The Role of Museums in the Digital Age

A special issue of Arts (ISSN 2076-0752).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 May 2025) | Viewed by 3336

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
CIA, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal
Interests: digital arts; cinema; aesthetics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Museums play a pivotal role in the digital era by bridging the gap between traditional culture and modern technology, and they serve as custodians of history, art, and science, and their integration into the digital landscape expands their reach and impact. Through virtual tours, online exhibitions, and digital archives, museums provide global access to their collections, enabling people from all corners of the world to explore and learn. This democratization of information endows education and cultural enrichment.

Additionally, digital technologies allow museums to preserve their collections more effectively, with high-resolution imaging, 3D scanning, and interactive displays offering new ways to document and present artifacts, ensuring their longevity and accessibility for future generations. Social media and digital marketing also play crucial roles in engaging diverse audiences, fostering community interaction, and promoting cultural awareness.

Moreover, the use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in museums creates immersive and interactive experiences, making learning more engaging and memorable. These technologies enhance storytelling, bringing history and art to life in ways that were previously unimaginable.

Museums in the digital age are not just repositories of the past but dynamic, evolving entities that leverage technology to educate, inspire, and connect people.

Prof. Dr. Mirian Tavares
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • museums
  • digital era
  • digital art
  • social media
  • archives
  • art and technology
  • digital literacy

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 217 KiB  
Article
Museums in Dispute: Artificial Intelligence, Digital Culture, and Critical Curation
by Priscila Arantes
Arts 2025, 14(3), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts14030065 - 4 Jun 2025
Viewed by 1047
Abstract
Museums in Dispute: Artificial Intelligence, Digital Culture, and Critical Curation analyzes contemporary debates in the museum field through the lens of tensions between technology, digital culture, and political and epistemological disputes. Structured in three parts, the article develops a critical approach that, in [...] Read more.
Museums in Dispute: Artificial Intelligence, Digital Culture, and Critical Curation analyzes contemporary debates in the museum field through the lens of tensions between technology, digital culture, and political and epistemological disputes. Structured in three parts, the article develops a critical approach that, in the first section, revisits critiques of the modernist museum model, highlighting how discourses from New Museology, institutional critique, and decolonial perspectives challenge the idea of neutral, universal, and Eurocentric museums. The second part explores the shift from temple-like museums to interface-museums, focusing on the analysis of practices such as digitization, immersive exhibitions, and gamification. It argues that while these technologies may expand access, their uncritical use can reproduce inequalities and render plural and inclusive narratives invisible. The third part addresses the emergence of hyperconnected museums and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in curatorial, mediating, and reconstructive processes, analyzing collaborative and artistic projects such as Demonumenta and Curationist that critically reinterpret collections. Throughout the article, the concept of meta-algorithmic curation is developed, which is understood as a practice that makes algorithms visible, open to critique, and reconfigurable as cultural and political devices. Methodologically, the article combines critical theoretical review with analysis of institutional and artistic case studies, highlighting practices that appropriate the supposed neutrality of data to develop a critical pesrpective and advocate for more inclusive, distributed, and politically engaged curatorial narratives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Museums in the Digital Age)
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