Rio de Janeiro City Hall promotes Cultural Heritage Week 2026

The Rio de Janeiro City Hall, through the Rio Heritage of Humanity Institute (IRPH), in partnership with the Carioca Company for Partnerships and Investments (CCPAR), is promoting the Cultural Heritage Week 2026, from August 17th to 19th. The free event will bring together specialists, urban planners, historians, and public administrators to discuss the preservation of memory, urban redevelopment, and the future of Rio's heritage. The program will take place at CCPAR headquarters, located at Rua Sacadura Cabral, 133, in Saúde, Port Region.

The opening, on Monday (August 17th), starting at 2 pm, will feature a session commemorating the 40th anniversary of Carioca Cultural Heritage. Following this, architect Washington Fajardo, coordinator of the Cities Laboratory at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and former president of IRPH, will give a lecture on “Requalification of Urban Centers”. The first day also marks the opening of the second edition of the exhibition “Eyes to See 2026”, with the theme “Stained Glass Windows of Rio de Janeiro”.

On Tuesday (August 18), the program continues throughout the day with panels on the IRPH's work and conservation studies, the Open Laboratory of Urban Archaeology (LAAU), and projects to enhance cultural heritage, with representatives from BNDES and construction companies. Another debate will be dedicated to the challenges and new ways of thinking about contemporary cultural heritage, with discussions on new urban poetics, historical collections, and gamification.

At the closing event, on Wednesday (August 19th), starting at 10 am, the public can participate in technical visits and guided tours through historical areas of the city. The routes will be divided into three axes: Cultural Corridor, passing through Rua da Carioca, Real Gabinete Português de Leitura and Casas Franklin; Modernism, which includes Palácio Capanema, Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM), Monumento aos Pracinhas and Aterro do Flamengo; and Art Deco, with Ministry buildings and the Novo Mundo and Standard buildings.

Registration for Cultural Heritage Week 2026 is now open and free of charge. As spaces for panels and workshops are limited, prior registration is required.

Event: Cultural Heritage Week 2026

Date: August 17-19, 2026

Location: CCPAR Headquarters – Rua Sacadura Cabral, 133 – Saúde, Rio de Janeiro/RJ

Entry: Free, prior registration required.

* 14am – Welcome coffee

* 14:30 PM – Video “40 Years of Carioca Cultural Heritage” and institutional welcome speech

* 15:30 PM – Opening Conference: “Urban Center Redevelopment”, with Washington Fajardo

* 16:30 PM – Cocktail reception and opening of the exhibition “Eyes to See 2026”

* 9am – Welcome coffee

* 10:00 AM – Panel 1: The Role of IRPH (Fabrício Iorio Resende and Michelle Silva Lima)

* 10:40 AM – Panel 2: The Open Laboratory of Urban Archaeology (Helder Viana)

* 11:00 AM – Panel 3: Projects that value cultural heritage (Flávio Papelbaum, Bruna Santini, and Fernando Costa)

* 15 PM – Panel 4: Limits and Language in the Cultural Heritage of the Present (Fabíola do Valle Zonno, Luciene Pereira Carris Cardoso and Rafael Ramos Koury)

* 10am – Guided tours:

Cultural Corridor: Rua da Carioca, Real Gabinete and Casas Franklin

Modernism: Capanema, MAM, Monument to the Soldiers and Landfill

Art Deco: Ministries, New World and Standard