‘Frameless’; borderless art and boundless opportunity: How collaborative efforts between art and digitalization are transforming cultural institutions. (C2044812)

Immersive experiences have transformed the museum landscape by seamlessly merging traditional artistry with cutting-edge technology. London’s critically acclaimed Frameless exemplifies this evolving cultural relationship with digitalization, fundamentally reshaping how we engage with art and culture within the walls of its borderless gallery.

Embracing the digital renaissance

Frameless provides an immersive journey through four expansive galleries, showcasing digital renditions of masterpieces from 28 world-renowned artists. Each artwork is thoughtfully paired with curated soundtracks, enriching the immersive storytelling and captivating audiences across generations. My visit to Frameless completely transformed my perception of the museum experience. Encouraging visitors to step beyond the frame and immerse themselves in the astonishing worlds created by these artists, the gallery fosters participation and collaboration with the artwork like never before.

Source: (Frameless 2023)- content belongs to author.

Frameless is the UK’s largest permanent multi-sensory experience, earning prestigious accolades like the 2023 AV news award for its innovative use of creative technology. Its success highlights the growing public appetite for technology-driven cultural experiences. But as the museum continues to be modernized, what impact will digitalization have on artists and curators?

Navigating uncertainty: Art in the age of Artificial intelligence

Artists have frequently drawn inspiration from technology in their artwork. For instance, Sun Yuan & Peng Yu’s robotic ‘Can’t Help Myself’ installation, which gained widespread attention online in 2016 for its poignant commentary on ‘the rapidly evolving relationship between people and machines.’ Since then artificial intelligence, virtual reality and audio-visual technology has rapidly evolved, providing new kinds of creative opportunities that not only feature technology but actively collaborate with it.

While artists are embracing technology in increasingly innovative ways, there remains a sense of uncertainty among many about the future and the stability of their profession as AI expands its capabilities. Freelance artist Eva Toorenent expresses; ‘without our work this technology could not exist. It feels like we are being replaced with our own labour”.

The UK government’s 2021 research report on the impact of AI on various job sectors acknowledges these inevitable changes in employment structures but it also emphasizes the myriad of opportunities that will occur as a result of digitalization. Some scholars even suggest that by moving from ‘cooperative or competitive models to models based on simultaneous co-operation and competition’, there would be a significantly increase in value of creative work. By embracing digital tools artists can work with AI as a collaborator rather than a competitor, but could AI truly enhance the artistic process?

Art Reimagined: The Power of Collaboration in the Digital Era

Source: MoMA- ‘AI art: How artists are using and confronting machine learning’- Artist/digital collaboration with Refik Anadol.

Digital artist Refik Anadol harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to create original pieces of art. For his exhibition at MoMA titled ‘unsupervised’, Refik used AI to create artwork that ‘is trying to dream and speculate an imagination of a machine’. In the above video, he prompts us to question what happens when digital technology isn’t used for its intended purpose. The answer? An untapped potential for creativity.

The UK government’s ‘culture is digital’ project reiterates:

‘Culture and technology can work together to drive audience engagement, boost the capability of cultural organisations and unleash the creative potential of technology.’

– ‘culture is digital’ by The UK Government.

Source: Refik Anadol’s library of digital sculptures made in collaboration with AI

Refik Anadol’s art not only demonstrates the creative potential of AI but also highlights the transformative impact of collaboration between technology and artistic vision. Frameless recognise their position as innovators in the digital technology and art space, and therefore provide platforms for emerging digital artists through their ‘blank canvas’ gallery. This space is dedicated to showcasing the talents of up-and-coming creatives, providing temporary residences for artists to showcase their innovative designs to large audiences.

Balancing Act: Enhancing Museum Accessibility while Upholding Artistic Integrity

source: Interview with ‘Frameless’ CEO Richard Relton by Intelligent Enterprise Institute

Frameless is a prime example of how digitalization can enhance the museum experience while also preserving the integrity of artistic expression. While there are concerns that ‘digitalization could detract from the traditional museum experience, prioritizing entertainment over learning’, in the above interview Frameless CEO Richard Relton insists that the ‘intension is not to compete with the galleries, but to inspire a broader audience and introduce them to art’. In collaboration with ArtscapesUK Frameless offer specialist lectures about the fascinating historical context and significance of the artwork. Additionally, digital QR codes throughout the galleries, BSL and AD tours ensure that art appreciation and education is accessible to all.

Academic Sherry Arnstein highlights the importance of audience participation. She explains that public involvement in culture helps to redistribute decision-making power to include marginalized groups. In the ‘colour in motion’ gallery at Frameless, interactive technology allows visitors to ‘become the artists and paint on a digital canvas’, while aesthetically ‘instagrammable’ displays encourage public input and feedback on social media platforms.

source: frameless  

Is The Future Truly Frameless?

