Museums Have Reacted To Decreased Visitors During COVID ✓ Solved

Museums have reacted to decreased visitors during the COVID-

Museums have reacted to decreased visitors during the COVID-19 crisis by finding new ways to stay in contact with patrons. Discuss the strategies for staying in touch, raising public interest, and awareness of at least three museums anywhere in the world that have art collections from the ancient Near East to Late Antiquity (Ancient Mesopotamia/Iran, Levant, Greco-Roman, Parthian or Sasanian eras, Early Christian/Byzantine art of the Middle East, and/or Islamic art from anywhere around the Mediterranean or the Middle East). For each museum, discuss what online programs, websites, or other resources/activities they have implemented to create or keep interest in their ancient art collections either before or in response to the pandemic. Explain how you visualize that online programs/websites/resources will impact the museum's future online presence or its in-person visitors as they relate to their ancient art collections and galleries. Include a bibliography.

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Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital adoption across cultural institutions as museums sought to sustain audience engagement despite closed doors and travel restrictions. This paper examines the digital strategies of three major museums with significant collections spanning the ancient Near East to Late Antiquity: the British Museum (London), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), and the Pergamonmuseum (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin). For each institution I describe the online programs and resources they have implemented, how these initiatives served to maintain or increase public interest before and during the pandemic, and how these digital practices are likely to shape future online presence and in-person visitation to their ancient art galleries.

British Museum: Collection Access, Curated Digital Content, and Social Outreach

The British Museum expanded its long-standing Collection Online and launched targeted "Museum from Home" content during 2020 to present ancient Near Eastern, Mesopotamian, and Persian objects to global audiences (British Museum, n.d.). Its digitized object records, high-resolution images, and thematic online exhibitions enable deep remote study of artifacts such as Assyrian reliefs and Mesopotamian cylinder seals (British Museum Collection, n.d.). The Museum’s collaboration with Google Arts & Culture amplified reach through immersive stories and virtual exhibits (Google Arts & Culture, 2020).

To maintain daily engagement the British Museum used social media, expert live talks, and short multimedia “object stories,” which contextualized ancient pieces for non-specialist viewers (British Museum, 2020). These resources sustained public interest, provided educational material for schools, and offered researchers remote access to provenance and catalogue information, reducing an earlier dependence on in-person consultation.

Impact: By normalizing remote study and storytelling, the British Museum's digital work will likely increase pre-visit engagement and research-driven visits. Virtual access broadens international audiences and creates a pipeline of informed visitors more likely to prioritize seeing signature objects in person (British Museum Collection, n.d.; Google Arts & Culture, 2020).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Met 360°, Scholarly Context, and Multimedia Learning

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) had invested in digital projects prior to the pandemic, notably the Met 360° video series and the comprehensive online collection and Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (The Met, n.d.; The Met, 2020). During COVID-19 the Met enhanced virtual programming—live curator talks, online courses, and thematic digital exhibitions—highlighting Greco‑Roman, Byzantine, and Near Eastern material culture.

The Heilbrunn Timeline and object pages provide scholarly essays that situate artifacts within cross-cultural narratives, an approach that attracts both general audiences and specialists (The Met, n.d.). The Met’s online educational modules for families and schools ensured continual relevance of ancient collections for younger audiences during school closures.

Impact: The Met’s layered scholarship and immersive video tours nurture long-term interest and provide interpretive scaffolding that can increase visitor satisfaction during in-person visits. Digital familiarity with complex objects reduces intimidation and invites repeat visitation and deeper museum membership engagement (The Met, 2020).

Pergamonmuseum (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin): Virtual Tours, Digital Reconstruction, and Global Access

The Pergamonmuseum—home to the Ishtar Gate and other ancient Near Eastern monuments—has developed virtual tours and digital reconstructions that translate monumental architecture into accessible online experiences (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2020). Virtual 3D models and guided walkthroughs allow remote viewers to appreciate scale and architectural context otherwise experienced only on site.

During the pandemic the SMB (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) expanded multimedia storytelling and published research-driven digital resources to contextualize Parthian, Sasanian, and Greco‑Roman objects for international audiences. The availability of virtual reconstructions and academic commentaries supports both public interest and scholarly dialogue when physical access is limited.

