InnovART | Innovative iniatives bringing closer art and people

The V&A Reading Rooms – A museum café, outside a museum

Nowadays, most of the museums have their own inhouse café , how nice is it to enjoy a coffee break while a museum visit? Well, how about having a coffee outside the More »

Moderna Museet is filling Stockholm with crate boxes

Did they fell from the truck ? No, they’re appart of a raising-awareness campaign! In less than 10 day, the much anticipated exhibition Turner, Monet, Twombly will open at Moderna Museet. To More »

liljevachs konsthall Foto David Magnusson

Collective Art at Liljevachs Konsthall

Questions about producing a concert in a museum

Recently, I went to listen to a concert at Hallwyska Museet in Stockholm, it was organized by Operettensemble, and it got me thinking about the things to think about when an institution More »

Everybody is a photographer at Moderna Museum

With a catchphrase such as “You can too exhibit at Moderna Museet”, the reknown modern art institution of Stockholm is definitely promoting audience involvement in connection with this year’s special hanging of More »

The V&A Reading Rooms – A museum café, outside a museum

November 12, 2011 Alice No comments

Nowadays, most of the museums have their own inhouse café , how nice is it to enjoy a coffee break while a museum visit?

Well, how about having a coffee outside the museum, but still enjoying the museum’s atmosphere?

The V&A made that possible with their “Reading rooms”, an off-site bookstore/café, located a hundred meters away from the museum close to South Kensington’s tube station.

The V&A became a role model in terms of identity building and branding for a museum. This london’s museum dedicated to Art and Design is even explaining it to you how they do it on its website.

Using the museum’s brand, the V&A opened this place, which opened a little less than a year ago, where you can enjoy a latte or a glass of wine while reading one of the many hand-picked art books available in the shop (you can also buy it and take the book home of course).

Not only this cute and intimate café is developping the museum as a brand, but it’s also diversifying the museum’s ressources since every purchase made are used to support it.

Moderna Museet is filling Stockholm with crate boxes

September 22, 2011 Alice No comments

Did they fell from the truck ? No, they’re appart of a raising-awareness campaign!

In less than 10 day, the much anticipated exhibition Turner, Monet, Twombly will open at Moderna Museet.

To complement the communication campaign for the launching of the event, the museum decided to use some guerrilla-marketing inspired techniques by putting crate boxes throughout town.

The boxes have been disseminate in some strategic places in the city.

Collective Art at Liljevachs Konsthall

September 21, 2011 Alice No comments

Liljevachs Konsthall is an art gallery located on the Djurgården island in Stockholm. Designed by architect Carl Bergsten and inaugurated in March 1916, it is today owned by the City of Stockholm. It’s an extremely beautiful venue that became famous for the “spring exhibition” produced every year by the museum and showcasing what Sweden has best to offer in contemporary visual arts.

Crafts, or “hemslöjden” as the swedes call it, still stand strong in Sweden. From embrodery to wooden figures, traditions in that field are protected and promoted.
A reference journal in that field, also named “hemslöjden” is celebrating its 100 years of existence next year.

To this occasion, Liljevachs Konsthall and Hemslöjden are launching a collaborative art project called and “Do you see the leafs of all the trees” that will be presented next June at the Gallery.

The concept? Create wooden trees made of 2000 leaves of wood. And what’s so special about them? YOU decorate your own leaf!

Through Hemslöjden website it’s possible to register and receive one of the leef and decorate it yourself. Once finished, it will be with other 19 other leaves decorated the same way. In the end, 100 trees will be conceived and will fill the gallery of Liljevachs Konsthall.

So what’s it gonna be. Crochet, glitter or knitting?

It’s interresting to see how this project is using the very same technic used by the Moderna Museet project “Everyone is a photographer”.It is tugging at the same heartstring promoting the fact that everyone has the possibility to exhibit in such a reknown art institution. You make the piece. You exhibit. You become an artist?

Exhibitions based on audience collaboration are a strong trend right now, but what makes this initiative so special is that usually the involvement is not as extensive (like in Lyon for the biennale, or this 2010 exhibition at the New Museum). In this case, almost everything (except the displaying) is left to the audience.