Frameless certainly offers a compelling template for cultural institutions amidst this era of digitalization. Harnessing new technologies to create participatory, collaborative, and culturally enriching experiences. Unlike the static confines of traditional museums or the detached virtual spaces of digital art archives, Frameless embodies a dynamic fusion of human creativity and technological innovation.

As AI algorithms assume a more prominent role in the creation and curation of art, we must remain mindful and question: are we encouraging a new era of creativity or risking the loss of authenticity that defines the essence of artistic expression?

The risk is worth the reward according to art critic Brian Droitcour, who believes:

‘The best immersive work, like any good art, draws on historical traditions and contemporary vernaculars, melding different ways of looking and making. The new art is unlike last century’s art. That’s what makes it exciting.’

-Brian Droitcour in ‘Art in America’

In the ‘frameless’ gallery, the fusion of art and technology paints a vivid picture of a future where boundaries cease to exist, and creativity knows no bounds.

Any images and media are used under fair usage for educational purposes.

Balancing the Books – Museums and the cost of living in the post-pandemic era. (C2034468)

100 years ago “marked the dawn of a new era”,  Cardiff’s Lord Mayor said at the opening of the first dedicated radio station for Wales (BBC 5WA). Since then the BBC has kept the public informed and up to date with events in Britain and across the world. From pandemic updates and politics, war and strikes to immigration and celebrity news and that’s just in the past couple of years.

To celebrate this milestone, National Museum Cardiff has created an exhibition delving into how BBC Wales has developed and evolved since its birth. Looking at technological advances, costumes and programmes as well as exploring how the BBC represents the many different communities in Wales and the wider UK. The Museum prides itself on “inspiring everyone they reach through Wales’s story”. The BBC has been a big part of Wales’s story.

(RandomRadioJottings, 2023)

With many culture industries “already in a precarious situation” before Covid, post-Pandemic it has become “unsustainable”. Nationally, museum visits and funding have been on the decline but through balancing finances with public experience, they remain open.

Museums are meant to “contribute to the public’s cultural experience”  adding to their lifelong learning. They provide the space and information in an engaging way for people to further their understanding and learning of the wider world and community.

Image.2: 1970s Living Room
(Palmer, 2023)

Image.3: Children’s Toys and books (Palmer, 2023)

Image.4: BBC Costumes and Props (Palmer, 2023)

Turning up one rainy Friday morning, I was expecting to see more people at the exhibit not just me and an older couple. The Ofcom Annual BBC report 2021-22 shows “ to younger audiences, the BBC appears to be a less established part of their lives when compared with older people who feel they have ‘grown up with’ the BBC”.

However, looking around the exhibit you learn of how the BBC became and continues to be the pioneer in their field, from their news, radio and TV programmes, not forgetting the technological aspects, the cameras, sound and editing. The exhibit emphasises how they try to represent people of all ages, backgrounds and cultures, through the programmes they produce and the news they report on.

(Amgueddfa Cymru, 2023)

The International Council of Museums say Museums should be:

1. “Open to the public, accessible and inclusive…foster diversity and sustainability”

Especially with the rise in living costs, it has become difficult for museums to balance their books. Museums often being in old heritage buildings, not built for purpose, have seen energy costs rise up to 500%.

The Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) have done research showing people feel comfortable going out again post-covid. The main factor affecting people’s decisions to go or not is the cost of living. The increased price of everything; petrol, train tickets and food has meant the public are still prevented from going to museums even if they are free.

Nonetheless, the museum does what it can to encourage people to go. Still wanting to get the visitors in and provide a free day out for families Cardiff Museum has kept the museum and the temporary exhibition free. Through this, the museum fulfils it role outline by the UNESCO report, to be able to “illustrate the impact it has had in the community and on our culture” as we discover something new. Asking at the museum I was surprised to be told they’ve had between 200-500 visitors each day at the BBC exhibition so they must be doing something right.

2. “Communicate ethically, professionally with participation of communities”

The exhibition was co-developed by the museum and a group of young people to ensure a diverse range of voices were heard in the telling of BBC history. And how they feel the BBC represents them. The more museums do with the community and produce things that impact society positively the more grants and funding they can apply for.

(BBC, 2023)

3. “Varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing”

Although the BBC exhibition provides some interactive features such as the boards to add your thoughts and feelings about the BBC. From reminiscing on childhood favourites to the top-rated dramas and shows, you can write what the BBC has meant to you in the past and how this may have changed since going around the exhibition.

