State Museums Preserve Memory, Identity, and Strengthen the Culture of Pará
The population of Belém is one of the highest museum visitors in Brazil, according to the research Culture in the Capitals, by JLeiva Cultura & Esporte
With more than 15 museums and memorials in operation, preserving the memory and identity of the people of Pará, the state is increasingly gaining national prominence. According to the research Culture in the Capitals, by JLeiva Cultura & Esporte, sponsored by the Instituto Cultural Vale, through the Federal Law of Incentive to Culture, the population of Belém is one of the highest museum visitors in Brazil. About 35% of residents have the habit of visiting museums, while the national average is 27%.
From 2019 to 2025, more than 1.8 million people have already been served in the spaces of the Integrated System of Museums and Memorials (SIMM). The state secretary of Culture (Secult), Ursula Vidal, emphasizes that the significant increase in visitors to museums shows a Pará that recognizes itself in its own history and understands culture as a right.
“This result is the fruit of the access democratization policy that the Government of Pará has been implementing since 2019. We created new facilities, such as the Museum of the Amazons, recently opened and already surpassed 25,000 visitors in just 15 days of operation. We also created the Memorial of Cabanagem, the Faciola Palace, the Soledade Cemetery Park, which is the first cemetery-museum in the North, and restructured the Marajó Museum, the Cultural Station of Icoaraci, the Verônica Tembé Memorial, the entire Porto Futuro complex, and the Museum of Image and Sound, which has a new home in Faciola,” emphasizes the head of Secult.
Among the strategies of the cultural policy are the guarantee of free entry on Sundays, extended hours, the maintenance of symbolic prices, the creation of programs such as ‘A Night at the Museum’, and efforts to strengthen ties and transform the daily lives of people in all cultural facilities managed by Secult. “This movement of belonging and encounter with art is what makes culture an essential good and Pará a reference for Brazil,” adds Ursula Vidal.
The logistics assistant, Alvaro Mota, 22 years old, is one of the residents of Pará who loves visiting the state museums. “Each visit feels like a journey into our own culture and history. I feel like I am learning and revisiting cultures that I have never witnessed before, as well as interesting stories about our past as the capital of the Amazon. I enjoy visiting and appreciating the architectural heritage in buildings like the Casa Francisco Bolonha and the Museum of the State of Pará. I am more fascinated by science and history because of the wealth that the sciences in the Amazon bring us, beyond the stories about Belém and the Amazon that many are unaware of and seem disbelieving when they hear them, thinking that because Belém is a city in the North, it could not have such a history,” he says.
Armando Sobral, director of SIMM, explains some of the measures promoted by the Government of Pará to strengthen the System. Museums, which previously opened generally from 9 am to 2 pm, now operate from 9 am to 5 pm; there has also been an expansion of accessibility and democratization of the facilities; as well as an expansion of the free entry regime.
“We have been doing a significant internal job, especially in maintaining these spaces, such as in building actions that take museums to the peripheries and bring the school community closer. We focus on the thematic and typological diversity of the museums that also allows us access to a broad understanding of culture and art here in the Amazon,” concludes Armando Sobral.
MUSEUMS AND MEMORIALS – Among the state museums are the Sacred Art Museum of Pará, Forte do Presépio, the Museum of the State of Pará, Cultural Space Casa das Onze Janelas, Museum of Image and Sound, Círio Museum, Gem Museum of Pará, Amazonian Navigation Museum, Marajó Museum, and Museum of the Amazons, in addition to the memorials of Cabanagem and Verônica Tembé, and the Faciola Palace and Soledade Cemetery Park.
