Angry Brazilians find metaphor for their struggles in museum fire

Up to 90 per cent of the collection may have been lost. The museum was home to one of the oldest fossils ever found in the Americas. Photo / AP

Brazil's National Museum was so strapped for cash that it turned to crowdfunding to reopen an exhibition that closed after a termite infestation.

Officials sought at least US$7000 this year on a crowd funding site to rebuild a base that held a dinosaur skeleton.

The institution's precarious financial situation came to light as criticism flew about who was responsible for the devastating fire. Firefighters dug through the burned-out hulk as the country mourned the treasures lost.

The museum held Latin America's largest collection of historical artifacts. Cristiana Serejo, a vice-director of the museum, told G1 that as little as 10 per cent of the collection may have survived. Some parts of the collection were stored at other sites. Civil defence authorities were concerned that internal walls and the roof could collapse further, so officials had to wait to conduct a full accounting of losses.

For many in Brazil, the state of the 200-year-old museum became a metaphor for what they see as the gutting of Brazilian culture and life during years of corruption, economic collapse and poor governance. "It's a crime that the museum was allowed to get to this shape," said Laura Albuquerque, 29, who was in a crowd protesting outside the gates. "What happened isn't just regrettable, it's devastating, and politicians are responsible for it."

Federal police will investigate the fire since the museum was part of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. But protesters, commentators and museum directors themselves said years of government neglect had left the museum underfunded.

Luiz Fernando Dias Duarte, the museum's deputy director, criticised authorities for starving the museum of vital funding while spending lavishly on stadiums to host the World Cup in 2014. "The money spent on each one of those stadiums - a quarter of that would have been enough to make this museum safe and resplendent."

Roberto Leher, rector of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, said it was well known that the building was vulnerable to fire and in need of extensive repairs.

The museum's budget had fallen from around US$130,000 in 2013 to around US$84,000 last year.

The institution had secured approval for nearly US$5 million for a planned renovation, including an upgrade of the fire-prevention system . "The money is now there, but we ran out of time," museum Director Alexander Kellner said.

- AP