However, the main way information has been passed on is through information boards, videos and looking at props and costumes from productions. Despite providing some variety in the way they display the information; it is not very creative or original. However, I can understand why they couldn’t do more due to needing to get all the information out but also trying to keep costs low especially as it’s a free exhibit.

Image.5: Interactive Displays. (Palmer, 2023)

The future of museums greatly rests on us. The next couple of years may be a struggle for many cultural industries. With changing audience needs and demands many difficult economic decisions will be made. So, I encourage you, go to these free museums, take advantage of what they are offering, and donate if you can. But ultimately by going you are showing them people are benefiting from the museums and that the money that goes into them isn’t going to waste.

You Are In The Paintings – The Digital Immersive Experience at Qibai Shi’s Exhibition (C2058849)

About the Exhibition

As we know, art is often dull and hard to understand for the public, especially for young people who grow up in the era of modern art. How do we get more people interested in traditional Chinese art? Here is the solution given by Hunan Museum in China.

Source: Pjtime.

On January 10^th, 2023, an exhibition named “The Moon shines on hometown” took place in Hunan Museum, China. The exhibition aims to commemorate artist Qibai Shi’s water-ink paintings. Qibai Shi (1864-1957) is one of the most famous artists in China. Most of his artworks are inspired by his nostalgia for his hometown Xiangtan in Hunan province that he is forced to leave since 1971. Unlike previous exhibitions of Qibai Shi’s artworks, it is the first time that his paintings are exhibited in a digitalised way, including technologies of digital projection, technology interaction, AR, and smart screens. According to a news report, 150,000 people have visited the museum since its opening, which is the largest number of visitors the museum has ever had since it opened.

Source: Mana

Source: Mana

With the support of large smart screens and digital projections, scenes from Qibai Shi’s paintings are restored into reality. Visitors can feel like travelling with Qibai Shi in his hometown Xiangtan. For some parts of the exhibition, visitors can even scan the QR codes supported by AR technology and see a virtual world based on the real settings in front of them through phone screens. This exhibition allows visitors to both see the paintings and “experience” the paintings. After reading this far, have you also been struck with the urge to visit this exhibition? I know I certainly am.

Source: Pjtime

Source: Pjtime

What Can Digitalisation Bring to the Exhibition

Support and Fundings

Behind the huge success of Qibai Shi’s digitalised exhibition, support from government’s policy and fundings are vital. As mentioned in China’s fourteenth Five-Year plan announced on December 28^th, 2021, China should “implement a digitization strategy for cultural industries”. This policy aims to promote the use of digital technologies in China’s cultural industries. Qibai Shi’s digitalised exhibition has actively responded to this policy and obtained a full economic support from Propaganda Department of China and China Arts and Entertainment Group. With the fundings, Hunan Museum is able to open this exhibition to the public for free. Such publicly funded exhibition fully demonstrates the access to art as a human right in accordance with Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Public education

Moreover, while granting public’s free access to this exhibition, it is also a place built for public education. In the past, art is something that is complicated and dull for most people, especially for traditional art. The digital immersive experience has made traditional art understandable and attracting for visitors of all ages and backgrounds. This kind of exhibition breaks the barrier between traditional art and the public and educate them about traditional art. As the digitalised exhibition becomes popular, more and more people are willing to learn about Chinese traditional art.

To further explore visitors’ experience at the digitalised exhibition, I have made a telephone interview with a visitor of the exhibition. The visitor is randomly selected from a tag named “Qibai Shi’s exhibition in Hunan” on a Chinese social media application called Xiaohongshu, which has most of its users aged from 18 to 34.

The 22-year-old interviewee claims that he visited the exhibition during his visit to Hunan in February. He is amazed by the beauty of traditional Chinese water-ink paintings in realistic settings even though he is never interested in art before. And the interactive displays did not make him bored like other exhibitions.

It is clear that the interviewee has enjoyed the exhibition even though he was not interested in traditional art. Qibai Shi’s digitalized exhibition has successfully increased the visibility of traditional art among young people. The use of technology has successfully brought the public closer to traditional art.

Creativity Issues

Source: Secret London.

Source from Singapore City Walks on YouTube.

Beyond the context of China, digitalised exhibitions for traditional paintings are popular worldwide. For example, Van Goh: The Immersive Experience is a popular series of exhibitions that have taken place worldwide. Van Goh’s paintings are made into animations and played on grand screens surround the visitors.  It is true that such exhibitions are proved to be successful and popular, however, they also come with hidden issues. Digitalisation is a great way to illustrate and promote art, but it lacks the ability to create art. Because these digitalised exhibitions are based on the existing artistic creation, a lack of artistic innovation can possibly occur. Here is a question for you, in the future, should art exhibitions prioritize presenting existing artworks in new ways or promoting new artistic creations?

