Communication is Everywhere

There is a saying that talks about new museum theory rethinking traditional museum theory: "The old museology is that it is too much about museum methods and too little about the purpose of the museum." So what is the value and meaning of a museum? It should be communication and exchange. Letting those exhibits represent their dead owner to communicate and talk with contemporary culture. As a medium, objects in museums build a bridge between information and thoughts. So how do museums expand their zone to communicate with audiences, and how do they promote their brands? Especially with globalization or the pandemic, museums use new technology to share content with the public.

Communication in the museum was one-way before. According to the display, research, records, and interpretation, audiences passively take over information. How do we conduct the communication between the ancients and the moderns, between curators and audiences, between different audiences? How we give them a process of exploring, finding, and learning. How about the communication of mainstream sense and a new stream of consciousness?

Museums are great places to build worldviews, values, and philosophies and how we make full use of them through new technology and new communication ways.

Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) Documentary "National Treasure," "Files of National Treasures" and, "Masters in the Forbidden City," and other series of variety shows related to museums hit the air, sparking museum tourism fever, and museums have become popular places to go and to take pictures. It is not only on TV but also on streaming media and theater chains.

They also produce many peripheral products and artworks derived from those media programs. As the name suggests, cultural and creative products refer to the creation and improvement of cultural resources and goods by relying on the wisdom, skills, talents, and cultural accumulation of creative people, through the development and application of intellectual property rights, with the help of modern technological means, And the output of high value-added products. A museum is a brand; the product is given a different meaning if it puts on a "Logo" or clever design. It is not only promoting a consequence, but the core is also still expanding the influence of culture.

Many museums are also experimenting with "sound museums. More than 50 museums across the country have opened audio albums on the Himalayas, which has 600 million users. The National Museum of China has launched 11 audio albums, including the "Qin and Han Civilization Exhibition." On the best-selling list of Himalayan art, the top-ranked "National Treasure is Coming: An Essay on Cultural Relics from Top 100 Museums" has received 22,000 subscriptions and 340,000 broadcasts.

The target audience is gradually becoming younger, and the "museum" changed its tone gradually from solemn to relaxed and lively.

Online communication

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Cultural Heritage Administration of "Cloud View Exhibition" successively launched 300 online display projects, including 188 online virtual exhibition projects, 90 digital panoramic exhibition hall projects, 22 museum big data platforms and cultural relics digital display projects, involving historical-cultural relics, Revolutionary cultural relics, natural science specimens and other categories to meet the needs of different audiences.

5G live guide, 3D real-world display, ultra-clear big picture, immersive experience, online interaction, webcast...When new media and virtual reality technology are combined with the museum, significant chemical reactions occur. For example, the Potala Palace live broadcast to visit the first show, and the total number of viewers reached 920,000 within 60 minutes, more than half of the 1.5 million visitors of the Potala Palace throughout the year. "Cloud View Exhibition" has moved the museum, making it more convenient for visitors to get close to culture and experience history. It also provides new ideas and methods for museum innovation.

Site-visit experience In the exhibitions of natural science museums, children most like the interaction brought by technologies such as wall touch, virtual flipping, and holographic. Projection, phantom imaging, arc screen theater, and holographic screen. Nowadays, museums widely use new digital media methods. Multimedia images and physical exhibits are echoed to reduce the sense of distance for the audience. Some museums use 3D technology to "make cultural relics come to life," and immersive exhibitions are more attractive and livelier.

What and how does it say

Now, the museum combines memory with creativity, exploring the stories and fireworks behind the cultural relics. Do not introduce knowledge mechanically like manuals. They are life-like and therefore appear younger. And this is also one of the important reasons to attract an audience.

After watching an episode of a cultural documentary, sometimes it feels like a "lively and interesting history lesson" for the audience. In addition to distinctive telling styles, artistic and cultural documentaries often tell stories and show the beauty of cultural relics in subtleties.

Why communication is the importance

Artifacts are proof of history and culture. How to make efforts to include the communication methods that young people like so that the audience can receive knowledge efficiently and interestingly. We must see and make those values seeable and touchable for audiences. Behind it, we still must know the life, thoughts, and emotions of the people who created it and the people of that era. Pursuing valuable details can resonate with the audience. Through the texture of the cultural relics, the audience’s empathy is aroused, the windows of history are opened, and the spirit of generations of artisans can be displayed.

What suggestions could be give

Open social media account

Endless stories could be told for a museum, and people might not search certain museum websites to look at levels. Still, if they can quickly access their social media applications, that will work in “educating and sharing culture.”

Targeting audiences

Target specific audiences through different media platforms; for example, the art museum has different audiences from the natural science museum. If a natural science museum targets young teenagers as its audience, it should create content on TikTok.

Using multimedia to tell a story

The podcast is a good way not only to tell stories of displays in museums, what about the idea of their derivatives, the story of a museum guide who spends their whole life in a museum. What about a story between a visitor and a specific exhibit? We should think more about humanity rather than telling a cold, faraway story. We should continue to find some story to tell.

In modern society, many people are too reckless and cannot calm down. Once people walk into museums, open the museum’s website or the documentary, they want to talk about the history and get fully involved in a specific culture. Technology is used to serve people and get something from this journey. So how to improve the communication quality and leave them enlightenment after they come to the museum?

When we talk about the social responsibility of the museum, it may contain public education and public sharing. However, that does not only leave a map and specific explanation to audiences.

Meanwhile, when we are involved in communication, we need to be inclusive if the mainstream culture has a great opportunity to be known. How about minority culture, local community, and sub-culture community? What about some voices that come from indigenous? How do we cooperate history and present together?