RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The National Museum of Brazil will host its first exhibition on Thursday after it was devastated by fire in September 2018.
"We are already looking for partners to get the exhibition to travel, the National Museum is still alive," the director of the museum and paleontologist Alexander Kellner told local media.
The exhibition, entitled "When everything was not ice - New discoveries in the Antarctic continent" will be held at the Museum of the Brazilian Mint, whose building was the original site of the National Museum during the 19th century.
It will present the work of the "Paleoantar" project, which has been collecting and studying Antarctic rocks and fossils. Among the artifacts are eight pieces rescued from the rubble of the National Museum itself, as well as bones and replicas of prehistoric animals, according to Kellner.
Kellner is seeking support from the government for the National Museum. "The National Museum is not adrift, and the greatest proof is this exhibition," he said.
The National Museum is Brazil's oldest scientific institution, which commemorated its bicentennial in 2018. Home to more than 20 million objects including aboriginal artifacts, fossils, meteorites and Egyptian mummies dating back 3,000 years, it was the biggest natural history museum in Latin America.
After the devastating fire in September 2018 that destroyed many archive items, the museum has been endeavoring to restore the buildings and exhibits.
The Brazilian government announced the formation of a steering committee and a fund to rebuild the museum, and collective efforts have been made to get help from the international community to assemble a new collection for the museum.
