(ANS - Buenos Aires)- "A place where people will get excited, where they can learn more and feel that they belong. It will look at the development of the Work of Don Bosco in Argentina and its future prospects, with historical accuracy. A visit to this place will be a vital experience, which will raise awareness and motivate people to action." This is the promise of the Museum of Don Bosco, based in the Mater Misericordiae church in Buenos Aires, the place where the first missionaries arrived in December of 1875.

The Museum of the Works of Don Bosco is scheduled to open in August 2015, during the Bicentenary of the Birth of Don Bosco and 140 years from the arrival of the first missionaries in Argentina.

After the first phase of development of the plan in 2013, the museum is now at the implementation phase, under the direction of Héctor Berra, who has supervised similar projects in Argentina and in Europe. The idea proposed by Doctor Berra is to "transform the museum into a living space, full of sight and sound that touch the heart of the visitor ... everyone who comes to the museum must feel not only a viewer but also a participant in a memorable experience."

The Museum will have some permanent exhibitions, and others that are temporary and moveable. It will be a place that makes use of the historical heritage and technology to bring the past into the present, making it available to everyone. People will feel invited to be part of a dream that is already a reality and, at the same time, a dream that challenges people not to remain indifferent but to play their part in the integral formation of young people in difficulty.

A place, the beginning of the dream

The permanent exhibition of the museum will be at the Mater Misericordiae church and its adjoining rooms. This was the place that was home to the first Salesian missionaries and the beginning of the missionary dream of Don Bosco. It is also a significant place for the Italian community in Argentina, which, down through the years, gathered around this church, precisely because of the Salesian missionary activity.

The museum already has the support of the Italian Club of Buenos Aires and that of the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime. Several institutions and companies have declared their intention to join this project as sponsors.

More information is available on the museum website.

Published 03/11/2014