Márcia Kubitschek
Márcia Kubitscheck with her daughters
Anna Christina and Júlia, 1976
The maintenance of JK’s Memorial is a history of dedication over three generations of the Kubitscheck family.

In 1996, after Dona Sarah’s death, Márcia Kubitscheck became director of the Museum administration.

In 1991, Dona Márcia spared no efforts to pass a law that guarantees the maintenance of the monument, while vice-governor of the Federal District of Brasília, an office she exercised until 1994.

Márcia Kubitscheck was born 1943 in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais state, when her father was mayor of the city. During her youth, she was very involved in JK’s public life, who never hid the need of having his family nearby.`

Márcia Kubitscheck was a senior manager at the Embratur Office in New York, representing the Brazilian tourism sector abroad. In 1988, she could not resist the appeal of politics and launched her candidacy for Member of the House of Representatives.

Having inherited her father’s dynamism and idealism, Márcia Kubitscheck took active part in Brazilian political life, especially when she became a member of the administration of the new capital Brasília that her father had founded.

In 1996, Dona Márcia was appointed Vice President of the office of Embratur, which she exercised until 2000.

Similar to her father, President Juscelino Kubitscheck, Dona Márcia’s work was marked by high ethical standards and a great spirit. She knew how to nurture these qualities in her daughters Anna Christina, Júlia and Alejandra, who were always involved with JK’s Memorial and its objectives.

When Dona Márcia died in August 2000, her daughter Anna Christina Kubitscheck Pereira took over the presidency of the Memorial, bringing to it her youth in the face of a new challenge—to modernize the museum and to prepare it for the 21st century.

With creativity, good planning and integrity, Anna Christina revitalized the Memorial and made the institution’s services even more valuable. The Memorial collections were reorganized and informatized; text documents and pictures were submitted to conservation treatments and digitalized; objects on display received new illumination. A new exterior lighting system for JK’s statue was installed, conferring stateliness to the Memorial at night in Brasília.

The year 2002 was President Juscelino Kubitscheck’s birth centenary and the 21st anniversary of the Memorial construction. Longevity may be proof that the Memorial successfully fulfills its tasks: To provide Brasília and Brazil with the maintenance and protection of an integral part of her historical and cultural heritage.


Anna Christina Kubitschek Barbará Pereira



Anna Christina Kubitscheck Barbará A. Pereira took over the Memorial’s management in October 2000. At the turn of the new century, the Memorial received an injection of youth injection.

Anna Christina noticed the need to prepare the museum for new times. Based on Niemeyer’s original designs, she conducted a renovation of the auditorium to make its atmosphere lighter and more pleasant, and a restoration of the water pools, their waterworks and cascades, which had been out of order for a long time. On April 21, 2001, the Memorial’s new exterior lighting system was inaugurated under the Projeto Reluz (relighting project), which included a rigorous revision of the Memorial’s electrical and hydraulic installations, and brought to bear the monument’s architecture.

The Memorial collection was reorganized, digitized, and the database extended, to facilitate the access to Juscelino Kubitscheck’s life for students and the interested public. 2,000 new objects were acquired for the museum’s permanent exhibits. Remodeling of the exhibits included a reorganization of the displays, the creation of a new design for the galleries, and the addition of new panels, which all make visits even more rewarding. The installation of modern back lights enhanced the visibility of the pictures on display, and new videos were acquired. There was a substantial increase in publications—including folders, a documentary of Dona Sarah’s work and the book “100 Anos da Vida e História de Juscelino Kubitscheck” (100 years of Juscelino Kubitscheck’s life and history), aiming at a younger public. As a possible consequence of our special attention to children, we experienced a marked increase in museum visits from schools and children’s groups over the course of the past years.

To celebrate President Juscelino Kubitscheck’s centenary, the artist Darlan Rosa installed sphere-shaped sculptures throughout the Memorial’s garden. These steel sculptures present fragments of Brasília’s history.

Following a trend among major museums around the world, JK’s Memorial belongs to Projeto Música since 2002, which aims to integrate music, plastic arts and many other forms of cultural life. The project brought the best of Brazilian music to the capital’s public.

Through the Memorial’s revitalization, the museum re-identified its original means: To inform the public with images and memories, to play an integral role in cultural life, and to keep alive President Juscelino Kubitscheck’s memory and legacy in our history.