Roma: FAO MuNe

A good night’s sleep in air conditioned comfort! Blissful!

With our tour scheduled for 11:15a, we had an easy morning at home, relaxing after breakfast and mentally preparing ourselves to step into the ‘oven’ … to go out, that is.

The good news? We didn’t have far to go. Our tour was at the FAO MuNe (Food and Agriculture Organization Museum & Network) … practically across the street and around the corner from the apartment.

I’ve mentioned previously that Mui lived in Roma when he was a bambino. What brought the family here was his father’s job at the FAO HQ … he was an agricultural engineer. When Mui took his mother to Italy for a week in 2018, they tried to visit the FAO building … to no avail. Times had changed and places you could freely enter back in the 1960s, now sat behind secure fences that allowed entrance only to those who had a need to be there. That is still the case today.

When we found mention of a FAO tour during our trip prep, however, Mui’s hopes were raised that he’d be able to wander the halls he’d walked with his father back in the day … maybe have lunch at the terrace café. As it turns out, a minimum of 15 people are needed to organize a tour. We didn’t have 13 more people to form a group. As for dining at the café … well, you have to know someone there. We knew no one.

But, we could go to MuNe … which was inaugurated last year to coincide with the World Food Day and the 80th anniversary of the FAO.

I’ve been referring to our visit as a tour, but it was more a DIY experience at our own pace, with an escort to and from the museum … who gave us a preamble in front of the wall that outlines the three pillars of the FAO charter in the six official languages of the organization — the eradication of hunger, the elimination of poverty, and the sustainable management of natural resources. That this oldest of the United Nation’s agencies has its work cut out for itself goes without saying.

The website describes MuNe as “… a journey through art, nature, and culture to explore the past, present and future of food and agriculture.” Reservations are required … free. This ensures that there are no more than 30 people inside during any time slot.

We were lucky in that we were the only two in our 11:15a slot … which gave us a head start over some of the larger groups that followed. Most were in and out of the rooms quickly. Our pace was such that a volunteer had to remind us that the museum would be “… closing in 10 minutes … at 1:00p.” Luckily, we had just one room left to go 😃.

There’s a lot to see and do at MuNe … reading info panels; watching multimedia presentations; checking out interactive displays and ‘virtually’ flipping through old manuscripts; enjoying an eclectic collection of art donated by member nations.

We also spent quite a bit of time at the immersive experience that was opened just a week ago. Designed as a way to discover FAO's Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), the experience is an “… audiovisual journey across living agricultural landscapes and traditions. …” It’s not unlike the immersive art exhibits we’ve gone through over the years … images displayed on the walls and floor of a room where one can sit or stand and let the visuals and narration/music tell the story.

I wasn’t sure what to exactly expect when I agreed to accompany Mui to the FAO MuNe. It turned out to be a great experience.

For anyone interested in more information: https://www.fao.org/museum-network/en.Læs mere