This article was made by our partner MUPAPY: Voices of Museums and Cultural Heritage. This week, the text is about the Museum of the Photographic Camera in Asunción (MUCAFOT). Click here for the last one about the Monsignor Bogarín Museum in Asunción.
The Museum of the Photographic Camera (MUCAFOT, for its Spanish acronym) is a cultural space located in Barrio Jara, one of Asunción’s finest neighborhoods. The museum belongs to the Higher Technical Institute of Imaging, an educational facility that offers different kinds of courses related to photography, and hopes to capture the attention of the public by showing the evolution of the most important method of registry that existed during the past century: the photographic camera.
With a collection of more than 70 items, it holds a variety of artifacts ranging from the early 1900s to the late 2010s, including both analog cameras as well as digital ones. The highlight of the exhibition is the “street box camera,” an icon for Asunción’s society during the 80s.
The architect María Gloria González, proprietor of the institute and the museum, told us that the dream of having a repertory like this one started with a present. She is one of the many teachers the educational center has, as well as her husband, professor Mario Franco Nunes, so the love they have for their work does not go unnoticed; that is why, one of their students, ended up gifting them what would later become the star of the collection: the street box camera itself. But she was not the only one willing to give away her old camera.
“A lot of colleagues, when we transitioned to the digital era, left the photography world behind, and some of those people gifted us their old belongings under the premise that we would sure know what to do with them,” remembers María Gloria, who’s also the head of the Internacional Committee of Museums in Paraguay, “From then on, half joking and half meaning it, we started to say we needed a museum for them”.
After that, they started to frequent street markets, antique fairs and received more and more donations. And before they knew it, by the end of 2023, they have already collected 70 models from different eras., with its lenses and accessories.
Source: @mupapy
The MUCAFOT exhibition finds itself displayed in a room just by the building’s entrance, with two shelves in which you can admire the assets and read all about their technical data; the space also has old furniture to embellish and add a little bit of that classic atmosphere to the chamber. And of course, you can see the main attraction, the box street camera, in the corner of the room.
When asked about it, María Gloria said that this camera was probably the one foreigners would find more interesting within the whole collection: “This device was big news for that time. Normally, you would have to wait weeks and even months to have your photos revealed, but the street box camera would have them out in minutes.”
The cultural importance that holds is also something that can be alluring to know about. Back in the day, the Hotel Guaraní was one of the only modern buildings located in the downtown area of Asunción, so photographers would place themselves in front of it, in the Democracy Square, with this kind of equipment and take pictures of tourist with the famous structure behind them.
To honor this part of Asunción’s history, the museum places the street box camera in front of a wall mural with the picture of the hotel in it.
Source: @mupapy
The MUCAFOT is open throughout Mondays and Saturdays, from 1pm to 8pm, the institute’s hours. Nevertheless, the days dedicated exclusively to the museum are Fridays. With prior scheduling, professor Mario conducts guided tours, that can be performed in English or Portuguese according to the necessity.
For more information, interested parties can contact the MUCAFOT museum on Instagram or call +595 (0) 986 100 734.
MUCAFOT Opening Hours
Monday: 1 AM to 8 PM
Tuesday: 1 AM to 8 PM
Wednesday: 1 AM to 8 PM
Thursday: 1 AM to 8 PM
Friday: 1 AM to 8 PM
Saturday: 1 AM to 8 PM
Sunday: Closed
