Restoration project of the collection of the Casa das Onze Janelas wins award in São Paulo
Initiative is recognized by the Brazilian Association of Art Critics. A total of 1,087 works have been restored, and the work continues with the support of the Government of Pará.
The "Research and Museological Documentation Project of the Visual Arts Collection of the Cultural Space of the Eleven Windows, in Belém (PA)", from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), in partnership with the Integrated System of Museums and Memorials of the State Department of Culture (SIMM/Secult), received an award from the Brazilian Association of Art Critics (ABCA) this Tuesday (9). The project started in December 2022 and will run until February 2026.
With about 20 collections of artworks, the Casa das Onze Janelas (Cojan) is the reference museum for Contemporary Art in the Northern Region. So far, the project has documented and preserved 11 collections of the visual arts collection, totaling 1,087 works by 440 artists.
The work has been carried out by researchers, administrative technicians, and undergraduate and graduate students from the Faculty of Visual Arts at UFPA. The Biological Sciences course – Mycology Laboratory, in partnership with the Department of Museology at the Federal University of Bahia, and the Graduate Program in Communication, Languages, and Culture at the University of the Amazon are also involved. The project also includes the participation of professionals from SIMM/Secult.
Award – On Tuesday night, the project received the Emanoel Araújo Award in the Collection/Collection/Conservation/Historical Documentation category. The award ceremony took place in São Paulo, organized by ABCA, an institution linked to the International Association of Art Critics (Aica). Of great national and international relevance, the recognition also impacts the artistic scene of the Northern Region.
“From the network partnership between universities, the museum, and civil society, what is expected is that research on the collections and their dissemination will provide methods and data for the generation of public policies in the cultural area, especially for the art museum. Likewise, the results obtained highlight the importance of critical investigation of Museology and recent Art History and their insertion in the museum, aiming to minimize the scarce information about the works and artists, associated with a more horizontal reflection of the identity profiles of the collections, projecting their preservation and communication programs, considering the expanded dimension of both Art and the museum, from a decolonial and intersectional perspective,” says the project coordinator, Rosangela Britto.
“This project raised several questions in the field of conservation of museum collections. One of them was to rethink and evaluate the conservation measures of the collections linked to the Department of Culture. Thus, the project enabled the review and evaluation of the conservation status of numerous works that were stored. It is a network research work, bringing together various professionals who could act on several fronts,” says the coordinator of the Preservation, Conservation, and Restoration Division of SIMM.
Investment – In 2019, under the current management, the historic building of the Casa das Onze Janelas was reopened after various repairs and structural and safety reforms. The Government of Pará invested R$ 4,361,992.70 to carry out the preservation work of the historical heritage. Since then, various maintenance activities have been carried out.
The restoration work processes have been documented and can be accessed on this website, access here. Also, on the YouTube channel of the project, where a web series in six episodes is available.
Text by Juliana Amaral / Ascom Secult
