On October 17, the National Museum of Natural Sciences of Madrid fulfilled 250 years. Though currently it's found in the former Palace of Arts and Industry from the Paseo de la Castellana, its precursor institution was the Royal House of Geography and Cabinet of Natural History, founded in 1752 by Ferdinand VI in the Lavapies neighborhood.
The recognizable facade of the Science Museum.
However, it is considered as its origin the acquisition by Carlos III of the art and nature collection of Pedro Franco Dávila, with which he would found the Royal Cabinet of Natural History in 1771. This makes him the oldest science museum in Spain and one of the first to be created in Europe.
The anniversary is being celebrated with all kinds of activities that will last until next year. Beginning with two special exhibitions who will be, for now, until the end of August 2022. The first that we will see when entering the museum is A fascinating journey of 250 years, divided into three areas: history, art and research.
As explained to us the curator of the exhibition, Cristina Cánovas, the exhibition “has a temporary part in which we wanted to reflect a past that defines us for who we are, and a present in which a future is already glimpsed. And on the other hand, the movement of this museum over 250 years”.
The exhibition brings together more than one hundred pieces from the museum's collections, with which all of them are represented: "It reflects from the creation of the cabinet in 1771 to the present, the most important milestones of the museum through its most emblematic characters, the expeditions, the publications that were made...". In addition, as Cristina points out, "in an age that is increasingly visual and stimulated, we have some audiovisual stations”. In them we can see from historical photos to the scene of a film by Rocío Durcal passing through sequences of the NO-DO.
Interior of the Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid.
In the art part, with a selection of the more than 13,000 plates and engravings of the museum, We will also see the painting The Four Parts of the World, by Jan Van Kessel. Borrowed by him Prado Museum, "It is a work of the seventeenth century that possibly was made for a cabinet of wonders, origin of most of the art museums and some of natural history”.
“It is a beautiful painting, which also contains many fables, many stories that we have selected and put on a tablet available to the public. It is well worth studying it carefully, it is a very beautiful work that tells and says many things”, he adds.
The third part focuses on research. “Most of the research that is done today is reflected on those walls, there are almost seventy investigations in which everything that is done in the museum is shown a little, accompanied by photographs of the researchers themselves, audiovisual material also theirs, and pieces from the museum's collections. The visitor can have a very broad overview of everything that is done here”.
ANTARCTICA, AN EXAMPLE OF CLIMATE CHANGE
On the other hand, an exhibition is dedicated to the more than 30 years that the museum has been researching in Antarctica, continent that, as Cristina explains, “is not only white and cold, but also contains 5% of the world's biodiversity. It is one of the most remarkable examples of climate change.” We will see investigations such as the one carried out by Andrés Barbosa Along with his team on "penguin populations, the effects of global change, the microplastics found in their stomachs... A little about the effects of all the pollution."
Antarctica, the last refuge.
Also that of Asunción de los Ríos on lichens: “Climate change is causing the ice to melt, and the land that is left bare is colonized by microorganisms and other organisms which also spawn lichens,” he notes. It ends with a documentary by Pepe Molina showing "climate change through melting glaciers, not only from the south pole, but also from the north pole.”
A BOOK TRIBUTE TO SCIENCE
The research walls of the first exhibition have been made from a book that they hope to publish for Christmas. will bear the title National Museum of Natural Sciences, our research at your fingertips.
Cristina tells us that it reflects “more than seventy contributions from researchers around the world. It is a book for all audiences, so you can see what is done from here, which is an incredible investigation, of the microorganisms that hide in the rocks, of the Atacama Desert Or the Antarctica to the investigation of the colors of animals, sounds, climate change, life in the dark…”.
A book for all audiences.
Its edition will also serve “as a tribute to research and science, that today at a time when a virus has almost brought the world to a standstill, science is what is pulling us forward,” he points out.
THE DOCUMENTARY “A DAY AT THE MUSEUM”
On the other hand, the anniversary will be reflected in a documentary that Mario Cuesta is finishing shooting. Xiomara Cantera, the museum's press officer, reveals to us that her goal is "give a general idea to those who do not know the museum of everything that is done, of all the research part, of the importance of the collections…”.
This is a one day tour of the museum through conversations between different personalities. “Juan Luis Arsuaga and Antonio Rosas talk about the role of the human being in nature. César Bona, Rosa Menéndez and Pilar López García-Gallo talk about education, scientific vocations, the work that is already being done in museums and schools... Odile Rodríguez de la Fuente and Miguel Delibes de Castro talk about the importance and legacy of love for nature that is passed from parents to children. Lita Cabellut and Theo Jansen talk about nature as inspiration…”.
Odile Rodríguez de la Fuente and Miguel Delibes de Castro, during the filming of the documentary.
Possibly the documentary will be released later this year, or the beginning of the next, both in the museum itself and on television. Xiomara points out that “there are many possibilities that it will appear on TVE, surely on La2.
“We are going to try distribution on television platforms. In the museum We will do several projections. And, possibly by the end of the year, as the closing of the activities of the year of commemoration, there may be a joint viewing in different museums and the Cinetheque. And if you want Netflix, we will tell you that we are delighted ”.
CELEBRATIONS UNTIL 2022
A quarter of a millennium is not celebrated every day. That is why, as Xiomara admits, "instead of having a big party on October 17 we have preferred throughout the year to do things that they remember and that speak of the anniversary”.
To close this commemorative year they are thinking of do another open house like the one that took place on the day of the anniversary and a joint activity with different museums from different fields: the Archaeological Museum, the Prado Museum, Reina Sofía... That day the documentary will probably be shown and we will wink at each other. We will announce everything through our social networks and all kinds of campaigns and articles that are appearing”.
Among the highlights for next year is the meeting of directors of various european natural history museums in March to "talk about the situation of natural history museums, the future of these institutions, why they are important, how to create common strategies... And it will be used for round tables, interviews and that kind of thing," he adds.