In connection with the 5th edition of NUMIX LAB (November 25-29, 2024 in Germany: Munich, Leipzig, Berlin), we are returning in a series of articles to various trends, dynamics and specificities linked to this country, its approach to culture, digital and immersive creativity. This first article takes a look at a number of German museums, their innovation projects and the collaborative models they are developing.
The decentralization of Germany’s cultural policy (supported by sixteen autonomous Länders) is particularly structuring when it comes to understanding the German museum sector. This decentralization fosters a variety of regional cultural policies and works to diversify the creative approaches of museums: experimental programs, artist residencies, artistic commissions, collaborations with technology companies, foundations or universities, and so on. However, heavy dependence on the vagaries of local political and financial stakes means that museum professionals have to find new resources to mobilize, both internally and with other partners.
This article will provide a context for the German museum sector (and the implications that the German federal organization generates). We will then analyze various inspiring innovation strategies, the fruit of the creativity of museum professionals and numerous collaborations with a wide range of partners. With sustainability as its main theme, the next edition of NUMIX LAB will promote exchanges and sharing on these various subjects with the Humboldt Forum, the Egyptian National Museum of Art, the European Patent Office, the lrz University (with its Center for Virtual Reality and Visualization) or the Museum für Naturkunde, etc.
N.B. The fifth edition of NUMIX LAB will take place from November 25 to 29, 2024 in Munich, Leipzig and Berlin, and will focus on the sustainability of immersive experiences. Link to program and registration.
1. A brief overview of German museums and their financing models
Digital innovation is gradually gaining ground in German cultural institutions. The decentralization of culture in Germany, marked by a variety of regional cultural policies, is working to diversify the creative approaches of these venues by developing experimentation programs in collaboration with companies, universities, artistic platforms and more. The projects produced within these different frameworks seem to contribute to enriching the visitor experience and initiating the development of large-scale immersive experiences.
1.1. At federal level, funding is allocated primarily to live performance and contemporary creation.
Almost 106 million visitors are welcomed to German museums every year (over 6,800). By way of comparison, museums in France would welcome 30 million visitors every year. Despite these substantial figures, federal funding is directed primarily towards live performance and contemporary creation.
According to historians Dominique Poulot and Catherine Ballé, a brief historical detour will give us a better understanding of this distribution.
From the emergence of Europe’s first museums, the Altes Museum in Berlin and the Glyptothek in Munich, to the consequences of the Nazi period and the Cold War, the country’s heritage was marked by a deliberate distancing from its past. Following the country’s economic boom during the “Trentes Glorieuses”, cultural projects deliberately turned towards modernity, encouraging the emergence of contemporary events.
Thus, 34.5% of all public funding for culture goes to theater and music, compared with 19.1% for museums. By contrast, in France, 40% of public funding for culture and heritage will be allocated to cultural institutions and 21% to the performing arts in 2022. Another factor to take into account when analyzing the differences in funding between France and Germany is that only 60% of German museums are public (compared with over 82% in France).
However, state investment (2 billion invested each year in museums) is tending to increase, to the detriment of that of the Länders (- 5% since 2001), in order to improve the quality and influence of museum programming at an international level. This is one of the aims of the federal program: museum4punkt0.
