A revolution in our way of accessing art has for some time been quietly underway: major museums in the world are finally opening up their vast archives of photos to the public, while employees from curators to guards are being deprived of their traditional gate-keeper function
For some years it has been possible to search the huge collections at the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert. In 2012 the Rijksmuseum followed and finally last May the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art including The Cloisters posted nearly 400.000 precious objects and pieces of art on the internet. Currently the National Museum in Copenhagen is posting the collection of photos online as is the Musée du Cluny in Paris. The aim is in the future to make everything available – perhaps even for ordinary people to use on t-shirts, tattoos, plates or even toilet-paper. Another over-arching project is the “Google Art Project” – in which more than 400 museums have joined up to publish their treasures in High definition and for everyone to peruse. In view of this the offer of the European initiative, Europeana, is definitely paltry. It is obvious that many European Museums East of the Rhine are still dragging their feet. Old habits die hart as witnessed by their policy towards mobile cameras in Prague, Budapest and Warsaw. While guards in London have slowly learned to accept the fact that people are allowed to take selfies in front of their masterpieces, professionals are seldom allowed to take photos for the press in Eastern Europe.
Some, like for instance the Sociologist George Ritzer sees this as the ultimate McDonaldization of our world heritage. Arts should be seen in museums and not on tablets, films in cinemas and not on Netflix, while music should be experienced in concert halls and not on iPods. Others like, Gonzaga Gauthier, head of the digitization project at Centre Pompidou, are very critical in so-far as they do not consider a digital tour a proper aesthetic experience.
This may hold true for the well-endowed middle class. However, for the old, the infirm, the poor, the unemployed and the generally disfranchised this may be their only chance ever to experience some of the great wonders of this world. Of this politicians are becoming more and more aware. These collections are seldom the personal property of the museums, but collections entrusted by the people to the general care of the curators. In England as elsewhere free public entrance has accordingly also been dictated by the respective governments: in general people with or without the means should have free access.
In the meantime guerrilla-fighters in the art world have for some time experimented with new forms of communication: one such initiative is “Artips” founded by Coline Debayle and her partner Jean-Perret. Together with eighty volunteers they post a daily dose of art every day in English, Spanish, Italian, French, German or Portuguese.
SOURCE:
Musées en ligne : une expérience esthétique ?
