Museum reinvention in the face of the pandemic challenge: digitization strategies, heritage, and audiences
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18537/est.v013.n026.a12Keywords:
covid, exhibitions, museum, pandemic, social mediaAbstract
The pandemic period served as a catalyst in the museums’ adaptation, leading them to embrace innovation, collaboration, and resilience. As they emerged from the covid-19 crisis, these institutions found themselves in a unique position to play a vital role in society’s rebuilding and in preserving cultural heritage in an ever-changing world. The article aims to explore the main measures adopted, review the scientific literature on the subject, highlight some relevant cases in European, Asian, and American museums, and identify the challenges and dynamics driven in the post-pandemic period. The text stems from a thorough literature review to determine how the museum field should reconfigure its presence, considering three factors: technology, heritage, and audience. A landscape in which the presence of social networks, the rise of online exhibitions, and other digital resources are considered fundamental.
Downloads
References
Agostino, D., Arnaboldi, M. y Lampis, A. (2020). Italian state museums during the COVID-19 crisis: from onsite closure to online openness. Museum Management And Curatorship 35(4), 362-372, https://doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2020.1790029
Ai-Mannai, H.I.A.A (2022). Museums in Lockdown: Digital Transformationes in Response to COVID-19. Hamd Bin Khalifa University (Qatar). ProQuest Dissertations Publishings. https://www.proquest.com/openview/fa0bbb120f9d07e46a0be5a95c615d30/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2026366&diss=y
Akyol, P.K. (2020). Museum Activities During and After the Covid-19 Pandemic. Milli Folklor 127, 72-86, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344806014_COVID-19_KURESEL_SALGIN_DONEMI_VE_SONRASI_MUZE_ETKINLIKLERI_Museum_Activities_During_and_After_the_Covid-19_Pandemic
Alatrash, S., Arnab, S. y Antlej, K. (2021). Interactive Storytelling Experience for Museums in the era of COVID-19. Proceedings on the European Conference on Game Based Learning, 2021 September, 795-802. https://doi.org/ 10.34190/GBL.21.009
Aranha, S. (2021). Field Trips from Home: Exploring How Online Museum-Based Learning Can Help International Graduate Students Meet Their Language Goals in the Time of Covid-19. University of Toronto. https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/106422
Bai, Q. y Nam, B.H. (2023). Symbolic power for student curators as social agents: the emergence of the museum of World Languages at Shanghai International Studies University during the COVID-19 era. Museum Management and Curatorship, 38(3), 317-341, https://doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2023.2188473
Bernardi, M. (2022). The Covid-19 Pandemic the Inescapable Challenge of the Anthropocene for Museums. Museum International, 73(3-4), 146-155, https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.2016285
Brimblecombe, P. y Querner, P. (2023). Changing Insect Catch in Viennese Museums during COVID-19. Heritage, 6(3), 2809-2821, https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6030150.
Bursic, E., Golja, T. y Benassi, H.M. (2023). Analysis of Croatian Public Museums' Digital Initiatives Amid Covid-19 and Recommendations for Museum Management and Governance. Management-Journal of Contemporary Management Issues, 28(1), 211-226, https://doi.org/10.30924/mjcmi.28.1.14
Cárdenas, B.M. (2021). Y el reloj se detuvo. La (re)definición de los museos ante la Covid-19. Cuiculco. Revista de ciencias antropológicas, 28(81), 125-147. https://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2448-84882021000200007
Cecilia, R.R. (2021). COVID-19 Pandemic: Threat or Opportunity for Blind and Partially Sighted Museum Visitors? Journal of Conservation and Museum Studies 19(1), https://doi.org/10.5334/jcms.200
Chagas, M.G. y Pereira, A. (2023). UFC Art Museum in the COVID-19 pandemic: the use of Instagram as a tool for mediating information. Atoz-Novas Praticas em Informaçao e Conhecimento, 12(1-11). https://revistas.ufpr.br/atoz/article/view/87306
