Technicians working in the area back room of museums They tend to live unaware of popularity. His is the discreet world of benches, easels and fine brushes, out of the spotlight and out of sight. But a restorer Prado Museum experienced something unexpected recently minute of fame where I least expect it. At a Zara in central Madrid, as he was about to enter the dressing room, a salesman attacked him and excitedly asked: “You’re restoring paintings, aren’t you? I know you TikTok“.
anecdotal proud account Javier Sainz de los Terreros Responsible for digital communications at Prado and gives and takes back a measure of the power networks have today social relevance code away from traditional channels and based on interests and senses of smell. madrid art gallery as it positions itself in these new digital showcases.
With over half a million followers TikTok (532,000 at the end of this edition, but non-stop) and almost four and a half million likes, Meadow It is the museum with the most assets. from all over the planet on the viral video platform. Adding your community instagram, twitter And Facebook, Being the ninth most followed arts center in the world is a feat that the community manager explained, referring to the challenge they posed years ago: “There are a lot of people out there who are interested in the arts, plus, is a user social networks. You have to find a way to reach them, but you have to do it just like with these new channels.”
With this leitmotif, the Prado Museum has been polishing its digital transcript since 2012 and videos, messages, stories and streams, the ancient air that can a priori surround an institution with its customs and traditions. The name of the center evokes covered solemn halls. oil-smelling historical canvases, but for the large legion of digital followers it is synonymous with attractive. art history lessons presented with three-minute clips and fun virtual tours from the corners of the museum which a normal visitor cannot see, but which the network can show.
A TikTok video where they explain how to watch ‘El lavatorio’ by posting on the most viral content they’ve posted on their profile. tintoretto to see right, this also leads four million number of visits, the Prado came up by trial and error. “We have a secret experience. Before it became popular twitter topics, we’ve already made them to show the history behind some of the paintings”, explains Sainz de los Terreros.
If Twitter withdraws periscope and Zuckerberg launched Facebook Live, The museum did not hesitate to play with these tools as it started to do with all the opportunities that Instagram offers to its users. According to the network expert, the switch is find the tone suitable for all platforms. “You have to show yourself natural because you’re not addressing art experts, but the general public who sees you on the go, but you have to contribute. accurate information”comments about directly Kim, who has uploaded unknown stories about the museum, its staff and paintings to Instagram every morning for five years, and more than 200 videos that he has edited and posted on TikTok since 2020. Bernardo Pajareswho joined the team in the midst of the pandemic.
Awards
Networks’ effort to “humanize Pardo” has been rewarded: this year, International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences gave an award weaving -On account of the Internet Oscars- TikTok characterizing the museum as “the best global initiative in the field of arts and culture”. Inside 2019 And 2016The art gallery was already recognized at these awards for the design of the website and an initiative it launched called #10yearchallenge, in which the characters on its canvases are depicted ten years apart.
in the ranking of museums more presence on social networks published by prestigious international media Art Newspaper, Apart from Prado, two more Spanish centers entered the top 20 this year: Queen Sofia of Madrid, With 1.6 million followers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and Guggenheim Bilbao which reaches one and a half million on these three platforms.
Witnessing a work of art in a museum is one thing. personal and inalienable, however, museums seem to have found a way to adapt this experience to a new format over networks.
“For us, it’s an extension of the museum, more like a room, but virtual. They help us bring the exhibits into our homes,” he says. Alex MoltoHead of digital communications at Reina Sofia.
Most of the 824,000 users instagram those who subscribe to your profile Guggenheim Do not reside in the Basque Country. “And many of them may never visit us, but they interact with us every day. The network gives them a new way to enjoy the museum,” he adds. Begona Martinez Goyenaga, from the Guggenheim’s marketing area. The center is already a artworkbut the nets manage to break through the curved titanium walls.