Art Museum of Belém

The Art Museum of Belém, commonly known as MABE (Museu de Arte de Belém), is a public municipal museum located in Belém, the capital of Pará state in northern Brazil. Founded in 1991 and subordinated to the Cultural Foundation of the Municipality of Belém (FUMBEL), it occupies the historic Antônio Lemos Palace in the city's historic center. The museum holds particular significance as a custodian of over 1,500 artworks spanning the 18th through 20th centuries, representing both Brazilian and international production, and serves as a key institution for art education and cultural preservation in the Amazonian region.

The museum's origins trace to a broader cultural awakening in Belém beginning in the 1970s, when improved communications and the completion of the Belém-Brasília highway reduced the city's physical isolation and integrated it more fully into Brazil's national art scene. Artists from Pará gained access to major exhibitions such as the São Paulo Art Biennial and Funarte's National Salons of Fine Arts. This momentum intensified during the pro-democratization movements of the 1980s, which fostered new cultural organizations and theatrical groups. In 1982, the Arte Pará Salon was established as an important platform for local arts. The Belém Municipal Pinacoteca was created in 1983 to catalog, preserve, and disseminate the municipal government's art collection, which had been assembled through acquisitions at academic exhibitions since the early 20th century. The Belém City Museum followed in 1986, and in 1989 the Cultural Foundation of the Municipality of Belém (FUMBEL) was established to manage both spaces. MABE itself was formally created in 1991 during the administration of Manoel Augusto da Costa Rezende, as a department of FUMBEL. After renovation of the Antônio Lemos Palace, the museum relocated there in 1994, expanding its catalog with works from the Municipal Pinacoteca and City Museum. Since 2008, the museum has operated the Pontearte project in partnership with the Cidade Velha Cidade Viva association, developing cultural heritage activities and stimulating artistic production with underprivileged children from Beco do Carmo.

The museum's collection comprises more than 1,500 artworks in diverse media: paintings, sculptures, drawings, engravings, photographs, and examples of applied arts including furniture and porcelain. The works span the 18th through 20th centuries and originate from both Brazil and abroad. The museum maintains a specialized library of approximately one thousand volumes focused on visual arts. Its exhibition program is organized across three permanent exhibition rooms and two rooms for temporary exhibitions, with artworks frequently arranged in thematic groupings rather than by artist or chronological period. Beyond its main headquarters, MABE manages two additional exhibition spaces in Belém: the Municipal Art Gallery and the Museum of Popular Art in the Icoaraci district.

While specific masterpieces are not individually cataloged in the available sources, the collection's strengths lie in its comprehensive representation of Brazilian art from the 18th through 20th centuries, including works acquired through academic exhibitions held in Belém since the early 20th century. The applied arts holdings, notably furniture and porcelain, complement the fine arts collection and reflect both local and international craftsmanship. The museum's thematic presentation approach allows visitors to explore connections across periods and styles rather than following traditional art historical narratives. The collection's development through municipal acquisitions over more than a century provides particular insight into the artistic tastes and cultural policies of Belém's governing institutions.

The museum is housed in the Antônio Lemos Palace, also known as "Palacete Azul," a neoclassical building located in Belém's Cidade Velha neighborhood between Felipe Patroni and D. Pedro II squares. Designed by José Coelho da Gama e Abreu, the Baron of Marajó, construction began in 1860 and was completed in 1885, though it was inaugurated on August 15, 1883. The palace was built to house the Municipal Stewardship and follows the late neoclassical or "Empire" style, featuring Tuscan columns, triangular pediments, and symmetrical facades. Its pediment displays three statues of Olympian gods: Minerva (Athena), Hermes (Mercury), and Hephaestus (Vulcan). Interior features include neo-Greek staircases in lioz marble, two courtyards, ornate mosaic floors on the ground floor, ceilings with elaborate stucco allegories, European chandeliers, and a room with pressed and painted ironwork characteristic of the rubber boom era. The palace was named in 1950 for Antônio Lemos, intendant of Belém from 1897 to 1911, who undertook major renovations to restore its original spatiality. Throughout its history, it has also housed the Court of Appeals, the Board of Trade, the Municipal Council, and the Chamber of Deputies. Listed by the National Service of Historic and Artistic Heritage (now IPHAN) in 1942, it subsequently received state and municipal heritage designation. By the 1990s, the building had fallen into disrepair; restoration based on the 1860 design, supported by the Banco do Brasil Foundation, was completed in January 1994. The museum now occupies seven exhibition rooms on the upper floor and two on the first floor, totaling 1,500 square meters, while the building continues to serve as municipal government headquarters.

The Art Museum of Belém exported to the public free of charge. Visitors enter the Antônio Lemos Palace through its historic interiors, where cloth slippers are provided to protect the wooden floors. The museum offers guided tours for student groups from public and private schools, artistic awareness workshops, events complementary to thematic exhibitions, and lectures for organized groups from civil society. Facilities include a restoration laboratory, technical reserve, auditorium, cinema room, and the specialized library. The museum's location in Belém's historic center places it within the federally, state, and municipally protected heritage district. Visitor reports note that portions of the palace may be inaccessible when in use for municipal government functions, and that the museum maintains early closing hours. As a municipal institution under FUMBEL, it continues to balance its dual role as both a public museum and an active government building.