Clini, P. y Quattrini, R. (2021). Editorial. Digital Cultural Heritage, Arts Reproduction and Museum Systems. Languages and Techniques in a Covid and Post-Covid Scenario for New Forms of Heritage Against the Silence of a Fragile Culture. Scires-It-Scientific Research and Information Technology, 11(1), 1-10, https://doi.org/10.2423/i22394303v11n1p1
De las Heras-Pedrosa, C., Iglesias-Sánchez, P.P.; Jambrino-Maldonado, C., López-Delgado, P. y Galarza-Fernández, E. (2022). Museum communication management in digital ecosystems. Impact of COVID-19 on digital strategy, Museum Management and Curatorship, 38(5), 548-570. https://doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2022.2111335
Delgado, S. (2020). Los retos en la investigación, comunicación y educación de los museos de Lima en el marco de la COVID-19. Una discusión sobre los desafíos del futuro a partir de su situación actual y de las experiencias del MALI y el MUCEN. Desde el Sur, 12(1), 285-306. http://dx.doi.org/10.21142/des-1201-2020-0017
Dicindio, C. y Rasmussen, B. (2021). Teaching museum education without the museum: A case study of collaborative virtual teaching in the age of COVID-19. Visual Inquiry-Learning & Teaching Art, 10(3), 303-312, https://doi.org/10.1386/vi_00057_1
Echarri-Iribarren, F. (2022). El programa QuidArte del Museo Universidad de Navarra: El arte al servicio del bienestar y el cuidado en el contexto de la pandemia COVID-19. Arteterapia, 17, 71-84, https://doi.org/10.5209/arte.79927
Elbay, S. (2022). Distance Education Experiences of Middle School 7th Grade Students in the Turkey During Covid-19 Pandemic: Virtual Museum Example. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 23(1), 237-256, https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1329801
Ennes, M., Wagner-Pelkey, A. y McVey, M. (2021). Museum-Based Online Learning One Year After Covid-19 Museum Closures. Journal of Museum Education, 46(4), 467-480, https://doi.org/10.1080/10598650.2021.1982221
Galí, N., Vidal, D. y Perpiña, L. (2023). Visitor Behavior in Museum in Times of COVID-19. Tourism Culture & Communication, 23(2-3), 113-129. https://doi.org/10.3727/109830422X16600594683355
Giannini, T. y Bowen, J.P. (2022). Museums and Digital Culture: From Reality to Digitality in the Age of COVID-19. Heritage, 5(1), 192-214, https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage5010011
Grimme, G. y Nowak, K. (2022). The Emergence of New Contact Zones? Ethnographic Museums, the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the Digital Age. Zeitschrift Fur Ethnologie - Journal of Social and Cultural Anthropology, 147(1-2); 33-51, https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.2016279
Hong, H (2021). The Exploration Research on a Community-Connected Participatory Museum Education in the Post COVID-19 Era. Art Education Review, 80, 343-345. https://scholar.kyobobook.co.kr/article/detail/4050028615898
Hsu, K.W. y Chao, J-C. (2019). Development Strategies for Multimedia Displays in Nantou County's Local Cultural Museums, ICEMT 2019: 2019 3rd International Conference on Education and Multimedia Technology, 60-63, https://doi.org/10.1145/3345120.3345157
Jin, Y. y Min, L. (2021). Public Benefits or Commercial Gains: Chinese Museums' Online Activities in the Covid-19 Age. Museum International, 73(3-4), 32-43, https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.2016273
Jurcisinova, K., Wilders, M.L. y Visser, J. (2022). The Future of Blockbuster Exhibitions After the Covid-19 Crisis: The Case of the Dutch Museum Sector. Museum International, 73(3-4), 20-31, https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.2016279
Kahambing, JG (2023). Metaverse, mental health and museums in post-COVID-19. Journal of Public Health, 45(2), e382-e383. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdad002
Kidd, J., Nieto, E. y Ostrowska, A. (2022). Negotiating hybridity, inequality, and hyper-visibility: museums and galleries' social media response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cultural Trends, 33(1), 19-36, https://doi.org/10.1080/09548963.2022.2122701
Kim, B. y Yong, H. (2020). The Types of Online Museum on the Post COVID-19 Era. Journal of Culture Industry Studies, 20(3), 95-104.
