31st January 2012

Farewell to Pepe Serra: assessment of a phase

When our director Pepe Serra said goodbye to the team at the Museu Picasso he told us: ‘We have done ten years’ work in five years.’ What follows is a brief summary of some of the projects carried out during his time as director.

· Research and development of exhibitions that contribute knowledge and added value.

“Feasting on Paris. Picasso 1900-1907” (2011). Self-Portrait with Palette, Picasso, Paris, 1906 |  “Picasso Looks at Degas” (2010). Read more »

30th December 2011

The Museu Picasso’s 2011 in images

The task of choosing the most representative images of this year that is coming to an end was far from easy. Between us, we have worked on a lot of projects! Exhibitions, activities, research and restoration, education, registrar, library, publications, communications, administration, visitor services… it’s a long list. Here, then, is just a taste of what the museum has done in 2011.

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26th September 2011

Digital challenges (for heritage, for the cultural sector)

Are we, the organisations, adapting ourselves well to the digital environment? Undoubtedly, a lot of progress has been made and there are successful initiatives and notable efforts have been made towards knowing how to live, or survive (?), in the new setting. But are we doing enough? And are we doing it well enough?

Digital users. New York. Photo: Conxa Rodà Read more »

25th July 2011

Communicating the Museum: you are what you share

It seems that the little romance between Wikipedia and the museums in recent months is now official. So much so that a Wikipedia Lounge was set up at Communicating the Museum, one of the most important conferences dealing with communication in the sector, held a few days in Düsseldorf, to which I had the good fortune to be invited.

The Wikipedia team at Wikimedia Community Lounge. By Buzzeum (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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10th May 2011

Museums and the Web in 10 Flashes / 1

In the process of sedimenting the contents of the conference a fair number of summaries and reflections, most of them in English, have been appearing in blogs. There is so much to Museums and the Web that each of us can only highlight some of the aspects and links that we find particularly relevant. Allow me to present my selection. At the end you will find links to others. As every year, all of the papers and presentations are accessible online.

1. Alignment of the intervention in networks and on mobiles with the mission and goals of the institution
2. Integrated digital strategy
3. 25 concepts and actions
4. Planning of multiplatforms and multichannels from the outset
5. Social networks and organizational change: cause or effect?
6. Mobile in the centre of user-oriented museums
7. Selected statements
8. ‘Best of the Web’ awards
9. Statistics
10. Networking / socializing

Today we will discuss the top 5 and in another post the rest. Read more »

21st April 2011

The Museums are going Mobile / 2. Notes from #mw2011

Just as Social Media were the key theme of the 2010 conference, at Museums and the Web 2011 the main topic was Mobile. A lot of sessions, workshops and debates were devoted to it and it was present in many of the stands and conversations. We even had a Mobile Parade! Here we will focus on the Mobile Strategies in Museums workshop run by Nancy Proctor, Head of Mobile Strategy & Initiatives at the Smithsonian Institution, and some of the tips from the Crit Mobile Room.

Image from http://www.museumapp.nl

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24th March 2011

Museums and Wikipedia: towards a necessary cooperation

“It is not logical for the museums and Wikipedia to look at each other with mistrust as if they were enemies, because in reality they do a very similar job and are aimed at the same people, it’s just that they work in different ways.  The best thing for both communities is to work together so as to construct a proactive relationship that generates mutual benefits without detracting from their principles”. These words of Liam Wyatt reflect very well the spirit of the first meeting between the Catalan museums and Wikipedia representatives. The overall balance of the day was very positive: more than 100 professionals from museums and documentation centres from all over Catalonia actively participated in the different talks and discussions that were held throughout the day.  There was a feeling of great interest to know how this popular digital encyclopedia works and to explore ways that could help to spread the task being carried out by museums and cultural institutions.

The conference hall of the Picasso Museum full to the brim with professionals of museums from all over Catalonia

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14th March 2011

Museums are going mobile /1

In a relatively short time the museums have entered the Internet, created websites, digitised the collections, and entered the social networks. Do we expect even more movements? some of you may be asking. Well the answer is clearly yes. As society changes so the museums also have to adapt if we want to keep and attract new users, either in person or online.

A visitor using the iPad in our exhibition rooms during explanations by Nina Simon. | Image of the iPhone app from the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) | Presentation of the application about the works of Botticelli within Art, Internet and New Media in Florence. Photos: Conxa Rodà, 2010.

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8th March 2011

Picasso 2.0 Under the Microscope: Findings of a Master’s Project

It is with great pleasure that we publish the article and the project on Picasso 2.0, the research subject we proposed to Jacqueline for her final thesis for her Master’s. Our proposal was in two parts: the first was a kind of ‘audit’ o the museum’s presence on the social networks and the second was to suggest ways of improving it. The results went far beyond our expectations. And, quite rightly, the committee awarded the thesis its highest mark.
Thanks, Jacqueline, for the great work — and congratulations!

Conxa Rodà

A few months ago I did the practice placement of my Master’s in Cultural Heritage Management at the Museu Picasso in Barcelona, combining my time there with the preparation of my final project, ‘A Museum without Walls. Towards a more dynamic Museu Picasso Barcelona through the web 2.0 .’ Read more »

15th November 2010

e-interview with Nina Simon by Museu Picasso

I first met Nina in Indianapolis at the Museums and the Web 2009 Conference, but I had been reading her instructive and witty blog, MuseumTwo, for quite a long time then. Precisely for her blog she won an Award at the MW09 Best of the Web. As we have been disseminating, we are happy to welcome Nina at our museum, where she’ll give a talk on Wednesday 17th November 2010.

Nina just published her first book a few months ago, The Participatory Museum. You can read a review on a recent post we wrote. I had the opportunity to interview Nina as a prologue to her coming to Barcelona. Here you are: Read more »