NEW PRINCIPLES FOR PARTICIPATION
Programs and Exhibits
Museum Rules and Manners Prior to your visit, please review the Museum rules with students
and chaperones. Out of respect for yourself, other visitors, and the art... Keep
your hands to yourself. Please keep a safe distance from art objects, walls, platforms, and cases. The oils, salts, and acids in our sweat can damage works of art.
Food, drinks, and chewing gum are not allowed in the galleries.
Leave lunches downstairs in the Student Center and backpacks on the bus. The Museum is not responsible for lost items.
Be respectful of other visitors in the Museum by using a quiet voice when walking through the galleries.
Make sure to only use pencils and folders in the galleries. Pens and clipboards can damage works of art.
Cell phones must be turned off while in the galleries. Exposure to camera flashes damages works of art. Photography is
permitted without flash in collection galleries; however, photography is not permitted in exhibition galleries.
New means of outreach and involvement – and new ways to define participation
Opportunities to reach new audiences – and change audience expectations
Shifting authority and controlChanged relationships between public and
cultural institutions, between departments in the institutions
Blurring boundaries between ‘programs’ and ‘exhibits’
Things to consider…
Who is the audience(s)?How is participation/engagement defined?
Encouraged? Valued?What is the purpose of the engagement?How does the public benefit?How does the institution benefit?Are there downsides?
Nina Simon’s principles for participation
Good projects: create new value for the institution, participants, and
non-participating audience members Offer scaffolding to support people’s participation Meet visitors needs –
Convey that their participation matters Offer clear information about what to do (but with
flexibility) Show respect Integrate products of participation back into the
institution in a quick and respectful way
ADDING PROGRAMS TO DEEPEN EXPERIENCE WITH CONTENT
The museum experience
“Voice Piece for Soprano,” Yoko Ono (1961):
Scream:1.1. Against the wind2.2. against the wall3.3. against the sky
http://vimeo.com/18596090
Expanding audiences
USING ONLINE/DIGITAL CONTENT
Library of Congress flickr streamData from first 9 months of use
•10.4 million views of the photos on Flickr. •79% of the 4,615 photos have been made a “favorite” (i.e., are incorporated into personal Flickr collections). •More than 15,000 Flickr members have chosen to make the Library of Congress a “contact,” creating a photostream of Library images on their own accounts. •7,166 comments were left on 2,873 photos by 2,562 unique Flickr accounts. •67,176 tags were added by 2,518 unique Flickr accounts. •4,548 of the 4,615 photos have at least one community-provided tag. •Less than 25 instances of user-generated content were removed as inappropriate. •More than 500 Prints and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) records have been enhanced with new information provided by the Flickr Community.
Name that Zoom (Museum of Life and Science)
Month at the Museum
Museum of Bad Art
cultureshock
Danger of social media becoming the point of social media? How are these adding value to the institution? How much participation is justified or warranted? “If you build it, they will come…” or not?
What are the benefits to the institutions? What happens to the role of “the expert” or
the authority of the institution?
What would it look like if cultural institutions joined this participatory culture?
Nina Simon’s hierarchy of social participation
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