Galleries urged to embrace smartphones to attact visitors
THERE may be little more maddening sight at an art gallery than hordes of visitors staring intently not at the paintings but at their mobile phones.
From today, that sight is not to be sniffed at but encouraged, as the Government urges museums and galleries to embrace all things digital to cater to the expectations of a new generation.
The Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) has issued guidelines to teach UK institutions how to “harness the potential of digital technology” to hold the interest of visitors, who are “no longer simply passive receivers” of art and culture.
The Culture is Digital report, released by Matt Hancock, Secretary of State, yesterday, urged the sector to make the most of the 78 per cent of adults who own a smartphone, using technology to “transform” the relationship between art and the public.
The near future could see the expansion of plans to digitise museum collections, share exhibitions via virtual reality headsets and upgrade mobile phone offerings to allow people to listen to podcasts about paintings as they stand directly in front of them.
The National Gallery, which hosted an event to launch the DCMS report, is exploring plans for an airline-style ticketing system which could allow prices for different times of day to vary by demand, and boosting the information on its labels with extra details on smartphone apps. Gabriele Finaldi, director of the National Gallery, said he was “very sympathetic” to those visitors who still wished to come to the gallery to absorb the paintings quietly, but added that visitor demands are “evolving” with the generations.
In 2014, the gallery finally allowed the public to take photographs of its main collection after introducing Wifi. A year later, Sir Nicholas Penny, its former director, lamented the trend for benches in the gallery being “excessively occupied by young people, who are reading their bloody devices”.
Mr Finaldi said yesterday: “We have remarkable possibilities now to extend [visitors’] experience, the significant proportion of which comes through your hand-held device. So let’s look at ways in which the experience of seeing real works of art can be enriched and extended.”
Mr Hancock said smaller museums and galleries would be offered a “howto guide” to help them use digital technology most effectively, arguing it could boost revenue and visitor numbers.
The report outlined plans for Arts Council England to create a “Digital Culture Code” for organisations, to “demonstrate a commitment to developing their own digital maturity”.
“Digital experiences are transforming how audiences engage with culture and are driving new forms of cultural participation and practice,” the paper said. “Technology is having a profound effect on cultural activity, especially for younger generations.”