Notícias
Images of the Belgian expedition to Brazil 100 years ago are on display at Galpão das Artes
The exhibition brings to the public reproductions of a significant part of the historic collection of photographs of the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro and other items from the expedition led by botanist Jean Massart 100 years ago, as well as images of current expeditions that show the continuity of field research of the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro. The show opens to the public on Monday, June 27, 2022, at 11am, and will remain until September 27 at the Galpão das Artes in the Botanical Garden.
The exhibition The Botanical Garden and the Belgian Expedition to Brazil 1922-23 aims to present to the public part of the rich photographic collection of the Research Institute Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro. The exhibited images are reproductions of photographs produced by Belgian biologists who were in Brazil during this period, on their way to the Amazon. Together with the trip reports, which can be found in the rare works of the Library of the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro, these images constitute a valuable scientific patrimony.
The exhibition is organized in six major themes, addressing: the organization of the 'Belgian mission' and the role of the Botanical Garden in its achievement; the scientific trips they made in the State of Rio de Janeiro before traveling to other states to the Amazon; the scientific importance of the expedition; the scientific photographic collection from the expedition, with the presentation of some glass originals, and the production of scientific knowledge in the field until today.
Historically, the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden, through its researchers, has as one of its functions to develop field work and maintain interchange with Brazilian and foreign institutions.
Already during the first decades of the 20th century, the Garden organized and carried out expeditions. One of these trips was the Belgian biological "Mission" to Brazil, which took place between 1922 and 1923.
Considered by European researchers and professors who analyzed the results of the trip as a contribution to the study of biogeography in Brazil, the Belgian expedition especially pointed out the relevance of research on the Amazon, since, according to its members, the region had been little studied until then.
The "mission" was also considered, by its contemporaries, the extension of a vast movement of botanical interest from Belgium, present in the early nineteenth century, with the trips to Brazil made by the also Belgian Van Houte, in 1834.
The young Belgian biologists and their paths in Brazil
In mid-1922, a group of young biologists, botanists and zoologists, some of them connected to the University of Brussels, and others to the Léo Errera Botanical Garden, from the same university, left Anvers, in Belgium, heading to Brazil: Jean Massart, professor and director of the Léo Errera Botanical Institute from the University of Brussels (trip coordinator); Raymond Bouillenne, botanist from the University of Liége; the botanists Paul Ledoux, Albert Navez, and the zoologist Paul Brien, the last three from the University of Brussels.
Conceived by physician and biologist Jean Massart, recognized as a pioneer in nature conservation in Belgium, the expedition traveled to different locations in Brazil and had as its objectives the study of fauna and flora and the collection of objects for demonstration in university courses. The trips of the Belgian mission took place in several stages: Rio de Janeiro; São Paulo; Minas Gerais and Bahia; Pernambuco, Ceará, Pará and Amazonas.
In a conference at the Royal Society of Medical and Natural Sciences in Brussels, Massart summarized the description of his trip to Brazil, highlighting the welcome received by government authorities and scientists from different places and institutions:
"We landed in Rio on August 16, 1922 after three stopovers of a few days in Recife and Bahia (...) and then received a welcome from the local administrative authorities." In Rio de Janeiro, at the Botanical Garden, Jean Massart and the other members of the 'mission' stayed for five weeks: "A large laboratory (...) was put at our disposal which allowed us to take advantage of the Garden's wonderful collections".
Planned and directed by scientists from the Botanical Garden - Antonio Pacheco Leão (director of the institution) and João Geraldo Kuhlmann, among others, the trips of the Belgian 'mission' were made initially for one day: to Jacarepaguá, Barra da Tijuca and Piratininga; to the islands of Guanabara Bay and Tijuca Forest.
The naturalists also went to Xerém, with Adolpho Lutz, from the Manguinhos Institute, and to Deodoro, with Arséne Puttemans, a Belgian botanist connected to the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture.
"All these trips were registered by the Belgian biologists and, associated with the scientific texts, reports and diaries, the photographs play a function of the greatest relevance, since they integrate an important material for teaching, research and scientific dissemination, consolidating the role that the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro has been playing as one of its important missions," says historian and JBRJ affiliate researcher Alda Heizer, curator of the exhibition.
The exhibition design direction is by Mary Paz Guillen. Excerpts from the Belgian report were used, together with texts that were produced by specialists from the Botanical Garden: History (Alda Heizer), Ethnobotany (Viviane Stern da Fonseca-Kruel); Itatiaia (Claudia Barros), Amazonia (Rafaela Campostrini Forzza) and scientific photography (Raul Ribeiro).
During the exhibition, in August, the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro will also promote discussions with experts on photography and scientific expeditions and workshops with the Environmental Education team.
Service
Exhibition The Botanical Garden and the Belgian Expedition in Brazil 1922-23
From 6/27 to 9/27/2022, daily, from 9am to 5pm.
Opening on 6/27, at 11am.
Place: Galpão das Artes do Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro
Access by Rua Jardim Botânico, 1008.
Free entrance.