Presentation
We present our collections in multimedia exhibitions, on a physical location, but also on various online platforms, and in public seminars, hack-a-thons and creative workshops. Here's how.
Previously, the possibilities for the presentation of archive material were limited. Fragments from archives were mainly re-used in new, professional film or radio and television programs and in physical products made for education, information or entertainment purposes. Still, a lot of (historical) material is shown in multimedia exhibitions, on a physical location, but collections are also used in public seminars, hack-a-thons and creative workshops.
The online world creates many other, creative ways to present and represent sound and vision through the web. Audiovisual products can be presented online to anyone with an internet connection via streaming video applications. Access to archives is greatly enlarged: collections and catalogs - whether image, sound, text or object - are connected behind the scenes and the user reaches hundreds of scattered archives at once with only one search request.
Collection managers are increasingly creative in coming up with user interfaces for their content and in using new possibilities and forms to place content in a context or to tell a story with it. New and old fragments are pulled loose from the original context and presented in varying, unrecognizable settings to be used and enriched. Think for example of scroll-telling, wikis, long reads, et cetera. There are interactive platforms on which users can tag material and comment on it, but also upload and remix. On the web, audiovisual collections become multimedia studio, dynamic archive and virtual museum in one.
Physical (museum) and online presentations cure and present audiovisual material based on themes, and are not limited to their own collection. Conversely, individual records can also be lent to or used in exhibitions of others. Presentation strategies therefore provide insight into the possibilities and limitations of a collection, and can contribute to collection development. Moreover, presentations contribute to the relevance of archive material for the wider audience. Museums and digital culture are often distinguished in an online and onsite variant. What role do the converging media play in the perspective of (museum) presentation and what consequences does this have for museums in the future?
