Ipiranga Museum reopens fully restored, modernized and with twice the built area

Publicity

After nine years closed for visitation, the Ipiranga Museum reopened to the public on September 8th, as one of the most complete and modern museums in Latin America. In the last three years, the museum has been through a reform that has raised the highest amount ever captured among the private sector by the Federal Law on Incentive to Culture. The cost of the reform is estimated at R$ 235 million – in addition to the stimulated resources, which are the majority, there are private investments without tax incentive and public contributions. Reopened, the Ipiranga Museum will have its built area doubled, reaching about 14.000 m², and tripled exhibition area, from 12 to 49 rooms, in addition to accessibility to all floors of the building, and the recovery of the French Garden and its fountains. It is expected that, after the completion of the works, the institution will receive between 900.000 and 1 million visitors per year. The building, listed by municipal, state and federal historical heritage, was built between 1885 and 1890 and is situated within the Independence Park complex. Originally conceived as a monument to Independence, it became in 1895 the home of the State Museum, created two years earlier, being the oldest public museum in São Paulo and one of the oldest in the country. Since 1963, it has been under the administration of USP, serving the teaching, research and extension functions of the University.

Together with the restoration and expansion of the works, restorations and inspections were carried out on more than 3.000 objects of the collection that will be exhibited at the reopening. Among them are 122 paintings and two large maquees. Some works, by their dimensions, did not leave the historic building and were restored on site – this is the case of the painting Independence or Death, by Pedro Américo, of the model São Paulo in 1841, of the Dutchman Henrique Bakkenist, and of the marble and bronze statues. 

In the new Ipiranga Museum, the public will come across 12 exhibitions – 11 long-term and a temporary exhibition. The long-term ones are divided into two thematic axes: “To understand society” and “To understand the Museum”. The short-lived exhibition, Memories of Independence, will be open for four months from November. In total, 3.058 items belonging to the Museum’s collection, 509 items from other collections and 76 reproductions and facsimiles will be exhibited. Most objects date from the 19th and 20th centuries, but there are older items dating back to colonial Brazil. The exhibitions include paintings, sculptures, objects, furniture, coins, textual documents, photographs, objects in fabric and wood that bring discussions about Brazilian society, from the intimate sphere of the house to social life, and about the museum itself, its attributions and operation.

One of the main premises of the new project is accessibility. In addition to the physical accessibility of the building, which was equipped with elevators and access ramps, the exhibitions were also designed to offer wider conditions of exploitation of the collection by the public. For this, about 333 multisensory resources will be arranged. There will be touch screens, metal reproductions, dioramas (three-dimensional models made from the works of the Museum), tactile plants for locating visitors, olfactory devices, visual and tactile reproductions (reproductions of images with applications of textures for touch), 3D reproductions and other materials similar to original objects (such as stone and metal), notebooks in Braile, texture samples and original objects acquired specifically for the handling of visitors. All exhibition rooms have a podotactile floor. The process will also be completed in the educational program to be offered, with mediation actions and strategies that aim to contemplate different public profiles.

Service

Rua dos Patriotas, nº 100 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil

Tuesday to Sunday: 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Entry only by prior appointment on the www.museudoipiranga.org.br website, Sympla platform