Every Thursday for a year, in this blog we have been sharing the “secrets” of the museum’s day-to-day working. The process of creating and putting on exhibitions, the restoration of works, the challenges posed by digital innovation, innovative methods of management, as well as knowledge capsules about the collection, have made up the content. All this has been explained by different voices, with the aim of offering a broad, vivid perspective from within, occasionally enriched with a view from outside.
This Thursday we are celebrating this first anniversary by sharing the content that has generated most interest among readers. These are the five most-read articles, which of course we recommend.
Critical reflections by the director of the Museu Nacional, Pepe Serra, about the changing scenario that today’s museums are experiencing and which require us to redirect models and practices towards a more social and integrative model. In this new environment, among other challenges, the museum has to face that of being a major producer of plural points of view and a generator of dialogue and critical thought.
Visitors in the Romanesque Art Galleries
Digital action is one of the Museu Nacional’s strategic lines. Therefore, Conxa Rodà reviews the digital supports and formats that 2015 has in store for us and she reflects on the social uses and implications that they may have for the dynamics of museums.
Museum audiences are increasingly using mobile. Visitors in the lobby of our museum. Photo: Maurici Dueñas
The secrets of the process of detective-like investigation that culminated in the monographic exhibition on Casagemas, as told by its curator, Eduard Vallès. In the exhibition, as in the article, virtually unknown works by this artist who played a key role in Picasso’s formative years have been shown.
Carles Casagemas. Self-Potrait, c. 1900. Col•lecció Artur Ramon, Barcelona
The process of restoring the watercolour The Darcawi Holy Man from Marrakesh, by the painter Josep Tapiró, is analysed by Carme Ramells, the museum’s paper restorer. This article, amply illustrated, shows the preliminary study of the negative effects suffered by the work as a result of previous restorations. The watercolour is now hanging in our galleries.
The Darcawi Holy Man of Marrakech. Front and back prior to the treatment.
Reflections on the museum’s current role as a connector between the collections, knowledge and the public. And how digital is an excellent medium for strengthening these connections. Social media, collaborative platforms, mobile and blogs are some of the tools that the digital environment places at our disposal.
Will Digital reach all audiences? Centre Georges Pompidou. Photo: Conxa Rodà
We are most grateful to our readers for the good reception they have given the blog. We encourage you to subscribe to receive it every week by email, to share it or leave a comment.
What other subjects would you like us to deal with in the blog? What other points of view of the museum and its collections would you like to know about?
One comment
Congratulations, I love to read this museum blog. Wish more museums shared their behind-the-scenes plus in-depth thoughts