Innovating thematic exhibitions to create more diverse, engaging and meaningful experiences

Innovation for a better experience

Since its establishment (2018), the Hue Museum of Fine Arts has always focused on planning and coordinating the organization of specialized exhibitions. Each year, the Museum organizes 8-10 specialized exhibitions, conveying to the public in-depth content that regular exhibitions cannot meet.

In conjunction with thematic exhibitions, the Museum organizes supporting activities such as experiential activities, learning, performances, film screenings, etc. with content related to the exhibition theme, ensuring flexibility, creativity, and suitability for the personality and psychology of many ages. In addition, many mini games are organized in the experiential tour programs at the exhibition, with attractive content, creating a more memorable impression for visitors.

According to Ms. Hai Yen, an officer of the Hue Museum of Fine Arts, however, due to limitations in exhibition space and the lack of high-tech equipment, thematic exhibitions have not yet satisfied the increasing demand of visitors. In addition, there has not been regular coordination and cooperation between experts and artists, and independent curators, artists and scholars have not been invited to participate in the exhibition development, creating academic depth and creativity in content.

Faced with that situation, Ms. Yen believes that innovation and improving the quality of thematic exhibitions is not only an inevitable trend but also a key task to create more diverse, attractive and meaningful experiences.

“Innovating thematic exhibitions in museums aims to make documents, artifacts, and images come alive, evoking emotions and associations between the past and the present for visitors. Each artifact contains a story for people to learn and explore , increasing the attractiveness of the museum,” Ms. Yen shared.

The topic needs to be topical and have a message.

Art historian and critic Do Phuc Thai Nguyen believes that thematic exhibitions play a key role in maintaining the attraction and increasing the number of regular visitors to museums. With their flexible and constantly innovative nature, thematic exhibitions give the public a good reason to return to the museum again and again, while creating a space for multi-dimensional dialogue between heritage and contemporary society.

Compared to many art museums in the world, this expert believes that the activities of art museums in Vietnam still have many limitations. The most obvious limitations are financial resources, facilities, lack of highly qualified staff, external cooperation mechanisms, and lack of a systematic development strategy.

To adapt to the current context, museums need to develop exhibition themes that are topical and built on a solid research foundation, creating clear messages and cultural influence.

In this, it is necessary to integrate contemporary discourse, not only presenting artifacts, but also placing works in political, social, and environmental contexts to stimulate critical thinking and public dialogue. Next, flexible thematic displays, instead of classifying by material or age, create connections between artifacts across periods, expanding the depth of interpretation.

According to Master of Arts, painter Vuong Le My Hoc (Head of Exhibition and Education Department - Vietnam Fine Arts Museum), to display specialized exhibitions effectively, art museums need to exchange expertise to update new and good ways of doing things; join hands to build exhibition content. That is the direction that needs to be exploited in the coming years. Because the source of artifacts and works of art of each museum has its own strengths and if museums coordinate, there will be new and attractive points for organizing exhibitions.

Article and photos: NHAT MINH

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/nang-chat-trien-lam-chuyen-de-157377.html