Virtually Experiencing - Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

The emergence of new online communication channels and digital interactive possibilities allows cultural institutions to present themselves through versatile and effective resources. In this light, this Master thesis explores virtual museums and how are they constructed, what are their functions and feature possibilities, how to transfer the offline experience to the online realm, and which are their outcomes and drawbacks. In particular, the research question at hand is: how do audiences experience and engage with virtual art museums? A theoretical exploration is combined with a mixed methodology research, focusing on the specific case of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. On one hand, the quantitative analysis investigates the opinion and behaviours of some virtual visitors of the museum website through a survey. On the other hand, a qualitative guided discussion is held with two professionals from the same museum, which considered the results from the survey analysis and reflected on virtual museums.