Technology opens new avenues for the development of innovative museography: Rafael Tovar y de Teresa

CONACULTA,
26 January 2015, Mexico

The President of Conaculta participated in the 2015 meeting of the Association of Art Museum Directors.

Susan Taylor: We have visited 60 museums and can confirm that Mexico is a power in this field.

"Technology has opened unsuspected ways to develop new museographies to the appreciation and knowledge of art through virtual museums, digital platforms and mobile applications. The are ways for the paradigm shift in the management, interpretation and dissemination of collections ", said Rafael Tovar y de Teresa, president of National Council for Culture and the Arts (Conaculta) at the annual meeting of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), held in the City of Mexico from 24 to 27 January.
Also present in the meeting was Susan Taylor, President of the Association of Art Museum Directors.  Rafael Tovar y de Teresa said resources online and mobile applications facilitate visits to museums as well as digital reproduction of artwork, audience guides and tools that support and enrich as part of new experiences for the general public.

Tovar y de Teresa said there is a new Digital Agenda for Culture covering all fields and that recognizes the importance and the role that corresponds to museums in a time of extraordinary opportunities, but that also brings huge challenges where exhibition spaces must respond to the challenge introduced by the technological tools.
The new platforms and networks allow the public to react to and reflect on their experiences and share them with others, and to create community around certain spaces and artistic events. In terms of creating new languages they are also exploring the use of technology and why museums have the great challenge of establishing an interpretive dialogue to be a bridge between new expressions and new audiences, Tovar y de Teresa said.

According to the information of the Cultural Statistics System, Mexico has 1261 museums - 215 of them focus on art, 29 on applied arts and design, 21 on folk art 21, 38 on pre-Hispanic heritage and 278 on the period from Viceroyalty until mid-twentieth century, he said.

In addition, 23 museums focused their work on natural history, 37 are related to science and technology, and 11 to industry.
"Of all these, 485 are structured around specific themes or phenomena. To this we must add 1882 art centers and houses of culture that have spaces for exhibitions. "

The President of Conaculta said that the meeting of the Association of Art Museum Directors shows that in contemporary social fabric the museums and other spaces introduce connections to other ways of understanding the world and this shows their relevance to the public sphere. 

"We are confident that this opens a space for dialogue that is dedicated to generating ideas about the fundamental issues concerning museums and their current role. For Mexico it is a great pleasure to participate in this meeting dedicated to generating ideas and review issues that are part of the agenda of our institutions. "
Meanwhile, Susan Taylor, president of the AAMD, said that this meeting has provided a new perspective to the participants about the important role played by Mexico in the museum development in Latin America.

"Since we’ve been in Mexico, we have been able to visit more than 60 museums and realize that Mexico is a power in this field, so we take as an example  the great energy that this country has as a host to this meeting and we are confident that there will be many opportunities for exchange, cooperation and new projects. "

After his speech, the President of Conaculta met with Timothy Rub, director of the Philadelphia Museum of Arts to discuss the details of a joint project in the field of exhibitions.

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