| FOCUS ON THE MUSEUM4PUNKT0 FEDERAL PROGRAM The program museum4punkt0 program reflects the federal government’s determination to increase the funding capacity of German museums , to help them initiate their first steps towards innovation, and to strengthen inter-institutional cooperation in this area. Created on the initiative of the German Parliament and the Federal Government, this think tank and support group led a joint digital strategy from May 2017 to June 2023. Led by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the association networked cultural institutions from all over Germany to create and test innovative digital solutions in the field of cultural mediation. With a budget of 15 million euros, the collegial exchange of 27 sub-projects from different museums served as an inspiration for the exchange of experience and the transfer of knowledge. The 27 projects cover a wide range of objectives, from the digitization of collections to the creation of visit companions (apps, tablets), and also include – albeit less frequently – truly immersive experiences. This is the case, for example, of the Musée d’ethnographie, which benefited from this program to develop a VR experience (“Sur la grande mer”) that integrates as a station for children, young people and their families.  Mapping the thirty or so institutions across the country that took part in the open innovation program on digital mediation museum4punkt0. An example of a particularly inspiring project resulting from this program: the creation of two immersive spaces within the Brandenburg National Archaeological Museum to introduce the permanent tour and promote collective perception within a group of visitors. This 360° installation was designed to be set up and dismantled as quickly and easily as possible. Similarly, the aim was to make it as easy as possible for museum staff to handle, since the room used for the installation is temporarily used for various events (major conferences, special exhibitions, etc.). The nearly 360-degree spatial installation was realized with a total of eight LED laser projectors with synchronized image and sound technology and synchronized surround audio technology permanently installed on the ceiling of the hall (approx. 4.5 m high). Flame-retardant wire curtains were used as the projection surface to deliberately achieve a somewhat blurred image quality.  The first immersive space, ARCHEOSCOPE, digitally presents 130,000 years of natural and cultural history at the Brandenburg National Archaeological Museum. |
At a federal level, the German government plays the role of a genuine catalyst for museum innovation, aiming to train teams in digital mediation and lay the foundations for the development of digital projects in terms of budget, design and operation. On the other hand, the development and financial sustainability of projects seems to be more the responsibility of regional authorities.
1.2. A more local approach seems necessary to understand the German museum sector.
Germany’s federal organization into 16 Länders fosters the political, demographic and economic diversity of each of these territories. This diversity is particularly pronounced in the museum sector. In fact, a third of all museums are located in the Berlin (Baden-Württemberg) or Munich (Bavaria) Länder. This disparity creates emulation between Länders. Each of these Länder mobilizes culture as part of a soft power strategy, to which the digital cultural experiences produced in each institution make a major contribution.
The Egyptian Museum in Munich, although a national institution, is developing a number of innovative projects closely linked to its local area. Various multi-disciplinary regional programs with Bavarian universities, museums and local authorities have contributed to the financing and design of multimedia terminals in the tour itinerary and the creation of an innovative tour companion: the MediaGuide. Two projects are working to digitize and promote the collections of Bavarian heritage institutions: the Mudira project (digitization of Bavarian museum archives) and the Bavarikon project (internet portal for digitized Bavarian collections). The Egyptian National Museum will be the subject of a visit at NUMIX LAB, an opportunity to discover these inspiring digital projects.
Cultural institutions are closely linked to local authorities, making them sensitive to political fluctuations and local trends. In fact, half of Germany’s museum funding (2 billion euros) comes from the municipalities, while 38% is allocated by the Länders (by comparison, in France, the museum budget amounts to 17 billion euros, 42% of which is provided by local authorities and 58% by the State). With far less support than the French museum sector, German museums regularly have to innovate in order to find a new balance between public and private contributions. Museums have two options: to set up experimentation and innovation programs run directly by the museums themselves, or to develop collaborations with external artistic partners.
2. Create a program of experimentation and innovation led by museums or their partners.
Faced with the regulation of public funding, many museums are experimenting with operating models that reconcile public service principles with private-sector business and management models (private funding of culture is estimated at around 1.2 billion euros). As a result, German museums call on a variety of partners. Foundations, companies and universities are brought together within the framework of experimentation and innovation programs financed by the institutions themselves, by their partners or via the mobilization of European programs.
2.1. Developing an intra-institutional cooperation program to create an exhibition space: the fertile collaboration between the Humboldt Forum and Kultureprojekte Berlin (Berlin).
The creation of cultural districts and the desire to develop the autonomy of cultural structures encourage networking and pooling within cultural institutions. Some cultural institutions, like other French science or society museums (e.g. Muséum national d’histoire naturelle), have structured themselves by bringing together museums, universities and companies. These groupings are conducive to the creation of original projects within these museum institutions. Such is the case with the Humboldt Forum.
