Museum introduces visitors to the world's largest tropical biome

Visitors to the Museum of Tomorrow, in Praça Mauá, Rio's port region, can take a trip to the largest tropical biome in the world with the temporary exhibition Fruturos - Tempos Amazônicos , in seven areas, presenting biodiversity in all its extension and knowledge present in the region. The exhibition proposes new discoveries in the relationship between the forest and the climate, but calls attention to the urgency of its conservation.

The tour starts in a scenario with silhouettes of trees flooded by the floods. On the ceiling, an anaconda and a pirarucu can be seen, while the sounds of aquatic beings envelop the visitor in the Amazonian environment. Also at the beginning of the exhibition, the visitor-traveler's attention will be attracted by a real coccoloba leaf, a regional tree, measuring about 1.60 meters (m), one of the largest leaves in the world.

Next, contact is with various objects used by indigenous peoples. On the walls, plaques indicate the number of languages spoken in the Amazon. As the exhibition has a series of interactive experiences, there the traveler will be able to hear the sound of indigenous instruments as they approach each one, including a drum and a flute.

In another interactive scheme, sitting around the characterization of a kapok tree, considered one of the largest trees in the Amazon, the visitor will see how the communities that inhabit the forest, such as farmers, extractivists and riverside dwellers, live. The journey continues through a winding balcony that refers to a river with three tributaries. Each one of them represents a factor that puts the preservation of the biome at risk. A video projected on the site shows the expansion of pastures and the construction of major infrastructure works.

The exhibition also reserves a festive atmosphere that portrays the local culture in different aspects. There, the visitor will get to know the music and dances of the region, the cuisine, the literary production and the clothes used on special festive occasions, such as that of the Ashaninka people and one of the marabas performances. You can also see a piece of the Círio de Nazaré rope. For the kids, fun is also guaranteed in the water lily pads, with the presence of a pink dolphin.

Almost finishing the tour, the projection of videos brings testimonies of the inhabitants of the region and their perspectives for the future. In yet another interaction, the association of the bioeconomy's potential with traditional and scientific knowledge emerges with the Pirarucu Game. Also in the room, the public will see a structure that refers to the Torre Atto, which measures 325 meters and is used for monitoring meteorological, chemical and biological data.

In the end, a virtual reality experience in a small maloca, visitors participate in a game in which they need to collect a series of products in the forest by becoming an avatar of an indigenous person.

Preparation

Mostra speaks of the different times that coexist in the Amazon, says curator Leonardo Menezes - Tomaz Silva/Agência Brasil

According to the curator of the exhibition and director of Knowledge and Creation at the Museum of Tomorrow, Leonardo Menezes, the exhibition began to be worked on in 2017, when trips to the region began to portray the different current dimensions of the Amazon and which are the scenarios that open to the future.

"The exhibition talks about the different times that coexist in the Amazon today and about how we can create a new model of socioeconomic development, based on three axes: scientific knowledge, the knowledge and practices of traditional populations and the commitment to the standing forest" , Menezes said at the ceremony in which the exhibition was presented to guests.

For Menezes, the development model in the last 50 years has not generated wealth, has deforested more than 20% of the forest and has not privileged the traditional knowledge of people who have interacted with the forest for millennia. “Scientific research reveals that indigenous territories, for example, have the highest rates of biodiversity conservation,” he said, during the presentation ceremony of the exhibition for guests.

objects

The exhibition has the largest number of objects in the history of the Museum of Tomorrow from the reuse of pieces from other exhibitions that have already been there, and the opening date coincides with the six-year anniversary of this important cultural space in the city. .

On the tour, the visitor will see that the exhibition is not restricted to Brazil, because the Amazon spreads over eight countries and one territory and currently has more than 30 million inhabitants, thousands of plant species, which transforms it into one of the most biodiverse regions in the world.

Fruturos Show - Amazon Times covers knowledge from eight countries, without being restricted to Brazil - Tomaz Silva/Agência Brasil

The objective of the exhibition is to encourage the public to reflect on the possibilities of getting involved in a development model that preserves the forest standing, mainly through the union between science and traditional knowledge. Therefore, it will receive students. “How does this list of Fruturos-Tempos Amazônicos reach the favela? How does it reach many children and teenagers who have been dropped out of school? That's what we're thinking about, when we talk about coexistence. How do we make this discussion get here to the museum's neighbors?”, asked Luana Génot, the institution's consultant for Coexistence.

For the indigenous Vanda Ortega, from the Witoto ethnic group, it is necessary to value how the native peoples look at the Amazon. “We have to talk about people, because they are the ones who keep the forest standing. It is from the way of life of these populations who live on the banks of rivers and in their territories that it is still possible to contemplate the greenery that exists in the Amazon region”, he said.

Utensils from indigenous peoples of the Amazon are part of the exhibition at the Museum of Tomorrow - Tomaz Silva/Agência Brasil

Vale's Executive Vice President of Institutional Relations and Communication and President of the Board of the Instituto Cultural Vale, Luiz Eduardo Osorio, highlighted that when an exhibition like this is held, a dialogue is maintained and a look at the culture of forest, which has cultural riches that are very representative of the human presence in the region, but also where one lives with devastation, which needs to be fought, and with illegal mining. "Our companies need to be preserved and large companies have a fundamental role in this," he said.

Scientist Paulo Artaxo, who is the exhibition's chief scientific consultant, points out the integration between the Amazon biome, the climate, traditional populations and the more than 30 million people who live in the region as the main highlight of the exhibition. "The exhibition shows the conflicts, the areas of balance that exist and, from this point of view, it integrates all the main factors that mark the development of the Amazon region."

Association

The director-president of the Institute for Development and Management (IBG), which manages the Museum of Tomorrow, Ricardo Piquet, said that the proposal to think about the future, based on the creation of this institution in the city of Rio, has spread throughout the world and today it is associated with several other cultural facilities. “The Foundation in Amsterdam, called Museum of Tomorrow International, coordinates an alliance of future-oriented science museums like the Museum of Tomorrow. This is where we see the ingenious idea of the museum, when talking about tomorrow, which caused concerns in other museums”, he said.

The Fruturos - Tempos Amazônicos exhibition is organized by the Museum of Tomorrow, in partnership with the Development and Management Institute, the Rio City Hall, the Vale Cultural Institute, through the Culture Incentive Law, of the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (Ipam), from Agência France Press, Globo and Agência Sapiens.

Text translated using artificial intelligence.