Overall, digitalised exhibitions of traditional art have lots of benefits that traditional exhibitions cannot achieve. It provides visitors with an immersive experience, makes art understandable to the public, and increases the popularity of art exhibitions. Let’s hope that in the future, the trend of digital exhibitions and artistic creativity will both be steadily growing.

All the pictures are under fair use for educational purpose.

Can museums truly be spaces for active participation for everyone? (C1769646)

Source: Own Pictures.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

What is participation?

Participation according to David Wilcox “is to increase the involvement of socially and economically marginalized people in decision making over their own lives.”

Source: Vimeo

Museums are publicly funded and open to everyone but whether people feel welcome to enter them becomes a different story.

How do we acknowledge the colonial past museums reflect and decolonize the narrative?

Wilcox introduced 5 levels or stances for active participation and reflected how “[r]eal participation is active and gives people a meaningful stake in the project.”

1. Information – Telling people what is planned.

This includes knowing the historical background and valuing minority and marginalized voices.

Source: YouTube

‘Empire Through the Lens’ exhibition and shifted the focus to the origins of artefacts, and the post-colonialism experience and reflections of British imperialism in film and photography.

GUS CASELY-HAYFORD

“Photography is so important to understanding colonialism.”

Source: Gus Casely-Hayford

JAN BIRCH

“It’s really important that people in Britain understand the Empire’s part in their own history.”

Source: Jan Birch

2. Consultation – offering options and reflecting on feedback.

Communities want to be consulted and how museums choose to build partnerships and include people from the start is essential.

Would you visit anywhere where you don’t feel your voice is recognised and valued?

Source: Vimeo

The comments and feedback from the Bristol Museum exhibition below highlight the key opportunities offered in tackling how colonialism shapes the histories of museums, communities, and influences whether everyone feels comfortable inside them.

This creates an open dialogue and recognising the diverse cultural heritages using participatory frameworks.

Source: Bristol Museum, Empire Behind the Lens Exhibition Comment Card, called “An excellent and valuable exhibition.”

Source: Bristol Museum, Empire Behind the Lens Exhibition Comment Card, called “One wonders whether time will truly change this.“

3. Deciding together – encouraging ideas and joining in with decision-making.

Source: Vimeo

Pierre Bourdieu’s Field of Cultural Production and the funded institution shows the power dynamics in traditional institutions such as museums restricts participants.

Wilcox’s work is improving community or individual agency by including participatory outcomes at the heart of museum policies.

4. Acting together – forming partnerships and implementing change together.

Bell Hooks inspires “Radical Openness“ in creating awareness of inclusive cultural practices, and refreshes community engagement and participation.

Source: YouTube

Source: YouTube

5. Supporting independent community initiatives – helping promote a framework, support, and advice for funding.

How do we define community?

Source: Vimeo

Communities require collaboration  at the centre of active participation.

Source: Randy Conley

Nina Simon creates “The Participatory Museum” highlighting the right model of participation and co-curation for the institution is chosen first, these include: contribution, collaboration, co-creation, and hosted.

The measurable impact of engagement is meaningful participation and develops a sustainable model for museums and designing an invitation to participate tailored to communities.

Source: YouTube

The value of opening up museum spaces to everyone is undeniable, by inviting people into these spaces it’s the important step for welcoming communities and driving active participation.

Discovery is a huge part of inviting children, young people, and adults to museums.

The Heritage Lottery Funding document expressed the desire to “help more people and a wider range of people to take an active part in and make decisions about heritage.”

The element of discovery and creating a sense of community make museums relevant.

Source: Own Pictures. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Does technology hold the key to changing museum spaces?

By encouraging us to use social media and photography, museums are changing rules on taking pictures for enhancing museum trips and arguably improving our experiences.

Source: YouTube

The evolving state of museums means embracing active participation for connecting communities and encouraging individual and community empowerment.

“For the Record. Waterhall, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery” by Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Source: “MIT Museum: Kismet the AI robot smiles at you” by Chris Devers is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Source: Own Video
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Source: Own Pictures. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Digitalising museums?

Museums quickly created online ways to connect on a global stage. This created better accessibility for an international audience and removed financial and geographical barriers.    

How do we enrich museum spaces for the future?

Carrie Westwater talks to her students about what she calls Non-Selective Curation, and invites participants to be part of the process by introducing a different cultural lens. Participants are given time to negotiate, learn together and create together, using the museum as a resource. The script plays a key role in participants viewing their own words in progress and transforms how power performs in museums.

Source: I Created a Mentimeter Word Cloud
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Museums change what welcome means for local communities, this is how we create meaningful, active, and real participation.

Let’s build brand new doors for active participation!

