Round Table: Digital Museums as immersive experiential spaces

Museums of all sizes have been developing digital experiences since the late 1980s, and simultaneously digitising their records and artefacts to evolve their online presence. Although the digital engagement of museums varies considerably, given the resources and time needed to establish and maintain this digital presence, it is important to consider its value and outcomes. With a strong policy impetus to make museums more immersive and to engage with the digital, at a time of restricted funding, the desirability and practicalities of this approach needs to be discussed by the sector, along with other questions such as striking the balance between visitor experience, curation and scholarship.

This roundtable will bring together researchers, museum professionals, digital artists and producers in a “Chatham House rules” discussion to reflect on the points above, and to consider how higher education and the museum sector can better collaborate in this area for greater mutual advantage and societal engagement and impacts.

The outcomes of this roundtable featuring provocations by Irini Papadimitriou (Creative Director, FutureEverything), Nicholas Lambert (Director of Research, Ravensbourne University), Rob Sherman (digital artist), Dan Shorten (Guildhall School of Music & Drama), Alice Rosenbaum (Digital Manager, Freud Museum), Sophie Leighton (Curator, Freud Museum) will inform the programme of the TCCE Digital Creativity Forum over the next year.  Further contributors will be announced over the coming weeks.

If you would like to attend this roundtable please email suzie@tcce.co.uk with a few lines on your professional interest in this area by 28th February.  Please note that the number of places available are capped at 20 including provocateurs, and priority will be given to researchers from TCCE member institutions and museum sector professionals, particularly those whose voices are under represented in the higher education and arts and cultural sectors.