As an historian interested in countless periods, themes, and topics, there are always several exhibitions that I want to see at any given time. Museums and historical and cultural sites are doing amazing things with exhibitions nowadays. Their creativity is endless, and new life is given to many different topics. However, geography is still very much a limiting factor. It doesn’t have to be, though. Online exhibitions allow people from different locations and groups to experience the exhibition when they wouldn’t otherwise. Why are we limiting exhibitions to people in or visiting one specific place? The field of history is so often accused of elitism. Online exhibitions would be a big step forward!
It is 2020. You can open your phone with your face. Paper tickets are a thing of the past. If you are of the ereader persuasion, you need never carry a 1,000 page hardcover again. However, museums largely have yet to catch up to the present. I am lucky enough to have friends like Hisdoryan who share their exhibition reviews with me. If you are looking for a larger and more popular exhibition, you can probably find someone like me who has shared it. You might be interested in more niche topics, though, and smaller exhibitions. And then, you very well may be out of luck.
Benefits of Online Exhibitions
Undoubtedly, there are many benefits to online exhibitions. And I think there would be benefits for both the visitor and the institution. There are absolutely some institutions who have some (or all) of their collections online. (The V&A and the Met spring to mind.) As a researcher, it is invaluable. However, it isn’t anywhere close to the same experience as an exhibition.
1. Location
While I and many other people would be able to fly to these cities to visit these museums/exhibitions whenever we want to, that’s not reality. Travel is expensive. And quite frankly, as it exists, typically not great for the environment. An online exhibition would allow countless people to experience the exhibition who otherwise wouldn’t be able to. No, it won’t be the same experience as an in-person visit, but it is infinitely better than never seeing it. Museums bemoan that they could always use more attendance- this is a creative answer to the problem.
2. Viewing Fees
I’m not proposing that these should always be free. There is obviously planning and work and maintenance going into them. And I would argue that they probably take more work to create, because they require more creativity and adaptability. I think that having a quarter or half price fee for an online exhibition could provide additional funding.
I know that some people are going to say “What if people are going to just do the online thing instead of going in person?” However, I think that they will be a small minority. Ideally, I would be going to these exhibitions in person, like most of us. If they are truly concerned about local people doing this, they could limit by IP addresses (much like sporting teams have local black outs).
3. Creating More Jobs/ Work
As I’ve already said, a museum would potentially need different people to work on these online components. If you are familiar with museums and their teams, you will know there are far more than just your standard curators. Digital and online work is outside what many normal museums employ, though. While you absolutely need money to pay those positions, the online fees could help with it. And dependent upon your government(s), additional funding and grants may be a possibility as well. (I’m sure museum professionals are well-acquainted with these!)
Hurdles to Online Exhibitions
I’m not unreasonable, I completely recognise that there is more than one hurdle to mounting an online exhibition. Despite what people seem to think, you can’t always just take a photograph, put it online, and call it a day.
1. Funding
I can guarantee you that funding presents a massive hurdle to a lot of museums and sites. When they are being run largely on volunteer efforts and are scrounging for money on a daily basis, the money needed to create an online exhibition and keep it online may be staggering. You will need different professionals in for staging, photography/ videography, site building and maintenance, among other things. However, I think that charging a small fee for viewing the online exhibition (point 2 above) could truly help with that. Also, I think that many of the larger museums could bear the cost. (I completely understand smaller and informal organisations not having the option.)
2. Changing Exhibitions
Depending on the institution, there might be several changing exhibitions throughout the year/ seasons. And to continually do all of the work needed for an online institution multiple times? It could quickly become crippling. I do think that most museums do have at least one permanent exhibition that could be put online. I don’t think it needs to be an all or nothing option, changing exhibitions don’t necessarily need to all be offered online.
3. The Actual Experience
Exhibition curators, designers, and technicians all create a very specific experience for us when we go to an exhibition. They put a great deal of thought and effort into designing these exhibitions for us to enjoy and engage with. And without a doubt, an online exhibition will be a different experience. It takes a very different approach and may have a very different outcome. While the visitor may have no issue with that, the curators may want a specific experience. (Sometimes it is tied to funding/grants, and non-negotiable.)
♠
I have visited some truly exceptional exhibitions. The Dior: Designer of Dreams exhibition at the V&A was incredible, and I don’t know that it will be topped for me. The Fashion Museum truly out-did itself with their Royal Women exhibition. And the Bata Shoe Museum did an amazing job with both their Want and Gold Standard exhibitions. I have been incredibly lucky that I was able to go to London and Bath and Toronto to see those exhibitions. It will be at least 3 years until I can go to the UK again, and probably a year until I can go to Toronto. There are several exhibitions that I would do anything to say, but without online exhibitions, just aren’t possible. And there are many people in the same situation.
How do you feel about online exhibitions? Do you think we will see more of them?
Cheers,
The Historian
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As someone currently in the middle of designing a permanent online exhibition, I love that there seems to be a real desire for these kinds of platforms amongst the general community of museum goers and history lovers. I think you make a great point that history and museology are fields so often accused of elitism and gatekeeping and online exhibitions can really open up accessibility to resources and collections worldwide. I also think that despite the unique challenges that face online platforms (costs, functionality, the sacrifice of object physicality in favour of the intangible digital world), there’s a unique kind of creativity and potential that hasn’t yet been accessed by most museum institutions. Instead of having to work to the constraints of security, the need to maintain the delicate habitats of the objects themselves, the physical limitations of space and scheduling, online exhibitions are literally limitless. Space constraints don’t exist on the web. Exhibitions can be dismantled with the click of a button. User access and functionality can be prioritised. I’m not saying it’s necessarily a perfect solution and obviously, many people, myself included, would still look for the satisfaction of seeing an exhibition in person but online exhibitions offer such incredible opportunity and it’s so great to see other people as interested in seeing them grow as I am.
I am so glad that you’ve commented- I’m thrilled to hear that I’m not just imagining all of the options possible!! I find that the biggest argument against them (aside from funding) is that people will stop going to see them in person. However, that’s what people thought about VHS/DVDs, and people still go to the movies. (And theatre productions put on film tend to be VERY popular, aside from Cats…) I will always go in person if it is possible, but most of the time, it isn’t. Online exhibitions offer so much more flexibility and accessibility, not only for geographic reasons but accessibility. If you are able to, please let us know where/when your exhibition will be online!