In central Berlin, the Humboldt Forum, a new hub for culture and science, is the result of an alliance between four major players: the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (with the Ethnological Museum and the Asian Art Museum of the State Museums of Berlin), Kulturprojekte Berlin and Stadtmuseum Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Humboldt Forum Foundation. The Humboldt Forum benefited from the expertise of one of its founding partners to develop an exhibition space project: the Kulturprojekte Berlin.
Since it was founded in 2006, the public company (GmbH) has been involved in a number of local projects outside the walls of the Humboldt Forum, including the programming and management of major events (Museum Night, Berlin Art Week, European Month of Photography) and promotional initiatives (creation of a Berlin museum portal, Berlin augmented application, etc.). These numerous projects involving public spaces and museums have consolidated Kultureprojekte Berlin’s skills in creating large-scale immersive projects. Thus, in 2015, in close collaboration with the Stadtmuseum Berlin and numerous artists and partners, the organization created an immersive and interactive interpretation space around the history of Berlin over an area of 4,000 square meters at the Humboldt Forum.
In view of the major role played by this institution in Berlin and, more generally, on an international level, the next edition of NUMIX LAB will showcase its various projects.
This example demonstrates the virtuous links that can be generated by bringing together different partners in the same place and institution. This is also the ambition of the Médiasphère For Nature, with its dedicated digitize! live science program.
2.2. Developing an experimental program to enrich a museum’s research and mediation activities: the example of digitize! live science at the Museum für Naturkunde (Berlin)
Many museums are working with technology companies and research laboratories to create and develop innovation programs. These initiatives generally benefit from funding from European or federal public organizations. The main aim of these programs is to promote the transfer of technology and skills in the field of digital mediation, by encouraging territorial or professional networking. This approach enables museums to explore new ways of engaging their audiences and making the cultural experience more immersive and interactive. This is the case, for example, of the permanent digitize! live science trail created by the Museum für Naturkunde.
As part of its plan for the future, the museum launched the “Exploitation des collections” project. This new project focused on new technologies and tested new ways of working. The museum tested and developed a new digitization chain with business and scientific partners (digitization of up to 5,000 collection items per day). The results of this digitization are made available directly to museum visitors.
The immersive “digitize! live science” exhibition digitally reproduces the real-time work of scientists. The researchers’ workspaces are integrated into the exhibition’s itinerary. Source.
Other projects, funded by the European Regional Development Fund, have been developed by the museum, such as the collaborative Mediasphere For Nature program, which aims to develop digital innovations closely linked to the needs of the institution’s visitors.
Other German cultural institutions are involved in innovation programs, such as the VRLab at the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
These experimental programs are led by German museums, but can also be deployed by or in close collaboration with universities.
2.3. Developing an experimental program to enrich research and education: the example of the Center for Virtual Reality and Visualization at lrz University (Munich)
Bavaria’s university sector is particularly dynamic, with two Munich universities in the top 100 of the Shanghai ranking, the Technical University (TUM, 50th) and the Ludwig Maximilian University (57th). . Such dynamism is conducive to the implementation of innovative scientific programs led by university players. One of these projects is supported by thelrz University (Leibniz Rechenzentrum).
The University has thus created an immersive room dedicated to training archaeology students: the V2C (Virtual Reality and Visualization Center). The V2C aims to provide state-of-the-art equipment and specialized software, as well as expertise in visualization and related technologies. The V2C comprises both a VR-equipped building, accessible to researchers, and a center of expertise. The latter brings together specialists in visualization, virtual and augmented reality. Lrz University will be featured on the next edition of NUMIX LAB.
Schematic diagram of the V2C (Virtual Reality and Visualization Center) facility at the lrz (Leibniz) university – Source
Collaborations between universities and museums open up new perspectives for digital innovation in the field of cultural mediation. Investments in infrastructure and research programs, such as lrz University’s V2C, offer advanced technological solutions and multidisciplinary expertise. These partnerships, supported by public funding, promote technology transfer and help make cultural experiences more interactive and immersive, both for researchers and the general public. More artistic approaches also characterize the creative vitality of German museums, where numerous collaborations are being developed with artists or collectives as part of cooperative approaches, residencies or commissions.
