As the International Council of Museums (ICOM) says, museums are “permanent, non-profit institutions, at the service of society and their development and open to the public, that acquire, preserve, investigate, disseminate and expose the material testimonies of man and its surroundings, for the education and delight of the population”.

From the definition above, we can begin to understand the important role that museums have in our society. In addition to guaranteeing the exhibition of works of art, they are spaces dedicated to enriching culture, in all its aspects: education, entertainment, sensitivity, inspiration and knowledge of different languages, which portray reality from different perspectives.

Contrary to what many people think, museums do not just dialogue with the past. There are those who believe that they function merely as a huge collection of stories already told — and, in this sense, they really have a fundamental function of preserving and rescuing the identity of a people or a specific time. However, their contribution goes beyond this: museums, especially today, are also instruments for observing the present.

Today, many museums are undergoing important changes in their structures and ways of relating to art. This is due to the creation of new societal demands, asking these spaces to relate more closely to current life.

In order to ensure that this happens, many institutions find, in technology, a great way to meet the needs of the public, make environments more attractive and approach innovations in order to obtain significant gains.

Technology, as we realize, is very much a part of our daily lives. Just a quick thought: how many digital devices do you have at home? How do they help you communicate with friends and family? How have they changed the way you move around, eat, inform yourself and have fun? Yes, it may take a few minutes to get a large number of application names, devices and digital services that make our lives easier, thanks to the use of technology.

With museums, it's the same. After all, if technology is able to influence areas such as health, education, security, business, among others, culture is not left out. Museums have also embarked on this trend, opening themselves up to the possibilities that technological innovations are capable of providing to the market.

Are you curious to know more? If you are interested in the subject and would like to understand better how technology is influencing the museum market, just follow us and read on!

Museums and the art market

The art market is quite large, mainly because there are many different artistic expressions and cultural movements around the world. It ranges from music to visual arts, including dance, sculpture, literature, audiovisual, theater, among many other forms of manifestation.

Each of them keeps its particularities and more specific markets revolve around it. However, what we can see is that, in the great majority of times, there are three main fronts: the artists, who develop languages ​​and ways of expressing themselves, giving rise to works according to their experiences and references; the public that is interested in art and finds, in culture, a way to connect with others and with the world around them; and, finally, the intermediary agents, who look for ways to make the approximation between artists and their audience viable — here, there is a wide range of possibilities.

Intermediary agents can be record companies, in the world of music. Theaters for the performing arts and dance. The cinemas for the audiovisual universe. And, of course, museums, in the case of visual arts.

As we saw in the introduction to the article, museums play an essential role in our society and, in recent years, they are frequently undergoing transformations in order to find more options to present their contents and engage their visitors.

With the arrival of a time when life's mobile, digital and virtual, a series of adaptations are being applied to cultural spaces, such as museums, so that they meet the new needs of a generation that sees technology as indispensable. In this sense, the technological possibilities have been remodeling the functioning of these places and making them reflect on how they can innovate with each proposal.

In view of these requirements, the demand for spaces designed, for example, to bring dialogue with technology closer together comes into play. They seek to become, then, hybrid spaces, capable of accommodating the union between the physical and the digital. For this reason, it is believed that the trend is for museums to continue to be shaped by a wide variety of technological devices, all with the aim of providing more immersive, sensory, inclusive, interactive and collaborative experiences.

This whole scenario shows us how fundamental it is for museums to continue in their quest to find new ways to tell stories. It is necessary to go out for a breath, explore different possibilities, promoting intersections with other areas such as politics, the environment, and innovation. When this happens, the museum market expands, since it starts to insert different types of knowledge and notions into its logic. With this mixture, the market becomes more holistic and diverse, and we know: diversity, in culture, is capable of making it more powerful.

From the above, we can see how the museum market can only gain from future trends, which makes it very promising. Technology, in this process, shows itself as a path that opens doors and abundant possibilities for a niche that should not be plastered. On the contrary: it must always be on the move, pursuing changes capable of fostering the different cultural manifestations that exist in our society.

How digital tools can boost the museum market

Let's recap? So far, we have already seen a little about the importance of museums for the strengthening of culture, how the artistic market behaves and, even more, we understand how technology can contribute to the segment, remodeling its spaces, generating more revenue and thus making it more accessible to artists and lovers of cultural events.

