Hyperconnected Museums
ICOM chooses each year for International Museum Day a topic situated at the center of society’s worries. “Hyperconnectivity” is a term invented in 2001 to describe the multiple means of communication that we have nowadays, like facetiming, e-mail, text messages, phone or internet. This global net of connections grows more complex, diverse and crucial each day. In the hyperconnected world that we live in, museums are joining this tendency. Which is why, The International Council of Museums (ICOM) has chosen the topic “Hyperconnected Museums: New focus, new public” to celebrate International Museum Day 2018.
It’s impossible to understand the role of museums without keeping in mind all the connections that these establish. They are an inherent part of their local communities, their cultural landscape and their natural surroundings. Technology allows museums to reach beyond their regular audience to a new public through the adoption of different focuses to their collections: it can be through the digitalization of their collections, adding multimedia elements to the exhibit or something as simple as a hashtagto let visitors share their experience on social media.
Regardless, not all of these connections are due to technology. In their effort to remain relevant to society, museums now direct their attention toward the local community and the diverse groups that make it up. As a result, throughout these recent years, we have been able to witness the birth of innumerable common projects organized by museums in collaboration with minorities, indigenous peoples and local institutions. To let these new audiences involve themselves and strengthen these connections, museums must find new ways of interpreting and presenting their collections.
We invite cultural institutions of all kinds from all over the world to join this celebration and change the focus of their collections, exploring all the connections that join them to their communities, cultural landscape and natural surroundings.
It’s impossible to understand the role of museums without keeping in mind all the connections that these establish. They are an inherent part of their local communities, their cultural landscape and their natural surroundings. Technology allows museums to reach beyond their regular audience to a new public through the adoption of different focuses to their collections: it can be through the digitalization of their collections, adding multimedia elements to the exhibit or something as simple as a hashtagto let visitors share their experience on social media.
Regardless, not all of these connections are due to technology. In their effort to remain relevant to society, museums now direct their attention toward the local community and the diverse groups that make it up. As a result, throughout these recent years, we have been able to witness the birth of innumerable common projects organized by museums in collaboration with minorities, indigenous peoples and local institutions. To let these new audiences involve themselves and strengthen these connections, museums must find new ways of interpreting and presenting their collections.
We invite cultural institutions of all kinds from all over the world to join this celebration and change the focus of their collections, exploring all the connections that join them to their communities, cultural landscape and natural surroundings.