#Saatchitakeover: Making the Most of Digital Disruption (C1834164)

As galleries all over the UK closed their doors because of Coronavirus, the art sector was forced to think outside the box when it came to keeping their work visible. The Saatchi Gallery in London was no exception and used this time to let their followers participate in their exhibitions. 

As part of their 35^th anniversary, the Saatchi Gallery launched #Saatchitakeover that meant that social media users across the world could submit their work to be exhibited online. 

It was announced on March 21^st 2020, that competitors had to: 

• Follow the weekly theme given by the gallery
• Stay at home to make their work 
• Post their work on social media, using the hashtag #Saatchitakeover 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Saatchi Gallery (@saatchi_gallery)

There were many interesting themes to keep us entertained during lockdown such as paper creations, shadows, and cartography (art using maps). 

The chosen works were published on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook on Saturdays. Also, the tagline for the #Saatchitakeover was ‘open to everyone, everywhere’, which suggests that Saatchi wanted a range of active participants.  

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Saatchi Gallery (@saatchi_gallery)

It is interesting to consider the fact that work by the public and work by established artists were posted side by side and this could be seen as blurring the lines between amateur and professional work. As someone who loves an underdog, I would hope that amateur work will earn more respect because of projects like #Saatchitakeover. 

Digital Disruption and the ‘Prosumer’ 

Typically, mission and vision statements in the arts sector mention an aim similar to ‘nurture a sense of belonging, cohesion, identity and pride’. It’s clear that the #Saatchitakeover goes together with this aim and creates a sense of community, something that is all the more needed in a time of digital disruption. 

The ‘prosumer’ is a term that combines the ‘producer’ and the ‘costumer’. The customer in this case isn’t what we would traditionally think of as a customer because viewing the online content on social media is free. Still, the traffic generated towards Saatchi Gallery’s social media pages as a result of the #Saatchitakeover, means that the gallery is more likely to receive donations and that the public are more likely to buy tickets to future exhibitions.  

By creating content for the #Saatchitakeover, the consumer also becomes a creator and so they can be considered ‘prosumers’ to a degree. 

Charlie Leadbeater points out that art can be traditionally thought of as a very solitude subject but he expects that in the century to come art will experiment more with the idea that art should ‘combine and connect’: 

‘The web will encourage a culture in which art creates relationships and promotes interaction, encourages people to be a part of the work, if only in a small way’ 

Obviously more people have access to the work through social media and discussions about the art are able to be had in the comment section by people from across the world, as demonstrated by the #Saatchitakeover. 

Photo by Omkar Patyane on Pexels.com

The value of this kind of participation in the art sector has been recognised long before the technology of social media was available to us. In the 1930s, Walter Benjamin wrote about how art was better the more it encouraged people to leave behind their passive role as spectator. 

As the #Saatchitakeeover tagline ‘open to everyone, everywhere’ suggests, we could see a lot more digital creativity, consumer participation and user-creativity in the art sector in the future. This could also lead to even better art than we have today. 

Beyond Cardiff – Pontypridd Museum and Local Community (1806402)

If you’re familiar with Cardiff, you’ll know about the creative and cultural spaces it has to offer. From the Millennium Centre to the National Museum, Cardiff is brimming with creativity. As defined by Yencken, and explored by Landry, a Creative City is a place that encourages its people and their creativity. Cardiff is an example of a Creative City and, as suggested by Florida, people in the ‘creative-class’ usually move to creative spaces.

I love Cardiff, but sometimes it overshadows the smaller creative areas around it, like Pontypridd.

“A View of the River Taff” – My Photography – licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

“It’s about 30 minutes north of Cardiff” – that’s how I usually describe Pontypridd, my hometown. The birthplace of Tom Jones and the composers of the Welsh national anthem, Pontypridd, its community, and creative history shouldn’t be defined by its distance away from Cardiff. One place that represents all of these aspects is Pontypridd Museum.

At the north end of town, a short walk away from local schools, Pontypridd Museum is greatly important. Contacting Pontypridd Museum, I asked them questions about the museum, the impact of flood damage and Covid-19, and their hopes for the future.

“Outside Pontypridd Museum” – My Photography – licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

The Assistant Curator, David, says that by using photographs, artefacts, recorded voices, and archive film, Pontypridd Museum tells the ‘obvious’ and less-known stories of Pontypridd and its people. I have happy memories of visiting the museum on school trips, volunteering there, and learning about my town with interactive exhibitions. In fact, Museums Association found that museums are places of active learning for everyone. From schoolchildren to artists, they can inspire, teach, and support communities. Local museums are sites where stories are told and I’ve discovered that in order for museums to flourish, they need local people and organisations.

