We conducted a yearlong study of the evolving relationship between museums and their constituencies, with a focus on strategies to build and reinforce museums’ relationships with their audiences and communities. We held roundtable discussions with influential museum leaders in Chicago, Houston, New York, Los Angeles, London, and San José, Costa Rica. […]

It has been a grim couple of years for museums. In 2019 more than 230m people visited the 100 most popular institutions worldwide; in 2020, that figure fell to 54m because of coronavrius lockdowns and social-distancing requirements. More than 40% of museums surveyed by unesco, the cultural arm of the United Nations, […]

When the pandemic shut down travel, museums and tourist destinations turned to augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to create online exhibits and experiences. While some of these experiences are best seen with a VR headset, most can be enjoyed with just a computer or smartphone.

The pandemic served as a significant reason for digitalization, as museums sought new ways to attract visitors online. YouTube and Zoom were the most used platforms, with livestreaming, online tours, virtual exhibitions, podcasts, and “social media challenges” being some of the most popular digital formats. Onsite, digital wayfinding and online ticketing have also […]

In a survey of around 1000 participants, conducted for the Future Museum innovation network, Fraunhofer IAO has been investigating wishes and expectations regarding the use of digital technology in museums and science centers now and in the future. These results were presented at a hybrid meeting of the Future Museum […]

Museums have millions of dollars of cultural IP at their fingertips. Here’s how they should take advantage of it. A major part of this is how museums are rapidly becoming more sophisticated in how they capitalize on their cultural IP—the artworks and artifacts in their collection—to diversify their business and […]

The economic benefit of digitising an entire museum collection has been quantified for the first time. Research has found that digitising the Museum’s 80 million objects would contribute to biodiversity research, the study of invasive species and the discovery of new pharmaceutical drugs to the tune of billions of pounds.

Restrictions will come into force between 30 October and 7 November after cases reached highest-ever level since start of pandemic. With Russia’s Covid-19 numbers skyrocketing and only a third of Russia’s population fully vaccinated according to official statistics, President Vladimir Putin has decreed a week of “non-working days”, a euphemism […]

Doctors in Brussels are prescribing museum visits to their patients who are struggling with stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Museum therapy isn’t new and doctors in other places, such as Montreal, have also been prescribing visits to the local art museum as therapy. Not all programs are the same, […]

Crimes involving cultural property flourished during 2020, despite restrictions on travel and access to public institutions during lockdowns, a new Interpol survey has found. Police in 72 Interpol member countries seized a total of 854,742 objects, more than half of them in Europe, according to the survey. It also reported […]