Culture is a living, organic entity. All of us partake of it and, in so doing, recreate it for ourselves and preserve it for our posterity. But the people who embody a culture do not come from nothing. Everything from food to clothing, songs to dance, architectural styles to traditional motifs are products of many generations. Without such access to the past, the cultures of today have no roots.

Protecting the past is not a matter of idle consideration but of constant vigilance. I have been thinking deeply about what it takes to protect our collective past since news broke of the most tragic loss of our world’s cultural heritage in recent memory: the September 2nd fire at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro.

Started by unknown causes, the fire quickly engulfed the 200-year-old museum in towering flames. Within hours, only the exterior walls of the structure were left standing. Museum authorities estimate that 90 percent of the collection’s 20 million objects were destroyed.

This is a truly incalculable loss. Brazil’s National Museum was a massive international institution and a pillar of the heritage community. The museum held irreplaceable artifacts and antiquities, including the most ancient human fossil from the Americas, Latin America’s oldest collection of Egyptian artifacts, and cultural records of Indigenous knowledge preserved nowhere else in the world.

Heartbreakingly, this tragedy may have been prevented. The museum lacked a system of fire sprinklers and had only a handful of fire extinguishers on site. Since 2014, the museum had not received the $125,000 allotted in the national budget for its upkeep. When it celebrated its 200th anniversary earlier this year, the museum was notable for its state of decay. No government minister showed up to commemorate the momentous event.

The government of Brazil did not give its country’s heritage the protection it deserved, and because of that, the people of Brazil and the world have lost it. There can be no more potent warning for individuals, institutions, and governments around the world. If we do not value the physical and spiritual links that connect the living, the dead, and those yet to be, we are at risk of forgetting or losing the past. Without this connection to our ancestors and their world, without knowing where we have come from, we will face enormous challenges moving our culture and our people forward.

Now is the time for governments to increasing funding for cultural institutions, but the all too unfortunate reality is that public sector shortfalls and declining budgets means times are tough for historic sites. Private sector and civil society must take action. Citizens (like you!) can take steps to help prevent another heritage disaster such as this one:

  • Support your local museums and cultural institutions
  • Donate to organizations like GHF, or join us as a monthly supporter
  • Share news about this situation with your friends and family

There is always hope for a brighter future. As firefighters sift through the rubble of the once-proud National Museum, I am heartened to see that countries such as China and Portugal are taking heed and urging better protection for their own country’s institutions. More people than ever understand that remembrance of the past is the foundation of our present and the springboard for our future. That is a heartening thought.

At GHF, we are doing our part. We are working to educate future leaders in the heritage field about disaster prevention and responses to protect antiquities. Yet cultural institutions throughout the world are aging rapidly, and it’s not always feasible to maintain every institution in ideal conditions. This is why it’s so important to digitize heritage. Especially with the rapid development of modern technologies, digitization is a key tool in the fight to document, record, and protect cultural collections.

Our AMAL in Heritage program is one such tool, and I hope that cultural organizations and institutions include AMAL as they explore all disaster prevention options. As a simple solution for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, AMAL requires no expensive equipment and can help with low-cost digitization.

I again take this opportunity to offer my heartfelt condolences to the people of Brazil, and I offer full support for cultural institutions interested in utilizing AMAL for documentation of heritage objects and sites. We at Global Heritage Fund stand in solidarity with Brazil and the international heritage community in this challenging hour.

Warmly,

Stefaan Poortman
Chief Executive Officer
Global Heritage Fund