Reflections on the Future of Museum Storytelling

Question 2: How can we build trust with underserved commuities?

I am particularly interested in this question since I find it to be a very important question that all museums, especially the big institutions need to solve. As museums change to be more inclusive and welcoming in the modern times, it is crucial to find a way to reach out to those who haven’t been able to participate in the conversation about museums and let them know that they can participate. The project at Amsterdam Museum shows how difficult this problem can be given how long it took them, but it is a step in the right direction to include opinions and stories from underserved communities when designing exhibits. Both sides learn from the experience, and the communities can see what efforts the museum is willing to put in for their stories.

Question 3: How can we best reach underserved communities?

I really liked the idea behind the MICRO Museums since it attacks the problem from the fundamental issue of the physical space a museum takes place. While traditional museums can seem intimidating to some communities or groups, the MICRO Museums give them a chance to participate even if they are not specifically looking for the experience. Since the fragments are small and each focuses on one topic, it is easy for people to walk up and engage while performing their original tasks at the local spaces.

Question 6: How can a small museum, with a limited staff and budget, implement such grand efforts?

With the outreach potential of the Internet and various social media platforms, smaller museums now have opportunities to spread their influence much wider than what they can do locally. Interesting projects like the one at the Philbrook Museum of Art can increase the museums’ online visibility and allow them to communicate their message better to a wider range of audiences.

Can You Apply Transmedia Storytelling to Museums?

In my experiences, a lot of museums are starting to take advantage of transmedia storytelling methods from audio guides to mobile apps and online activities. I think our project can definitely benefit from some form of transmedia storytelling since the purpose is to bring together the visitors in a different and interesting way as oppose to traditional talking and conversations. One way to achieve that is to create a way for people to interact over different mediums and across time, which transmedia storytelling can help us to solve the problem in interesting and immersive ways.