Let’s a take a look at the phenomenon of Instagram Museums, proof that making your arts and culture space Instagrammable is big business.
They’re arts and culture installations like you’ve never seen before. “Instagram museums” set out their main objective in their name: be as Instagrammable as possible, often at the expense of expected museum norms such as… exhibitions. Where many museums in the past have discouraged or outright banned photography, these venues actively encourage taking as many photos as you like and – most importantly – posting them to social media, particularly Instagram.
Despite the moniker of “Instagram museum“, they’re often far more comparable to art installations. They tend to focus more on looking good – both in real life and on your phone screen – and relegate educational aspects to a secondary concern.
What makes Instagram museums special?
Let’s take, for example, The Colour Factory in New York City, one of the most widely reported on and eye-catching Instagram museums of the last couple of years. It’s vivid, eye-catching and – perhaps most importantly – it’s a great addition to your Instagram theme. It’s not difficult to see the attraction here.
[pullquote align=”normal” cite=”Sophie Haigney, The New Yorker”]Some explicitly brand themselves as museums, and others shy away from the term, but they’re all exhibits of sorts that are also mostly a series of backdrops for Instagrams.[/pullquote]
It has become a massively popular trend on Instagram to post selfies from these museums – going somewhat full-circle on this concept, there’s now a Museum of Selfies) – and it isn’t hard to see why. These selfies and photos are aesthetically pleasing and attract a huge number of engagements and likes on Instagram.
Integral to this is the fact that these attractions make their visitors part of the experience. This creates a space in which patrons can connect more deeply with the exhibit and feel fully immersed within.
Are Instagram museums a fad?
They’ve gained coverage in The New Yorker, Wired, and Vox, to name just a few of the news outlets clamouring to cover and understand this trend. But what does all this hype and attention mean for more traditional museums and culture experiences? And, perhaps most importantly, is it sustainable?
Well, they’re forcing more traditional museums to reevaluate what they offer to their patrons and to consider if they’re falling behing in offering compelling experiences. The emergence of Instagrammable experiences has also raised concerns from more traditional museums that the type of exhibits that people find appealing is shifting rapidly and severely. One of the ways in which they’re trying to combat this this is to invest in technology that allows them to change up the content and exhibits on offer regularly without completely remodelling large amounts of space. This is being achieved through the use of technology such as video walls, digital signage and advertising displays, as well as interactive displays and kiosks.
Whether Instagram museums are a fad or something far more sustainable remains to be seen, but right now, they’re one of the hottest topics in all of the museums and culture space. They’re also one of the hottest tickets. As Vox’s excellent video on how the phenomenon
No matter your opinion of them, ‘Instagram museums’ are absolutely huge right now. They’ve gone from cult curiosity to genuine phenomenon, with many of the museums gaining hundreds-of-thousands of active, engaged followers on social media and – perhaps most vitally to their success – gaining their patron’s countless followers at the same time.
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A great way to make your museum pop on social media is to invest in beautiful, dynamic digital display technology. Not only does this look great on and off your Instagram feed, but the content displayed on them can also be changed whenever you like, so visitors always have a fresh reason to come back.
If you’d like to have a chat about making your museum a more Instagram-worthy space, we’d love to speak to you! We’ll take you through the entire process, from initial consultancy to providing you with the perfect hardware and software, as well as after-sales support.
Give us a call on + 44 191 341 0016 or get in touch using our contact page for an initial chat about your requirements.