Inside Pontypridd Museum – Image from RCTCBC: Visit Rhondda Cynon Taf

In his 1994 five stance model, Wilcox explains that effective community participation comes from:

• Information
• Consultation
• Deciding together
• Acting together
• Supporting independent community initiatives

Communities, Lynch notes, see themselves as separated from the activities within museums. With a lack of engagement, they are consumers, not participants.

This, however, doesn’t seem to be the case in Pontypridd. David stated that without the contribution of locals “in the way of materials to exhibit, [the Museum] couldn’t exist”. For example, the local art and camera societies help fill their annual exhibition programme. The Museum tries to “act as a gathering point around which ideas, activities and groups can coalesce to benefit the town”. Ultimately, Pontypridd Museum achieves Wilcox’s five stance model.

“Pontypridd Museum” by gwallter is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Sadly, the Museum has faced not only the Covid-19 pandemic, but have been trying to recover after they were flooded during Storm Dennis in February last year. Some of their collection was damaged, and lockdowns have hindered their recovery process. They are missing the day-to-day contact with the public and their contributors.

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The Recovery Process – All Images from Pontypridd Museum via Twitter

On a more positive note, it has given Pontypridd Museum time to consider their future. Opening once again in September, they’re working hard to rebuild their key contacts. They may also seek feedback about developing the Museum’s services, and would like to work with schools to see how the Museum could work with the Welsh curriculum. It’s an exciting time for Pontypridd Museum!

The involvement of local people and communities shows how valuable local museums are. They are more than museums – they’re creative and active spaces for many people in their towns. You don’t have to go to a city to experience it.

“I believe that as long as we can keep our close links with large parts of the local community and continue to widen those, the museum has a secure future.”

David, Assistant Curator at Pontypridd Museum.

If you’re near Pontypridd in September, I’d definitely recommend a visit.

Header Image: “Pontypridd Museum from The Old Bridge” – My Photography – licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

All images and media in this blog are used under fair usage for educational purposes.

Is it time to end free art exhibitions? (C1825270)

Should art exhibitions be free to the general public? In an idealistic World… yes, they should be free. But journalist, Jonathan Jones, believes that tough financial times in Britain have put a strain on our cultural establishments. Is it time for us to stop treating these institutions like the NHS?

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Last summer, I took a spontaneous trip to the Turner Contemporary gallery. It looked like an impressive glass ship stranded upon the shore.

At the time, the gallery was showcasing an exhibition titled: We Will Walk – Art and Resistance in the American South. It was free entry. All I had to do was fill out my details on my phone.

The curator, Hannah Collins, had carefully compiled together music, photographs and art belonging to 1950s/1960s Southern America. According to Turner Contemporary, all the artists featured in the exhibition “lived through the Civil Rights struggle and its aftermath, often in conditions of poverty“.

The artwork was thousands of miles away from home. For many, this was even their first time in Europe. The distance didn’t diminish their power. In fact, their stories of courage and determination filled the once empty space.

Image 1: White, S., 2020b. We Will Walk – Art and Resistance in the American South Install View. [image].

Brightly coloured quilts decorated the walls in a part of the exhibition titled: Gee’s Bend. They were created using scrap fabric material, such as denim and football tops.

Behind the beauty of the quilts, there exists a deeply disturbing past link to slavery. I learnt that Gee’s Bend is actually a small community in rural Alabama. The residents there were obstructed from voting once the right to vote was granted in the 1960s.

Image 2: White, S. 2020a. We Will Walk – Art and Resistance in the American South Install View. [image].

The exhibition also included works that were in direct dialogue with the resistance of the Civil Rights protests. Installations included footage of political activist Angela Davis.

All the images were in black and white. It felt like they belonged to a distant part of American history… but then I remembered that these images were taken only 60 years ago or so. There was an overwhelming realisation that this part of history wasn’t thatlong ago. The people in these images may even still be alive today.

We live in a society where systematic racism still exists. It is an issue that minorities still face every single day.

A month prior to my visit, the people of Margate marched the streets in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

Image 3: Hudson, C., 2020. Route for Black Lives Matter march changed to end in Broadstairs. The Isle of Thanet News, [Image]

Learning about Black history is so important. It is through education that we realise our privileges. For me, the exhibition was such an eye-opening experience. I left knowing so much more than I did before.

So, in contrary to Jonathan Jones, I believe that our cultural institutions should be free. The knowledge that they provide should accessible for everyone. As Smith emphasises, “artworks are tools for lifelong self-education”. Access shouldn’t be limited to only those who can afford it.

However, I would still urge you all to donate what you can during your visits. Keep an eye-out for donation boxes as you walk around the exhibitions… and make sure that you carry extra change.