For the audience, this kind of projects amplify the feeling of art as an experience for sure. But it also questions the definition of an artist. By making it so easily accessible, maybe the danger of this kind of projects is to minimize what is it to be an artist.

To sum it up : “I could do it myself”. Yes, you can.

Röda Sten, a multilevel experience art center

September 09, 2011 Alice No comments

This summer, I visited Röda Sten, a one-of-a kind art center, located in Göteborg.

When I visited this institution I identified it as the perfect exemple of a museum thought as a global experience, to a local level.

It has exhibitions surely, workshops, lectures. But the building also has a Restaurant, not a typical museum café, a place opened at night that welcome live music and clubs. The place is opened until 3 am every week end. Thanks to a beautiful location, “where the urban grandeur meets the Swedish west Coast”, once can have a drink and party, after seeing innovative exhibitions.

Questions about producing a concert in a museum

July 15, 2011 Alice No comments

Recently, I went to listen to a concert at Hallwyska Museet in Stockholm, it was organized by Operettensemble, and it got me thinking about the things to think about when an institution like a museum decide to organize a concert or a series of concerts. For which purpose, how often, for whom…

What is the goal of having concert in a museum ?

Before starting the draft of such a project, it seems major to identify the goals of such an event. In my opinion, it can be one or more of the following :

- Diversify the sources of income
- Promote the museum in a broad way
- Diversify the composition of the museum’s audience
- Increase the visits of one or more target groups of the museum
- Organize an educational program in connection with an exhibition or the collection

Depending if there is one or multiple goals from the above the following elements should be thought in connection with them.

Where in the museum should the concert take place?

A natural setting may exist in the museum, an auditorium, a garden or a square outside the museum could appear like the perfect choice. But the effect on the viewer won’t be the same if the concert happen in a place that seems dedicated to it (aka garden or auditorium), or to include it in the museum exhibition space. First option is more disconnected with the museum’s content, but may be easier to organize logistically. Second option has the advantage of having the audience seated in the museum, the connections with the museum’s content are therefore easier.

What music genre should be presented?

Here, many elements can influence the programming choice. Technical and budget issues can prevent some choices (not every museums can invite kanye west .

In the meantime, despite all the logisitics obstacles, the choice of music will have a decisive impact on the population it will attract, and therefore the accomplishement or not of the goals that are set for the event.

Sadly, I noticed that many museums decide to have classical music concerts in their venues, whether it is Le Louvre, Le Musée d’Orsay, or locally for me, Stockholm’s national museum

It’s great that those artistic programming try to connect with some of the museum’s collection which are organising those events, but they don’t reflect the diversity of their collection, neither as the diversity of their audience, captive or not.

In this aspect, the artistic programming of PS.1 and the Museum of Fine art of Bostonare both very interesting examples, they indeed offer an extremely diverse concerts program from urban music to dj’s.

Pricing

According the budget and the goals of the event, pricing has to be given some thoughts as well. Price category should for example allow target groups to come easily. Whether it is freeness or special prices for students, young people, disabled or over 65…The range of price will in a way define the audience that can access to such an event.

Frequency

According the goal of those concerts and logistics details, the frequency should also be studied, is it going to be a summer series, a yearly thing, a one time event that will make everybody buzz about or associated to a large event.

Conclusion : Connect the concert and the museum, how to make the visitor come back ?

What I noticed in some institutions is that the concert event or series is sometimes not efficiently connected to the museum core activity, and therefore can’t serve the goal of diversifying or increasing audience.

In order to achieve that goal, it seems crucial to put at the audience disposal before, during or after the concert as much information on the museum as possible.

It could take different form :

- Information about the museum could be contained in the concert program, a brochure of the museum could be on every seats, informative message could be said or shown during the break…
- In order to make the audience come back, a great way could be to offer a discount to every concert viewer for the museum entrance, or an other service of the museum.
- Getting the email addresses of the viewers seems also useful in order to send them information about the coming museum’s activity.
- At last, since the audience of the concert are on site for this event, why not extend the opening hours of the museum so people can have a look before or after the concert?