Improving the State of Online Exhibitions in Singapore
The restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a sharp increase in the production of online exhibitions by museums worldwide.
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This includes Singapore, where we see major public museums turn to online exhibitions to remain connected to visitors amidst lockdowns.
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This research project aims to evaluate the current state of online exhibitions in Singapore, and provide recommendations for improvement to museums based on the evaluation.
Evaluating Online Exhibitions
Through a comprehensive literature review, three attributes of online exhibitions that are key to the overall experience of visitors in online exhibitions were identified:
Interactivity
Spatiality
Means of Display
These attributes were used to create an evaluation tool which would measure how much consideration was given to each attribute during the design process of the online exhibition. The evaluation tool worked by identifying a series of elements pertaining to each attribute, and scoring the online exhibition based on the presence of these key elements.
The Case Studies
Three case studies were chosen to apply the evaluation tool to. All three case studies were online exhibitions produced by public museums in Singapore that were available for viewing as of early 2022. They are:
The evaluation tool previously conceived was then applied to the three case studies.
Findings & Recommendations
The evaluation highlighted several key areas in which museums in Singapore should focus on in order to produce online exhibitions which are quality wise on-par with their physical exhibitions. Based on the findings, the following recommendations have been put forth:
Ultimately museums must first change the outlook they have on their online exhibitions, and work on them with the intention of the exhibition having merit on its own, rather than an alternative or replacement to a physical exhibition.
In addition, museums also need to rely less on elements of exhibitions that are common in physical exhibitions but does not translate well in online exhibitions. Rather, they need to use the digital tools at their disposal and add elements to the online exhibition specifically for the purpose of visitors to use them using digital devices. Museums also need to consider the fact that online exhibitions lose key sensorial and experiential aspects that physical exhibitions have simply by existing in a digital space, even if all other contents of the exhibitions remain the same. This means that museums need to make up for this shortcoming by utilizing technology, in order to produce online exhibitions that are of the same quality as physical exhibitions.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the Covid-19 pandemic has not so much led to online exhibitions being a key part of many museums around the world, so much as accelerated a process that was already in movement. Rather, the pandemic has only gone on to show the merits that online exhibitions have, which explains why so many museums are keen on still having them even after pandemic restrictions are over. Therefore, it is important for museums in Singapore to work on closing the gap between the quality of visitor experiences in online and physical exhibitions.