“I visited the entire Forbidden City in Beijing from my home in the US”(1727031)

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“A photo gallery of the Exibition” – My Own Photography – licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

“I hope that one day in the future I can go to Beijing to see the Forbidden City.” This is from an interview in the Tianya community with a New Zealander of Chinese descent, who was asked by the interviewer regarding his birthday wishes in 2011. It’s fascinating to  look back on how people thought about the future. With the continuous development of digital technology, virtual museums, which were regarded as a ridiculous idea, were designed and became a reality one day.

Museums embody the civilisation of a country and are an essential part of cultural transmission. Next, let’s take a look at how the Forbidden City 2021 Cloud exhibition meets the needs of audiences at all ages, from domestic ones to foreign ones, to enhance the cultural economy in this special period.

Applications

AR & VR

Some data…

On the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the Forbidden City, the Palace held an exhibition on the theme of ‘Ruyi’. The exhibition features 5 units with nearly 2,000 different Ruyi. On site, the Forbidden City Museum has developed four kinds of applications, so that elderly visitors who cannot read the text introduction and children who cannot understand the introduction can use different applications to visit the exhibition. In addition, people at home and abroad can visit over 1.86 million collections for free through the digital heritage library. This year, the Palace’s virtual museum system added VR capabilities, with a full 360-degree view providing an immersive experience for visitors, in a desperate attempt to bridge the gap between online usage and offline usage.

On social media, the Forbidden City Museum actively posted event descriptions and live images of it, gaining a large number of followers (10.16 million on Weibo, a popular social media platform in China, and an average of over 10 million readers of WeChat posts…). It increases audience interaction and facilitate communication through discussions and prize draws.

Likewise, souvenirs are essential parts of the exhibition. The Forbidden City has set up an online shop on China’s largest shopping platform and has gained 7.34 million followers, posting over a hundred cultural and creative products on it, with sales of over 100 million.

“The Forbidden City” by Wang  is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Some voices….

For this particular exhibition, I spoke to two representatives who expressed different views.

Ban, a Chinese student who lives in the US now

“Digital technology is widely used in museums and plays an important role in enhancing the expressive power of displays, and enriching the visitor experience. It also enhances information dissemination and communication, and increases the vividness, interest, participation and interactivity of displays. It provides a good interactive virtual experience for traditional museums as well as a convenient way to preserve the complete information of cultural relics.”

Shao, a corporate communications executive in China

“Firstly, the decline of museums is related to the development of electronic media. People can download images of objects and related materials from the internet, thereby reducing the number of museum visits. Secondly, there is a tendency for museum exhibitions to misuse new technologies regardless of the occasion and conditions. Thirdly, some digital media exhibitions do not have a clear exhibition purpose, which results in the visitors’ loss of interests in some of exhibitions.”

It is clear to see that neither side denies the significant contribution of digital technology to museums, but the challenge that museums still face is how to make better use of digital technology in the future. So what are your thoughts on this? Think about the technologies of ten years from now and dare to write about them in the comments!

“The Forbidden” by the Museum is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

All images and media in this blog are used under fair usage for educational purposes.

Museums: Frozen in Time or Standing Against the Test of the Pandemic? (C1832451)

Natural History Museum closure sign / Source: Zoe Paskett (via Evening Standard)

The COVID-19 Pandemic has brought down devastating effects nearly into every industry but more so on the creative industries, especially on sectors that majorly involves human interaction such as the cultural education sector.

People often visit the museum in search knowledge as it does not only showcase a piece of history but also reserves heritage whilst promoting education and inspiration. Although, I am willing to bet that there has been plenty of people, guiltily myself included, sneaking in at night just to see if Night at the Museum is real or not.

Museums have taken quite a massive blow as the majority of museums around the world, nearly 95% of them, had to close their doors in order to limit the spread of the virus. This leads to museums into a financial crisis as they continue to lose funding they were receiving from the income they made through admission and gift shops.  

As museums continue to plummet in their financial crisis, all sorts of funding made towards museums have decreased massively as public subsidies decreased by 50% and the average loss in budget came in between 40-60% in 2020, compared to 2019. 

Despite the downfall in funding and visitor admission, museums have taken the time and opportunity to show their support by providing the space for people to share their experience in fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

These stories store as much history as the artefacts displayed in the museums and by preserving them, people will be able to learn from them as well. By doing so, they are forming a stronger bond with their community. Perhaps there is a silver lining to everything. 

The Galleria Broghese in Italy continued their admission into their museum for quite some time by admitting up to 80 visitors in every two-hour slot. 

Digital disruption

Museums around the world has also begun to fully implement their online strategy by showcasing their exhibitions and collections on their website and social media platforms, with nearly 15% of them with increased digital communication activities. 

