedy transcends our borders. It is not just Brazil which suffered. The fire affected collections from other countries."

An aerial view of the National Museum of Brazil after a fire burnt it in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 3, 2018. /VCG Photo

Beyond funds needed for the reconstruction of Latin America's main natural history museum, the institution needs money to safeguard artifacts rescued from the ashes of the gutted building.

Kellner told reporters earlier this month that the museum required one million reals (about 250,000 U.S.dollars) "to be able to breathe."

After the blaze, the education ministry released the equivalent of 2.5 million U.S.dollars for emergency works to preserve the building's facade. But other public funds have not yet been disbursed.

Aerial view of the damage to the National Museum of Brazil after a devastating fire in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 3, 2018. /VCG Photo

Kellner said Tuesday the museum was still waiting for a "clear signal from the (Jair) Bolsonaro government about the reconstruction of the National Museum."

Kellner plans to meet with representatives of the German and French governments and museums, and visit the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris to "see how the reconstruction is organized and show solidarity."

Brazil's National Museum had received the equivalent of 280,000 U.S. dollars in donations, Kellner told AFP previously – a fraction of the more than one billion dollars pledged for the Notre-Dame.

The total cost of restoring the National Museum will reportedly be around 100 million reals.

(Cover: View of the inside of Brazil's National Museum taken as journalists make their visit since the building burnt down last September, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February 12, 2019. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP