Innovations of the Museums during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

With the outbreak of COVID-19 in the latter half of 2019 many fields got affected severely and museums faced a noticeable downfall among them. Especially social distancing imposed by the government, museums worldwide resulted in a clear reduction in museum visitors. Since a museum is a bridge that connects the knowledge and discoveries of past human culture and the public while interacting with the community, this situation forced the museums to look for alternatives to go up against the challenge. Hence, this research attempts to identify the innovations proposed and applied by the museums during the pandemic period redefining their traditional role in various approaches. In this study, the problem statement ‘How are the museums able to face the challenges encountered during COVID-19?’ is selected and the research objective is to mainly identify various measures taken by museums around the world during the particular time. To compile this research museum websites, research papers, articles, and case studies were studied to find out the methods used by the museums for their exhibitions and other basic functions during the pandemic occurrence. During the study, it was able to discover different efforts taken by the museums, especially with the upgrading of digital usage and technological advancements including promoting virtual museums, digitalizing museum collections, organizing webinars, and increasing the use of various smartphone activities and engagements through social media while focusing on recreating the visitor experience beyond physical space. They have resulted in yielding promising benefits not only during the pandemic but also following the crisis in enhancing the visitor experience, exhibition methods, and management. Consequently, from this study, it was able to be identified that the museums have taken pivotal measures to adapt to the new normal condition in society in the context of COVID, -19 acting as a steppingstone in introducing a new paradigm and an essential change in the relationship between museums and its visitors.