It’s a keyword with 27 million views: #expoparis, on Tik Tok, brings together the best exhibitions to visit in the capital, presented with a sense of aesthetics that would make any marketing agency green with envy. Pastel colors, soaring music, and voice-overs praising the works: art galleries and museums have become places conducive to content creation for social networks. A new revolution carried by a new generation attracted wishing to live “an experience”, but also by cultural places wishing to attract a new target.
For Laure Pressac, director of cultural engineering at Beaux-Arts Consulting and former director of digital strategy at the Center des monuments nationaux, cultural establishments can no longer do without Tik Tok, Instagram and other Twitter: “Not having of social networks, it is already a strategy. Digital is part of our life! Culture is transmission, you have to think about it in this idea. »
Thus, more and more cultural spaces are equipping themselves with Web and social network specialists to find their own strategy. “In museums, there are not necessarily the skills or the means to have the perfect account. My role is to guide, to create a dialogue with the public,” adds Laure Pressac.
For exhibitions, from screen to reality
The Cluny Museum (Paris 5th) split, for its reopening, a campaign carried by the cream of youtubeurs specialized in historical popularization of which Manon Bril, from the channel This is an other story. A way to attract a younger audience to the art of the Middle Ages.
But, as Laure Pressac explains, inviting influencers is not enough: “It doesn’t work when there is too great a gap between the exhibition and its communication. » Latest case: the exhibition Pop-Air at the Grande Halle de la Villette (Paris 19th)which caused a lot of reaction on social networks.
Large inflatable structures, a huge ball pool, pop colors and even booths where you can take your picture… In partnership with the Balloon Museum from Rome, the place has been transformed since April 14 into a huge playground inviting us to draw our smartphones.
The exhibition draws crowds. Problem: Many young visitors were disappointed because the time spent in each installation is limited – around five minutes per person. Moreover, with the crowds, taking the “perfect” selfie is a challenge. The most irritated even denounced the “lies” of certain influencers who praised the event.
“Art is by nature Instagrammable! »
What poses a problem for many purists of contemporary art is the direct desire of certain exhibitions to present themselves as an “instagrammable” place. For several years, from the Mad Dimension in Paris to the Museum of Selfies in Los Angeles, via the Smile Safari in Belgium, many museums and temporary exhibitions have focused on the photogenic potential. For Laure Pressac, we must go beyond this observation: “I often say that art is by nature Instagrammable! But the image will not be enough, you have to live experiences”, develops the director of cultural engineering.
It is on this aspect that the world of culture can hope to seduce the under 25s, unfamiliar with these places. Laure Pressac takes the example of the last “digital expedition” of the Arab World Institute (Paris 5th) dedicated to King Cheops, which is done with a virtual reality headset. “These are experiences that do not allow photography. We play on it: the photo does not look good, you have to live it and show people that you have to come, ”she adds. The digital then serves the purpose of the exhibition.
New experiences to attract a new audience
Thus, if colorful exhibitions are in fashion, it is not a question, for the world of culture, of throwing influencers out with the bathwater. “There is a desire to open the door to discussion, and social networks are made for that! When done well, dialogue with influencers leads to innovative formats,” notes Laure Pressac.
Recently, she carried out a rather special initiative: a live visit on Twitch of the Palace of Versailles by Stars and Squeezie, two stars among the youngest. A very good idea since the bar of 500,000 views has been exceeded. It was a way of “making people want and making understandable” the history of the place and of encouraging the spectator of the live show to move around to discover, in real life, the Hall of Mirrors.
From now on, between the virtual and the real, there is only one step: and if Instagram and Tik Tok operate on aesthetics, the objective of the art world is to succeed in reaching the public. “The question is how do you reach people in an information overload environment? How to knock on your digital door? asks the director of cultural engineering.
The digital transformation of art and its places should not stop there: NFT, virtual reality visits, QR code to scan, immersive experiences… The possibilities are endless. Enough to breathe new life into a weakened sector after two years of a pandemic. For Laure Pressac, “art makes it possible to touch topical subjects, it’s very rich. We are in a logic of greater openness, of encouraging people to come, without distorting the works. Even if it means going through a few selfies.