The eighth edition of 'Los museos se muestran' (Museums on Display) is being held today at the Itaú Cultural Space - Port Cultural Center in Asunción, serving as a significant meeting point for memory, heritage, and citizenship. Organized by the Association 'Noche de los Museos - Paraguay', the event will host approximately forty museums, cultural centers, and research institutions from various parts of the country between 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM, presenting parts of their collections and educational initiatives in a single venue. Admission is free.
Curated by Alicia Elias, Leticia Alvarenga, and Javier Palma, this year's edition focuses on the theme "The port as a meeting point," aligning with the International Council of Museums (ICOM) global theme, "Museums uniting a divided world." The initiative aims to explore the role of museums as spaces for cultural mediation, memory preservation, and the fostering of social connections in contemporary contexts marked by crises, displacement, and cultural transformations.
Participating institutions include the Science Museum Foundation, Demetrio Ortiz Foundation Museum, Fernández Caballero Museum, Jewish Museum of Paraguay, FCM-UNA Cultural Center, Neuland Historical Museum, El Tour de Liebig, Museum of Bibles, National Museum of Fine Arts, ITAIPÚ Tierra Guaraní Museum, Museum of Immigrants and House of Culture of Bella Vista, CAF Integration House, Roa Bastos Cultural Space, Masonic Cultural Center and Museum, San Rafael Parish Museum, Museum of the Fallen in Ytororó, "Juan Emiliano O'Leary" Museum, AVAIU Interpretation Center, Photographic Camera Museum of the Higher Technical Institute of Imaging, Asunción Central Station Railway Museum, Fray Juan Bernardo Museum, CLYFSA Museum, CEL Museum, and the Heimatmuseum der Kolonie Menno.
Other participants include the Fo Guang Shan Paraguay Buddhist Temple, El Cántaro Popular BioSchool, Asunción Chair Museum (MUSA), Agustín Pío Barrios House of Music, Augusto Roa Bastos House of Literature, Tala Ern Retifoff House of Dance, Carlos Colombino City Cultural Center (Manzana de la Rivera), Edda de los Ríos House of Theater, Ignacio Núñez Soler House of Visual Arts, El Cabildo Cultural Center of the Republic, Spain Cultural Center in Asunción, Texo Foundation for Contemporary Art, Fernheim Museums, and the "Nene y Papi Barreto" Drum Museum and Academy.
The program begins at 10:00 AM with the official opening. At 11:00 AM, welcome remarks will be delivered, followed by a performance by the FADA música group. At 11:30 AM, a guided tour will be led by the curatorial team. Later, between 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM, Croquiseros Urbanos will conduct an open intervention within the venue.
Academic and reflection activities will take place in the auditorium of the Port Cultural Center. At 2:00 PM, Gonzalo Recalde Ramírez, Project Manager and Communications Director of MuCi (Paraguay's future first Science Museum), will present "Creating Community Through Language," focusing on building connections with diverse audiences through participatory communication strategies. At 3:00 PM, journalist and science communicator Eduardo Quintana, founder of Ciencia del Sur, will present "What are Museums For When the World Falls Apart?", reflecting on the social function of these institutions during crises.
At 4:00 PM, Silvia Rossanna Rey Méndez, president of the National ICOMOS Committee and coordinator of the Tekorenda Program, will discuss "Tekorenda: Heritage as a Site of Life, Memory, and Community Development." At 5:00 PM, María Stella Bogarín Frutos and Jorge Benítez Cabral, co-authors of the book 'Suenan los secretos de Santiago,' will present "Rescue of the Guaraní-Jesuit History of Santiago, Misiones." The cycle concludes at 6:00 PM with a presentation by Professor Doctor Camilo de Mello Vasconcellos, subdirector of the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at the University of São Paulo (MAE-USP), titled "The Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of USP: Profile and Perspectives of a Brazilian Anthropological Museum."