Are museums outdated

Are museums outdated?

I remember the first time I stepped into a art museum the fresh paint smell hitting my nose the elegant art pieces scattered around my the light bouncing on the massive paintings on the walls but what I noticed was that no one was there it was fairly empty one or two people around but apart from that very empty and quiet.

Art galleries are usually associated with people of the older generation and not many younger people as they see art as "boring" so I decided to interview some the younger audience 17-19 yr and get their feedback on museums and how we could maybe promode them more and get more attend and appreciate the beauty of art more

The first person I interviewed was a young lady Rachell and got her opinions on art museums " The last time I went to a museum was last year in london on a trip that college provided,what I noticed is that it was rather empty and majority of the people were older even tho it was a trip the college provided at first I was a bit hesitant on going as I didnt know if I was going to enjoy myself or not in the end I was glad I went. If it wasn't for the college trip I probably wouldn't of went just because they are all in London which is pretty far from where I live and even tho the museums are free I would still have to pay for transport.If I lived in london and didn't have to pay for transport I would definitely go because on social media one of my fave books Song of Achilles has risen popularity again and that really made me interested in art and especially the architectural side of it so I do want to go visit more museums because of that. I think museums promote themselves pretty well through film media as you see films that have the dark academia museums which a lot of people are drawn to therefore more younger people go to museums because they like that aesthetic of it. During this era the younger generation is heavily influenced by the media you constantly see people glued to their phones being on tik tok and instagram so social media as Rachelle also stated would be the most effective may to promote museums.

The second person I interviewed was Magie this is what she had to say regarding art museums.

" the last time i went to a museum was during the summer and went to the D-day museum for its 75th anniversary there was more people than on a usual day maybe a few dozen came in throughout the day but there was a good mix of young and old people i was also a part of a group that were hosting one of the events to celebrate the anniversary. I love museums because they are important to preserving artefacts and educating the general public about our history and culture. I find everything they display and teach very fascinating which is why I love them but aren't for everyone.

I think in order to promote museums more they need to get on social media such as Facebook and Tiktok as this is where most people will receive information nowadays. They could also make the experience more engaging by providing tours and interactive exhibits"

Another good point Magie made was " a different museum i went to which was a history and not art museum, had arcade games you could play related to history which I believe made that museum much more appealing to younger people" I really think art museums should be more interactive with the audience by doing similar thing the history museum Magie went to, as games that not only u can play on but will also educate you on the art which will appeal more to the audience instead of having them just looking the art with no interaction,museums are underrated and To rectify the decline in museum attendance they should also ensure they are accessible to all, have free or very lowly priced entrance, and should become more flexible with their opening times.

After further research and discussion I agree with everything everyone said but I strongly agree with magie's point about the museums being interactive.

I would love to see a museum made in Portsmouth based on art that will attract many young people. To do this they need to make them more interactive eg. games or talks or even music being played which takes away the fact people see museums as being "dead" due to them being so quiet and people just looking at art, the younger generation these days are more attracted to things that are visibly appealing i'm not saying museums are ugly but they aren't modern enough for the young people to want to go to. To make them more modern maybe they should make different aesthetic museums eg. y2k which a lot of people love and also incorporate music or even having different coloured lights displayed throughout parts of the museum.