smARTplaces Manifesto
What characterizes a »smart« place in culture? At what point do digital interactions with audiences support and extend the physical visitor experiences, at what point do these momentums compete with each other? And therefore could they maybe distract from a museum’s identity as a place of multi-sensual experiences? What skill-sets are fundamentally needed in organizations when it comes to embracing digitality and critically reflecting its limitations on the same hand? How do we close the gap between our digitally-enabled audiences and our ability to keep up and reflect on the need of (digital) innovations and their implementation within a cultural context? Especially, since all museums struggle with limiting factors as finances, capacities and manpower how can museums find their own way in dealing with the digital disruption?
The Rally Cry!
Inspired by the traditions of the pamphleteers of the 18th century, this is a rally cry to talk about these questions and the need of change for museums, with one foot in the present and an eye on the future. Yes, we are wary, cautious and exhausted when it comes to talking these themes (yet) again. But we, as the 10 partner institutions of the smARTplaces consortium are operating as platforms for complex, urgent discussions with a view on practical outcomes.
What is our plan to create this manifesto:
What if we say that best practice in this complex field does not exist. The only route forward is good practice - ideas, processes and rules that can be broken, bended and adapted. The vision of our manifesto is to develop a lean document, which is tactical and practical. It addresses four areas of change: tools, audiences, meditators and behaviors. Stage one of our plan launches at our first international smARTplaces conference in Karlsruhe where our facilitator Jasmin Vogel, who leads innovation projects at the U, will gather your questions. We also want to invite the wider community of culture sector professionals, who can join us on the two conference days to give their questions and perspective.