3. Develop collaborations with artistic partners.
As mentioned above, federal cultural funding in Germany is primarily allocated to contemporary creation and the performing arts. With this in mind, many heritage sites have chosen to develop close collaborations with contemporary artists, and are developing innovative projects at the crossroads of art and technology.
3.1. Co-creating an exhibition space with artistic platforms: the inspiring example of Ars Electronica with the European Patent Office (Munich).
In Europe, a number of platforms dedicated to the digital arts have long been in development. These platforms are major partners of German cultural heritage institutions. Such is the case ofArs Electronica.
Founded in 1979 in Linz, Austria, Ars Electronica is first and foremost a festival dedicated to the relationship between art, technology and society. It is also an international art competition, a museum of digital and media art (Ars Electronica Center) opened in 1996, and a laboratory for interdisciplinary research projects. Ars Electronica regularly collaborates with territories (such as Esch in 2022, when the Luxembourg city was European Capital of Culture) or museums, such as the European Patent Office in Munich.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the European Patent Convention, theEuropean Patent Office (EPO ) has invited Ars Electronica to curate an exhibition to create a 1,000 m² cultural space in the basement of the EPO’s headquarters, hosting various media works related to the organization’s missions. These works will enable us to take a fresh look at these missions by linking them to digital artworks and innovative or topical subjects such as big data and artificial intelligence,
Collaborations of this kind, with a strong artistic eye, therefore enable us to propose cultural offerings that are more focused on immersion, experience and storytelling than on strictly scientific content. These artistic collaborations can also be envisaged in terms of direct commissions to artists (without the intermediation of a curator or platform).
3.2. Hosting digital artworks in connection with the collections: the example of Lucy Raven’s work with the Neue Nationalgalerie (Berlin).
The artistic and digital approach can be a renewed approach to exhibition spaces, or it can highlight a different way of looking at collections, thanks to the hosting of one or more works that thus echo those of a museum. This is the choice made by the Neue Nationalgalerie.
For two months, the Neue Nationalgalerie (Berlin) hosted an art installation in 2024 that took up the entire upper hall of the museum, questioning visitors as soon as they entered. Created in 2021 by the artist Lucy Raven for the American organization Dia Art Foundation, the Berlin museum is showing this work again to mark the laying of the foundation stone for the Berlin modern, which is being built next door.
Other immersive works, not necessarily of technological and digital dimensions, have also been hosted in German museums. A famous example: the monumental panoramas by the artist-architect Yadegar Asisi hosted at various cultural venues around Berlin. Huge 360° creations have found their way into three former gasometers converted into cultural institutions (the “panometers” in Leipzig, Dresden and Pforzheim), into a space specifically built to house him (Wittemberg), and into museums (Berlin’s Pergamon Museum, Museum of the Wall – Checkpoint Charlie).
These hybrid panoramas are interoperable mediation formats. In fact, the artist has created five different panoramas specifically adapted to the programming of some of the venues (Dresden Baroque and Dresden 1945, Pergamon, The Berlin Wall, Luther 1515), but has also created 4 panoramas that can be adapted to the editorial line of types of venues seeking to renew their panorama (subjects: Everest, Amazonia, The Great Barrier Reef, Titanic). A way of adapting to the programmatic needs of cultural institutions with artistic projects that are frugal in terms of technology.
Collective innovation programs in museums, supported by regional, national or European public funding, have led to innovative digital experimentation programs. At the same time, fruitful collaborations with contemporary artists have created new cultural experiences in museums, demonstrating the growing importance of digital art in the German cultural landscape. The importance of the digital arts field has also encouraged the creation and emergence of numerous art centers dedicated to these forms of artistic expression. This other trend will be the subject of a forthcoming article.
The fifth edition of NUMIX LAB will take place from November 25 to 29, 2024 in Munich, Leipzig and Berlin. and will focus on the theme of sustainability in immersive experiences. Link to program and registration.
