Following the first confinement, we wrote this article with Nicolas AUBOUIN, research professor at the Paris School of Business and associate researcher at Mines ParisTech on the themes of art management, creativity and innovation. This text highlights the profound changes at work in the heritage and cultural sector.
The covid-19 crisis simultaneously revealed our deep-seated need for culture, the adaptability of cultural players in proposing new formats or finding new distribution channels, but also the great fragility of the art worlds, which represent 47.5 billion Euros in sales (as much as the food industry) and account for almost 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs [1]. In fact, the containment situation and the health protection measures that followed, highlighted both a real upheaval in the cultural sectors [2], and possible avenues of transformation around digital technology, which will question in particular cultural institutions on the evolution of their relationships with audiences, their professional organizations and practices, and even more broadly their missions and business models.
From platformization of existing content to the emergence of new formats
A first dynamic during the period of confinement was the reuse by cultural institutions of digital content already in existence, but with uncommon national media coverage [3]. With the #Culturecheznous initiative, which has since been perpetuated on a dedicated website, the Ministry of Culture has centralized all the content produced over the past few years by the players under its authority, across all cultural and artistic fields. Now “the platform of platforms”, the Ministry’s website has clarified and organized the cultural offering in a much more “desirable” way.
The Opéra national du Rhin’s Youtube channel, the Musée d’Orsay’s podcasts, the BnF’s video games, Arte Concert’s show reruns… these are just some of the proposals that have encouraged interdisciplinary and wider dissemination, thanks to a “network effect” that extends beyond the communities of the cultural establishments behind the content. Perhaps this is a sign of the Ministry’s commitment to platformizing its role as network leader, aggregator and promoter of local initiatives, a new form of online public service for the public/users?
A second trend, typical of cultural institutions that maintained teams and operational resources during this period, was to create digital content ex nihilo during the confinement. These contents were, for example, an opportunity to use socio-numerical spaces as production and distribution sites, replacing physical locations. By way of illustration, the public’s enthusiasm for virtual tours in the early days of confinement underlines this momentum: 360° tours offered by Google Art & Culture, transmedia resources made available for the Pompeii exhibition, etc.
The performing arts were not left out, with the “mischievous” use of collaborative tools to propose spectacular participative operations such as Radio France’s Viva l’orchestra concert or the ballet of the Paris Opera dancers via videoconferencing. More broadly, these initiatives mark the development of new online services and experiences: virtual artistic and cultural experiences, edutainment content, creative activities…. that can change the way audiences relate to art and culture.
From new content to new relationships with audiences
Indeed, the evolution of formats seems to be contributing to a shift in the role of cultural venues towards supporting their audiences’ creativity and individual creation. This was the case, for example, with the #Fenêtresurlautre operation (Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Forum des Images and Maison de la poésie) which, through this participatory challenge, reversed the injunction to creativity faced by these institutions for the benefit of their audiences. This type of proposal contributes to the re-materialization of links between cultural organizations and the public, thanks to the physical involvement of this audience.
What’s more, the pandemic’s ecosystemic implications (economic, social, societal, environmental) have rekindled questions about the missions and commitments of cultural institutions in society. By way of example, in a period of deconfinement, a number of voices are raising the issue of the non-neutrality of museums, a debate already opened up by ICOM’s recent attempt to redefine museums.
The shift in the missions of cultural organizations towards greater social and societal involvement is also accompanied by a questioning of institutional professions and the place of those dedicated to digital technology.
What role will digital technology play in tomorrow’s cultural institutions?
Until now, cultural institutions have invested very differently in digital technology, depending on their activities. For example, over 50% of museums spend less than 10% of their budget on digital, 18.3% have no staff dedicated to these activities, and 55.7% do not have full-time staff [4]. While in 46% of cases, the management of a museum’s website is carried out by a department attached to communications, the vast majority of professionals take charge of this activity without any specific specialization: more than half hold another position within the institution [5].
Following the closure of physical cultural venues, the switch to an entirely online business has made digital skills and professions central to the way these organizations operate. As the cornerstone of production and distribution project management, these professionals were given extra legitimacy and attention to facilitate their coordination work. However, working in this context of crisis has not always been easy. For example, 16% of museum professionals were on compulsory leave during the lockdown (ICOM survey, 2020). The work accomplished, the audience results obtained, and the fear of further closure episodes will perhaps prompt cultural organizations to reconsider their investments and infrastructures.
However, the looming economic crisis means that we need to anticipate a series of public and private cost-cutting measures [6] not conducive to ambitious strategic reconfiguration plans. Despite these cyclical factors, the role played by digital technology during this period seems to be helping to legitimize a more ambitious online cultural policy, which could lead to increased investment in digital infrastructure and personnel, recognition of certain key skills and practices, and greater coordination and cross-functionality between professions. However, these trends are closely linked to the need to develop new business models around the online presence of cultural institutions.
The deep crisis experienced by the artistic and cultural sector during the confinement and its repercussions requires, according to some cultural players, that institutions make ” a proactive contribution by sharing as much as possible of the resources they have at their disposal: working premises, teams, materials, websites, social networks and the little funding they have left to accommodate the artists who will need these means.” [7]. This solidarity between cultural organizations and businesses, which has emerged during the period of confinement, could be an opportunity to increase clustering, collaboration and mutualization between peers and local players, to benefit from a more horizontal “network effect” than that which can be achieved with their supervisory bodies. But what about the economic model that will make these actions and new forms of collaboration sustainable? The question remains open to this day.
[1] “The direct economic weight of culture in 2017”. DEPS study, May 2019.
[3] Du confinement au big bang culturel, Mathilde Serrel, France Culture, March 23, 2020.
[4] Museums, museum professionals and Covid-19, ICOM, May 2020.
[5] Les professionnel.l.e.s en charge du numérique dans les établissements patrimoniaux, Noémie Couillard in Les publics in situ et en ligne, Culture et recherche N° 134, Winter 2016-2017
[6] Enjoying the calm before the storm, François Mairesse, April 7, 2020, OCIM
[7] Les acteurs culturels doivent inventer une voie nouvelle, Pierre Lungheretti, Libération, June 11, 2020.
