On the tracks of the Museum of Arts and Crafts. Exhibition and audience in Belo Horizonte/MG

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the preliminary results of a survey of about five hundred Belo Horizonte (MG) underground users, particularly in the boarding platform of the Central Station. One of the reasons offered by museologist Pierre-Yves Catel and by the staff who took part in the assembly and organization of the Museum of Arts and Crafts (Museu de Artes e Ofícios - MAO), for the occupation of the building of the Central Station and its reinterpretation, which turned it into a museum institution ? dedicated to the history/memory of work and the workers ? was that, at that place, it would be possible to find "a potential audience of one million visitors a year coming by underground". In this sense, the research seeks to understand, especially, the relationship that is established, at present, between the underground station user and the Museum. However, before disclosing the data of this investigation, it was necessary to analyze some aspects concerning the history of MAO and also some aspects of the long-term exposition presented to the public since the inauguration of the mentioned institution, in 2005/2006.

Keywords

• Museu de Artes e Ofícios
• público
• usuário da Estação do Metrô
• exposição
• memória.