Abstract
Museums were one of the cultural sectors most negatively affected by COVID-19. The restrictions introduced in the crisis period had multiple negative effects in the case of people's mobility and tourist travel. However, the temporary closure of museums also created opportunities. Museums have given greater relevance to the use of digital technology and virtual networks by increasing new forms of virtual communication with the public in the access to collections as well as the flexibility of activities. The proactivity and creative responses in moments of crisis, although of museums' initiative benefited from strategies promoted by cultural agents with contributions from the community itself. The crisis was also an opportunity to discuss and reflect on desirable changes for the museum of the future. The predictable socio-demographic changes in the public who frequent museums and the role that virtual communication will play were some of the concerns assumed by museums. The research focused on a restricted number of museums in the city of Lisbon, national museums.
TopResearch Theme
The central question of this research is the analysis of the relevance of new technologies in the communication process between museums and their public, as a facilitator element of access to new publics through virtual networks. For this purpose, five national museums were selected in the city of Lisbon which present characteristics that fit into the universe of study that was intended to be analysed. As for the national museums' publics, the socio-demographic characterization of the publics was taken into account. The classification of the public was based on the criteria adopted in the in-depth and cross-sectional study on the museum public, promoted by the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC, 2015). As there is no available data on the public who are users of virtual networks, we considered, for the definition of their profile, the criteria applied to users who make physical visits to museums.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Participatory Experience: Implies the involvement of the person (visitor), having a more or less active character, the museum visit should be participatory.
Creativity: Is a personal or collective aptitude beyond routines and habits, facilitating change by generating ideas, discovery, and innovation.
Digital Technology: Are resources that contribute to visitors' experiences and, regardless of distance, provide virtual visits.
Hypercultural Tourism: Hyperculturality produces the so-called hypercultural tourist who moves in a symmetrical space without the here and there.
Mediation: Mediation through cultural instruments and people can help the visitor to become an active observer and builder of meaning.
Virtual Visit: In this case, the “visits,” such as to museums, take place in a virtual environment, using tablets, computers, or other mobile devices.
Participation: Museums are nowadays cultural institutions in which the public and the community are considered as partners, as active interlocutors.
Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is a reflexive way of thinking, based on analysis and consideration of facts, with great relevance in the digital age.
Digital Resilience: Digital resilience relies on new technologies and contributes, especially in crisis and threat scenarios, to finding innovative and creative solutions.