THE NATIONAL CINEMA MUSEUM AWARDED AT MUSEUMNEXT FOR DIGITAL INNOVATION
The National Cinema Museum of Turin has received the Museum Innovation Award 2014 special mention at the prestigious MuseumNext conference held on 19 and 20 June in Newcastle upon Tyne, in England, for its innovative digital technology project, which is aimed at making its collections more accessible for the public, involving the layout as well as the museum crowdfunding website.
Winners of other prizes include the Imperial War Museum in England, the Eye Museum and the Gement Museum Den Haag in Holland.
MuseumNext is the largest world conference on the subject of digital innovation for museums and it attracted delegates from over 30 countriesthis year, with the most important and prestigious museum institutions attending, such as the New York MoMA, the London TATE and the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum.
“The judges were hugely impressed - said Jim Richardson, the conference founder who conceived the MuseumNext awards, pointedly - with the work carried out by the National Cinema Museum in Turin. We received applications from all over the world, but we realized that this was a special project The National Cinema Museum is at the vanguard in Italy in the use of new technologies, and the judges hope this may inspire Italian museums to consider digital seriously for improving accessibility to their heritage assets ”.
“We are particularly proud of this prestigious award - said Alberto Barbera, the Director of the National Cinema Museum - which rewards the Museum commitment in favour of an innovative project, aimed at experimenting with novel ways for accessing and making use of its collections. The target is to contribute to the streamlining of new exhibiting models, in which the use of digital technologies will enrich visitors' final all-round experience. What has been implemented so far is only the first step of a vast renewal project that will see the Cinema Museum engaged over the coming years, thanks to the valuable support of the Turin Chamber of Commerce and the Compagnia di San Paolo”.
Following the WiFi for everyone and mobile tagging with extra multimedial content present over the entire building, the National Cinema Museum has recently presented its completion of the Archaeology of Cinema floor restyling, a huge project to renew layouts and contents, aiming at making the Mole Antonelliana an even more welcoming space, allowing everyone to move according to their interests and their own needs. The new layout integrates modern digital technologies, suggestive display areas, visual and touch models and extra multimedial content for a multisensiorial trip into the world of cinema, for a more engaging and accessible visit and for a museum open to everyone.
May 13 saw the kick-off of the new MakingOf.it initiative, the crowdfunding website aiming at gathering funds for projects that could not be implemented without a direct contribution on the part of aficionados and cinephiles. The first project to be presented is the restoration of Marco Ferreri's film L’udienza. The programme's target is to favour the concrete engagement of the public in conservation initiatives to enhance the museum collections and its activities. This platform linked to the museum corporate website will be dedicated on a permanent basis to collecting funds through the web, with projects that will be indicated from time to time.
With almost 6,500,000 visitors since 2000 – the year when it opened at the Mole Antonelliana – the National Cinema Museum is unique worldwide, thanks to the richness of its collections and its surprising vertical layout, establishing itself at the 8th place among the most visited museums in Italy.