Ben Uri Gallery and Museum
Ben Uri has launched the first full scale virtual museum. The strategy to go primarily online was formulated in 2018, but has proved to be ahead of its time in a pandemic world.
Is virtual the key to future-proofing museums, accessing a wider audience and raising revenue in a post-COVID world? 2020 saw a drastic drop in tourism with all sectors of the attractions industry hit. Travel bans and lockdowns caused tourist figures to drop exponentially and the American Alliance of Museums estimated that US museums have been losing $33 million per day because of coronavirus closures. It warns that around a third of the country’s museums may not reopen, without significant financial assistance.
However 2020 also saw the rise of the virtual visit with museums and galleries offering online content. Over 2,000 museums worldwide shared virtual tours of their collections, including The Royal Academy of Arts, Tate Britain, the National Gallery, the British Museum, the Met, the Guggenheim, the Musée d’Orsay, and the Riijksmuseum.
The Ben Uri Gallery and Museum in London believes online is the way forward, particularly for smaller institutions, and is transitioning to a full scale virtual museum.
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