The Beijing Museum leads in example as they curated a virtual tour to an exhibition which allows the visitors to view the exhibition and zoom into the artefacts to have a detailed view of it.  

Van Gogh Museum virtual tour / Source: Ashlee Kothenbeutel (via UNews)

Many other museums such as the British Museum in London or the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam have also offered virtual tours to make sure we are still able to receive our dose of heritage and culture from the comfort of our own home. With these digital channels put in place, they are making museums much more accessible to the public, which will hopefully encourage people to come back and visit the exhibitions once again. 

Future predictions

There is no doubt that even after the pandemic, social restrictions will be kept in place and things will never truly turn back to normal. Interactive corners in museums will most likely be removed to avoid any cross-contamination between the thousands of visitors that will come to visit once museums welcomes more visitors. In the aftermath of the financial crisis they have gone through, new exhibitions will likely come in a less frequent manner. 

Even if we have not had the full museum experience for quite some time now, the closures made us realize how important art and culture really is. Not only that but with increase digital activity, the concept of a ‘digital museum’ are sounding more and more to be true in the near future. Perhaps in addition to virtual tours, there will be a variety of technological advancements that will further enhance the museum experience. 

What do you think is next for museums?

Amgueddfa Cymru’s Blaschka Glass: Are Video Exhibitions the Future of Art? (1804910)

Featured Image: Screenshot from Amgueddfa Cymru’s Blaschka Glass on YouTube

When lockdown first hit the UK in early 2020, the cultural and creative industries had to pause their operations. All of a sudden a trip to the cinema or going to a concert seemed a lifetime ago. Not only did the consumers miss these industries, but the establishments started to struggle without their visitors.

A cultural crisis

In the museums sector alone, six in ten establishments were concerned about surviving the pandemic. The director of Art Fund discusses:

“We are now seeing well-known and much-loved museums facing mothballing or permanent closure”

Jenny Waldman

This is saddening news for those like me who think of museums as symbolic of culture.

So when I recently came across National Museum Wales (Amgueddfa Cymru)’s impressive video exhibition of Blaschka Glass, my hope was restored:

Uploaded to their YouTube channel in March 2019, the 40-minute long video showcases stunning rotating footage of the Blashcka Glass models. It seemed ingenious to me; a virtual exhibition one whole year before we would become reliant on digital technology to keep us connected to art.

National Museum Wales describes the exhibition as ‘beautifully detailed glass models of bizarre sea creatures’ created by Leopola Blaschka and his son Rudolf in the late 19^th century. I was disappointed that I had to seek this information elsewhere because it wasn’t provided in the video. For me, this brought the quality of the exhibition down as I yearned to experience it as if I saw the sculptures in person.

My disappointment was quickly rectified by the outstanding filmography. The montage of each sculpture displayed every detail, and because it was a video I could easily pause for more observation time. I also appreciated the use of light shining through some of the models, particularly the ‘Sea Sponge’. This showed off the textures of the models which I otherwise wouldn’t have spotted in this video format.

Image: Screenshot of ‘Sea Sponge’ showcased in Amgueddfa Cymru’s Blaschka Glass on YouTube

A digital future for the arts?

Other establishments have since followed in National Museum Wales’ footsteps, with COVID-19 creating a need to digitally adjust. National Theatre At Home was a success during the peak of lockdown in the Spring of 2020. From Jane Eyre to Frankenstein, millions of viewers accessed their favourite performances from their homes.

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A post shared by National Theatre (@nationaltheatre)

In the wake of the pandemic in March 2020, UK theatres experienced a 92% drop in ticket sales, and there was an overall projected £77 billion revenue drop in the UK’s creative industries in 2020. Digital technology has therefore proven to be a life-saver for the arts, as National Museum Wales continued to demonstrate:

It’s clear that the cyberspace is fundamental for museums’ engagement. After all, the Natural History Museum alone reaches more people via social media in a month than the number of in-person visits in a year. Interestingly though, in 2019 only 34% of creative and cultural industries in the UK were using YouTube to publish videos. Perhaps the hesitation to make cultural products freely available goes back to an understanding of them being considered ‘high culture’ and deserving exclusive access.

There’s no doubt that attitudes are now changing. Without providing digital access for consumers, these industries would have collapsed under the weight of the pandemic. The Welsh Government’s Art, Culture & Sport Division have even offered a ‘Transformation Capital Grant’ to help fund museums, libraries, and archives extend their operations. This makes it easier for these establishments to move their operations online for consumers to access.

It appears to me that National Museum Wales was ahead of its time with the Blaschka Glass exhibition. This breath-taking video might just be a glance at the inevitable digital future of museums.