Impact: For a museum whose signature objects are monumental and sometimes under conservation, virtual reconstructions ensure continuity of public engagement. Visitors who encounter reconstructed sites online are more likely to prioritize future physical visits and to engage with museum membership and donation programs supporting conservation (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2020).

Cross-Institutional Strategies and Comparative Lessons

Across these institutions common strategies include robust online collections, targeted multimedia storytelling, virtual tours/360° experiences, live programming (curator talks, webinars), and partnerships with platforms such as Google Arts & Culture (Google Arts & Culture, 2020). Each museum tailored its approach to strengths: the British Museum emphasized object narratives; the Met leveraged scholarly timelines and immersive video; the Pergamonmuseum prioritized architectural reconstruction. These complementarities address different audience needs—casual learners, educators, and researchers.

Sector analyses indicate that digital offerings during COVID helped institutions retain relevance, diversify audiences, and gather data to personalize outreach (ICOM, 2020; MuseumNext, 2020). Moreover, open-access programs (e.g., Smithsonian Open Access) demonstrate how sharing high-quality images and metadata encourages scholarship and creative reuse, thereby increasing the cultural footprint of ancient collections (Smithsonian, 2020).

Future Outlook: Hybrid Models, Research Advantages, and Visitor Behavior

The trajectory is toward enduring hybrid models. Online programs will remain as front-door experiences—preparing visitors, enhancing interpretive depth, and extending global reach—while in-person galleries will emphasize experiential qualities not easily replicated digitally (scale, materiality, atmosphere). Digital familiarity may shorten visitor orientation time and shift on-site programming toward participatory and sensory experiences.

Digital tools will also support curatorial research and conservation, allowing remote comparative studies and broadening collaborative networks. Challenges include sustaining funding for digital maintenance, avoiding digital fatigue, and ensuring equitable access. Nonetheless, the evidence suggests that invested digital infrastructures will produce more resilient institutions with enriched visitor pipelines and enhanced public engagement with ancient art (ICOM, 2020; MuseumNext, 2020).

Conclusion

The British Museum, The Met, and the Pergamonmuseum illustrate how strategic digital initiatives can preserve and expand public interest in ancient Near Eastern to Late Antique collections. By blending open-access catalogues, immersive virtual experiences, and sustained outreach, these museums have created durable channels for education, research, and audience development. Going forward, their digital portfolios will operate alongside in-person offerings to produce richer, more accessible, and more sustainable relationships between museums and the public (British Museum, 2020; The Met, 2020; Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2020).

References

  • British Museum (n.d.) 'Collection Online'. British Museum. Available at: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection (Accessed: 2 December 2025).
  • British Museum (2020) 'Museum from Home'. British Museum. Available at: https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/museum-from-home (Accessed: 2 December 2025).
  • Google Arts & Culture (2020) 'British Museum'. Google Arts & Culture. Available at: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/british-museum (Accessed: 2 December 2025).
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art (n.d.) 'Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History'. The Met. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah (Accessed: 2 December 2025).
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2020) 'Met 360° Project'. The Met. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/visit/met-360-project (Accessed: 2 December 2025).
  • Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (2020) 'Pergamonmuseum – Exhibitions and Virtual Visits'. SMB. Available at: https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/pergamonmuseum/home/ (Accessed: 2 December 2025).
  • Louvre (2020) 'Visit the Louvre remotely'. Musée du Louvre. Available at: https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne (Accessed: 2 December 2025).
  • International Council of Museums (ICOM) (2020) 'COVID-19: Museums and the crisis'. ICOM. Available at: https://icom.museum/en/resources/covid-19/ (Accessed: 2 December 2025).
  • Smithsonian Institution (2020) 'Smithsonian Open Access'. Smithsonian. Available at: https://www.si.edu/OpenAccess (Accessed: 2 December 2025).
  • MuseumNext (2020) 'How museums went digital during the COVID-19 pandemic'. MuseumNext. Available at: https://www.museumnext.com/article/museums-going-digital-during-covid-19/ (Accessed: 2 December 2025).

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