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I believe that museums are the mirrors of our society. This is because the collections they display and stories they tell appeal to a diverse audience. When I embarked on my career in the museum sector over 20 years ago, educational services were a hot topic. Museums had begun organizing guided tours and workshops for schools and groups, and placed labels and texts for individual visitors (although these were still often written in technical jargon). This was the point at which museums became even more accessible – you no longer had to be an art expert to understand what an exhibition was about.
I’m happy to see that this accessibility has only increased nowadays. Museums welcome a wide range of visitors and play an increasingly relevant role for different communities in society. They have evolved from places with a purely educational purpose, transferring information unilaterally, to dynamic hubs focusing on interaction, participation, and engagement. In addition to curator contributions, museums are now keen to accommodate various perspectives, a whole range of voices, which can in turn broaden your view of a museum piece.
Look for stories that move people
But how can you achieve this pluralism? In terms of audio tours, the best results are achieved by offering powerful storytelling that seeks to build a bridge between the content and your target audience. Seek out an emotional connection: a story that touches people, makes them think, and appeals to your target group.
The tool for your stories
Guide-ID’s mission is to make these different stories accessible to different audiences. That’s why we offer a platform that enables you to create stories for various target groups. Whether you’re catering to time-pressed tourists, blind or visually impaired visitors, or families from the local community: our Tour Editor – our Content Management System – enables you to create individual tours and add various layers in as many languages as you like.
Our Podcatcher features ‘ABC buttons’ that you can use to create a quiz for children or add different levels, such as a second layer, to the central story of your audio tour. For example, you can include time for the curator to speak or add an image description, so that blind or visually impaired visitors are equally able to experience the piece. It’s worth saying that an image description can be just as insightful for visitors with no visual impairment!
Going one layer deeper? You may want to add a poem or a piece of music to tune your content to the specific needs of your visitor. Creators are free to put together their own ‘menu’.
In practice
Many museums now apply this pluralistic approach. For example, in LABIOMISTA (Genk, Belgium), artist Koen van Mechelen will personally take you on a tour of the park, and there’s also a tailor-made tour with contributions from children. At the new ‘Kinderen van de Renaissance’ (Children of the Renaissance) exhibition at the Museum Hof van Busleyden (Mechelen, Belgium), visitors can listen to educationalist Pedro de Bruyckere share his vision of a Renaissance portrait of a child. Alongside contributions from experts or curators, you could also choose a specific group of people and let them tell their story. For instance, the exhibition ‘Heeren, vertrekt!’ (Gentleman, start the race!) at the Sint-Pietersabdij museum (Ghent, Belgium) features testimonials from racing cyclists at the time. The possibilities are endless: a child describing what they see, a person with dementia recalling memories, or a blind person communicating their experience as they touch a sculpture.
What voices do you offer a platform to?
Writing content and recording testimonials takes time and preparation. And while all testimonials are valuable, they don’t all add value or achieve the desired effect. So, start by determining the common theme of the museum or exhibition. After that, have a look at the target groups you want to appeal (or appeal even more), and which objects and stories are best suited for that purpose. Integrate the pluralistic approach in this process. Strong storytellers both from inside or outside your museum can help you do this. You can also work co-creatively with a specific group and ask them to act as a sounding board. This pluralism opens up a new world, enables you to make links with current affairs, stimulate several senses, and allow visitors to experience the object in a different way.