Before entering the spectacle of light in the MAAG Light Hall, there is a timeline with the stations in Kahlo’s life. In addition to the pictures, the pictures are also displayed on the walls and the audio reads in the Mexican dialect from the original Kahlo lines. “We have everything from school classes to classic museum goers to urban youth and TikToker,” says Darko Soolfrank. Museums will be rather harsh. “It is more relaxed with us, there are no contraindications.”
Elk Kollar, president of the Federal Association for Museum Education, finds the immersive approach exciting. She tells dpa that immersion can sharpen the concept of art. “I don’t see this as a direct competition to museums,” she says. These formats can be attractive to museums themselves, because keeping up with new media is a challenge for many. “This gives a new approach to art and brings new audiences home.”
Reduce the distance to art
For this reason, the American Indianapolis Museum of Art in Newfields cleared 3,000 square meters on the fourth floor for its light show room, “The Lume.” The reason given is that it can break down barriers for people who think they don’t understand much about art and who museums will put off. Currently, visitors there wander through Van Gogh’s cornfields and under his starry sky.
All approaches to artists are justified, says Kollar of the Federal Association for Museum Education. Immersive exhibitions can dissolve the distance into art. “Maybe I see the original completely differently after immersing myself in it,” she says. Cultural mediators have often wondered how to make museums more contemporary. “We have to be careful not only to operate according to the classic target audience pattern, but also to see what people want,” she said.
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