Kim, M.J., Kang, D.Y. y Martin, S.N. (2022): Exploring informal science education responses to COVID-19 global pandemic: learning from the case of the Gwacheon National Science Museum in Korea. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 17(2), 341-354, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-021-10073-5
King, E., Smith, M.P., Wilson, P. F. y Williams, M.A. (2021). Digital Responses of UK Museum Exhibitions to the COVID-19 Crisis March - June 2020. Curator-The Museum Journal 64(3), 487-504, https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.12413
Kiourexidou, M., Antonopoulos, N., Kiourexidou, E., Piagkou, M., Kotsakis, R. y Natsis, K. (2019). Websites with Multimedia Content: A Heuristic Evaluation of the Medical/Anatomical Museums, Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 3(42), 2 https://doi.org/10.3390/mti3020042
Klinowski, M. y Szafarowicz, K. (2023). Digitisation and Sharing of Collections: Museum Practices and Copyright During the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law-Revue Internationale de Sémiotique Juridique, 36, 1991-2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-023-09986-x
Koo, B. (2021). Social Roles of Art Museums in the Post Covid-19 Era. Korean Journal of Arts Education, 19(4), 161-181. https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART002799865
Kwon, N.H, Song, J.H. y Hanseul, L. (2021) A Study on Non-face-to-face Museum Education in the COVID-19 Environment. Korean Journal of Culture and Arts Education Studies, 16(4), 247-271. https://doi.org/10.15815/kjcaes.2021.16.4.247
Larkin, J., Ballatore, A. y Mityurova, E. (2023). Museums, COVID-19 and the pivot to social media. Curator-The Museum Journal, 66(4), https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.12558
Lee, H., Kang, D.Y., Kim, M. y Martin, S.N. (2023). Navigating into the future of science museum education: focus on educators' adaptation during COVID-19. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 18, 647-667, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-022-10142-3
Lerario, A. (2022). Languages and Context Issues of ICTs for a New Role of Museums in the COVID-19 Era. Heritage 4(4), 3065-3080, https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage4040171
Luck, A. y Sayer, F. (2023). Digital Engagement and Wellbeing: The Impact of Museum Digital Resources on User Wellbeing During COVID-19. Heritage and Society, https://doi.org/10.1080/2159032X.2023.2228173
Mackay, R. (2021). An Abrupt and Brutal Audit: An Analysis of the Crisis Management Response of UK Museums and Heritage Attractions to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Museum International, 73(3-4), 8-19, https://doi.org/10.1080/13500775.2021.2016275
Magliacani, M. y Sorrentino, D. (2022): Reinterpreting museums' intended experience during the COVID-19 pandemic: insights from Italian University Museums. Museum Management and Curatorship, 37(4), 353-367, https://doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2021.1954984
Manera, L. (2020). Digital innovation between museum teaching and scholastic teaching. An experience of remote redesigning of an exhibition path in response to the pandemic caused by Covid-19. Ricerche di S-Confine, 10(1), 52-64, https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/global-literature-on-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov/resource/pt/covidwho-1046965
Marty, P.F. y Buchanan, V. (2022). Exploring the Contributions and Challenges of Museum Technology Professionals during the COVID-19 Crisis. Curator-The Museum Journal 65(1), 117-133, https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.12455
Morse, C., Landau, B., Lallemand, C., Wieneke, L. y Koenig, V. (2022). From #MuseumAtHome to #AtHomeAtTheMuseum: Digital Museums and Dialogical Engagement Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic. Acm Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, 15(2), https://doi.org/10.1145/3480955
Murphy, R.J. (2021). Engaging Donors During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Two Philadelphia Museums. Drexel University. https://doi.org/10.17918/00000558
Noehrer, L., Gilmore, A., Jay, C. y Yehudi, Y. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on digital data practices in museums and art galleries in the UK and the US. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 8(236), https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00921-8
Oh, S.A. (2020). A Study on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Museums’ Exhibitions. The Journal of the Korea Society of Art & Design, 23(4), 155-169. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90328-2_37
