Museum Talks
Multimedia technologies in museum work: A fashion trend or a real help?
05-12-2023
Speakers:Mykola Kushnir, historian, director of the Chernivtsi Museum of the History and Culture of Bukovinian Jews;
Yevhenii Kotliar, art historian, Head of the Department of Monumental Painting at the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Fine Arts, Ph.D. in Art History, Full Professor.
Invitees: representatives of museums in the Chernivtsi region, researchers, cultural managers, IT specialists, etc.
A brief summary of speeches
Mykola Kushnir:
Since 2008, when the Chernivtsi Museum of the History and Culture of Bukovinian Jews was founded, as a non-governmental museum with minimal staff, we have had to rely on modern digital technologies to help with its work. Thus, an LCD screen was installed in the exhibition hall to demonstrate additional materials during the tour, and in 2010, an audio guide was added. The latter was created as part of a special project. It makes it possible to listen to the tour in six languages and greatly facilitates the work of the museum, which does not have full-time guides. In addition, the museum actively uses a projector during educational events.
In 2019, the museum joined a project by the Centropa Institute, which prepared an audio guide for individual travel to Jewish sites in Chernivtsi using a smartphone. The text of the audio guide was based on the memoirs of former Chernivtsi residents, which were recorded at a recording studio.
The next stage was the use of modern multimedia technologies in educational materials. In particular, we are talking about computer animation, infographics, and drone filming. They were used in the process of creating a 15-minute film about the 1941 Chernivtsi ghetto, prepared as part of the project "Measuring Ghettos: Grodno – Chernivtsi – Chișinău".
The museum has made even more ambitious plans for the use of modern multimedia formats within the "House of Memory" project. It involves the creation of a web documentary about the history of the Jewish community of Bukovyna in the 20th century and educational smartphone apps on the same topic for high school and university students. It is assumed that the film will also be integrated into the existing museum exposition using the appropriate technology.
These examples only illustrate the general trend that museums in highly developed countries have long been following. Ukrainian museums are clearly lagging behind in this regard. However, in the short term, especially during the full-scale war, they can hardly count on serious state or municipal support for initiatives to digitalize museums and exhibitions. The way out of this situation may be to attract grant funds. However, museum workers in the region have to learn how to generate creative ideas and prepare appropriate projects to achieve them.
Yevhenii Kotliar:
Today, there is the significant problem of attracting visitors to museums and art exhibitions. The use of multimedia technologies can help solve this problem. Moreover, there are two main opportunities here: on the one hand, modern digital developments and multimedia formats allow us to bring museums and exhibitions closer to the visitor "on the couch". On the other hand, they make it possible to make cultural objects more interesting for real visitors, and, above all, for the younger generation, who do not accept a world without gadgets and smart technologies. This conclusion is based on the experience gained from teaching and training students and through personal participation in various museum and exhibition projects.
An example is the project to modernize the memory space on the territory of the Drobytsky Yar Memorial Complex in Kharkiv. Its centerpiece was a special interactive touch table that opened up unlimited possibilities for creating interactive online exhibitions on a given topic. In combination with light and noise video and audio effects, it created a special atmosphere in the place intended to preserve the memory of the exterminated Jews of Kharkiv.
In contrast, the exhibition project "Self-Portrait with an Apple", which involved graphic design specialists, used the "virtual gallery" format, which is now widespread online. The latter allows visitors to move around a virtual exhibition hall, view works of art, and read information about them and their authors. This project also used elements of animation and VR technology.
In the context of the COVID pandemic, to support artists who could no longer show their work as usual, and to satisfy the interests of art lovers, and bring more positive and happy motifs into the lives of both, another project called "Happiness in a Square" was born, involving not only a catalog and a booklet were created but also a video with animation. The selected paintings seemed to come to life, and such familiar and familiar motifs and plots acquired a new sound.
As the last two examples show, modern technologies make it relatively easy to show any exhibition to a wider audience and emphasize significant messages. It is very convenient in the current conditions of the full-scale war when people often cannot go to a museum or art gallery. In addition, given the situation, not all museums or galleries can operate as usual and receive visitors. VR technologies allow us to return to a virtual peaceful life and enjoy art for a while.
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Museum Talks