Now, we will explore more deeply tools and initiatives that, thanks to the use of technology, are changing the experience that many people have with museums and with art itself.

Augmented reality

Augmented reality is a technology used by many markets, such as in real estate. It is already quite common to be able to show clients environments in which it is possible to view apartments and houses already planned and decorated, even before they are built, which helps to better understand how the possibilities of the enterprise will work.

In the case of museums, augmented reality is also a very attractive option. With it, it is possible to bring together several senses into one artistic work and give life to an incredible sensory immersion. Its application shows how the growth of digital services is not only transforming our interaction with the virtual environment, but also dictating how we interact with reality. In these situations, technologies are used to improve and enhance physical experiences.

Online galleries

Institutions from different countries are already adept of this type of initiative. The online galleries bring together specific pieces or exhibitions that, in addition to being present in the museum, are also available on the Internet.

Many online galleries allow not only the contemplation of the collection, which is generally made available in virtually the highest quality, but also the purchase of works — all done by digital platforms. With this, access to culture is democratized, since museums or galleries that are far from your home, for example, can be visited without leaving your couch. And the best: without having to buy tickets or face huge lines.

A great online gallery option is the Uffizi Gallery, located in Florence, Italy. Famous for gathering great works of genius Italian artists, the Uffizi Gallery's website hosts virtual exhibitions that are just waiting for your click to be appreciated.

Virtual tour

As with online galleries, virtual visits also came to increase the population's access to places that before were restricted to an elite. Even without financial resources or available time, thanks to technology, you only need an Internet connection to navigate the corridors of a famous museum.

With the break from the traditional model, which removes the lover or art collector from the limitation of physical spaces, the market is boosted, and museums now have another interface with their audience, which is quite advantageous.

Do you want to visit a museum right now? Do this without leaving your home. A good choice is Google Arts & Culture, which is a kind of Google Street View of art, and brings 360º images of museums from all over the world. We guarantee it is amazing!

Data interpretation

For museums, technology can be interesting to modify the format of artistic expressions and, also, to expand delivery and contact with people. However, its benefits are not limited to it.

From the collection and specialized interpretation of data from visitors in physical spaces and online traffic, museums can, for example, obtain essential information to make their businesses more assertive.

Thus, they are able to outline expansion plans for new markets, understand how and where their narratives will be displayed and delivered, develop corporate strategies, identify emerging risks, explore opportunities, among other options.

Diversification of content

Finally, the diversification of content is another point of attention for museums. With the presentation of works in a more captivating way, it is possible to attract, above all, a younger audience and offer them another way to consume culture.

In this scenario, technology is an important tool to ensure escape from the monotonous and to innovate in the combination of languages ​​and references.

From the moment that museums start to exhibit information in an attractive and differentiated way, different groups of society can come to see them as open spaces for experimentation, knowledge and inspiration.

Timelinefy: the tool for museums to organize history in time

Timelinefy is an innovative platform with a simple and direct objective: helping people to present information to each other. Museums, which are specialists in this art, can develop, together with Timelinefy, a new way of delivering their content, making their collections more accessible.

At Timelinefy, everything is done online. All information is made available in the format of timelines, where it is possible to organize historical facts chronologically.

In a dynamic, didactic, interactive and collaborative way, the Timelinefy tool allows museums to make knowledge available to users, taking culture to a new level. In addition, Timelinefy uses technology to show relationships between facts that appear, sometimes, disconnected from each other.

With timelines, users can retain more information, in addition to locating themselves better in the chronology of events of local and global relevance.

Doesn't it sound incredible? And it is! If you already want to know how the Timelinefy tool works and also bring content from your favorite museum to the platform, it's easy: go to the website and get to know each feature now.

Conclusion

With this article, we learned a little about how digital tools hold enormous transformation potential for museums. Together, this market niche and technology are able to make the cultural experience more accessible, inclusive, immersive, attractive. As we have seen, the possibilities are many and cover different fronts.

The message to museums is: by changing the lens, innovation can be seen as a partner to help us connect past, present and future. In this context, Timelinefy is the missing piece to gather information online and deliver it to the public in a virtual and engaging way, which is a great incentive to develop culture beyond physical spaces. Here we go!