Pourmoradin, S., Farokhi, O.S. y Hosseini, S.Y. (2021). Museum Visitor’s Interest on Virtual Tours in COVID-19 Situation. Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism, 12(4), 877. https://doi.org/10.14505//jemt.v12.4(52).02
Raved, N. y Yahel, H. (2022). Changing Times-A Time for Change Museums in the COVID-19 Era. Museum Worls 10(1), 145-158, https://doi.org/10.3167/armw.2022.100111
Rivero, P., Navarro-Neri, I., Garcia-Ceballos, S. y Aso, B. (2020). Spanish Archaeological Museums during COVID-19 (2020): An Edu-Communicative Analysis of Their Activity on Twitter through the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainability, 12(19), 8224, https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198224
Roigé, X., Canals, A. y Rico, M. (2023). Creating memory of COVID-19: The actions of museums and archives in Spain. Memory Studies, 0(0), https://doi.org/10.1177/17506980231155560
Sánchez-Amboage, E., Menbiela-Pollan, M. E., Martínez-Fernández, V. A. y Molinillo, S. (2023). Tourism marketing in a metaverse context: the new reality of European museums on meta. Museum Management and curatorship, 38(4), 468-489. https://doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2023.2209841
Shen, S-C., Liu, T-C., Loh, C-P. A. y Chen, C-S. (2022). Museums in the COVID-19 pandemic: the impact of economic stimulus policy and market strategy of the national palace museums in Taiwan. Museum Management and Curatorship, https://doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2022.2132989
Sheriff, R.J.S., Vuorre, M., Riga, E., Przybylski, A.K., Adams, H., Harmer, C. J. y Geddes, J.R. (2021). A cultural experience to support mental health in people aged 16-24 during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to a typical museum website: study protocol of an online randomised controlled trial. Trials, 22(482), https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-021-05441-z
Tan, M. K. B. y Tan, C. M. (2021). Curating wellness during a pandemic in Singapore: COVID-19, museums, and digital imagination. Public Health, 192, 68-71, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2021.01.006
Tranta, A., Alexandri, E. y Kyprianos, K. (2021). Young people and museums in the time of covid-19. Museum Management and Curatorship, 36(6), 632-648, https://doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2021.1969679
Urban, A., Fulton, R.E., Reid, E., Wait, J. y Walber, D. (2021). We Are Workers in a Workplace Who Have Rights Unionization, COVID-19, and the Place of Labor at the Lower East Side Tenement Museu. Public Historian, 43(2), 81-102, https://doi.org/10.1525/tph.2021.43.2.81
Wang, Y., y Yu, J. (2020). Application Trend of Interactive Multimedia in Art Museums. Intelligent Human Systems Integration 2020, 1131, 1159-1563, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39512-4_176
Wang, Y. y Hasoon, Y. (2022). A Study on the Management Strategies of Digital Museums and Art Galleries During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 21 13(1), 433-448. http://dx.doi.org/10.22143/HSS21.13.1.31
Worobey, K. (2022). The Effects of Social Media on Museum During COVID-19. Drexel University. https://doi.org/10.17918/00001460
Yang, Ch. (2022). The Role of Art Museum in the Change of the Art Ecosystem after Covid-19 Pandemic: Focusing on the Metaverse and NFTS. The Journal of Europe Culture Arts, 13(2), 121-138. https://doi./org/10.26854/JECA.2022.13.2.121
Zbuchea, A., Romanelli, M. y Bira, M. (2020). Museums in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Focus on Romania and Italy. Strategica: Preparing for Tomorrow, Today, 680-705. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345732637_Museums_during_the_COVID-19_pandemic_Focus_on_Romania_and_Italy
Zollinger, R. y DiCindio, C. (2021). Community Ecology: Museum Education and the Digital Divide During and After COVID-19. Journal Of Museum Education, 46(4), 481-492, https://doi.org/10.1080/10598650.2021.1983711
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Estoa. Journal of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The Journal declines any responsibility for possible conflicts derived from the authorship of the works that are published in it.
The University of Cuenca in Ecuador conserves the patrimonial rights (copyright) of the published works and will favor the reuse of the same ones, these can be: copy, use, diffuse, transmit and expose publicly.
Unless otherwise indicated, all contents of the electronic edition are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
