In cooperation with Gemeentemuseum The Hague, the Kunsthal Rotterdam proudly presents Museum Minutes, an exhibition in which visitors are tempted into spending longer looking at art. The aim of the exhibition is to extend the average time that museum visitors spend looking at individual artworks (currently 9 seconds). A remarkable total installation presents an amazing collection of artworks exhibited in such a way that visitors can experience them in a more intensive fashion. The installation was unveiled at the opening of the exhibition.
Presentation
Museum Minutes is an initiative by cultural adviser Johan Idema. He poses the question as to how modern and contemporary art can be presented differently at a time when fewer people are visiting museums and the scope for financing cultural institutions is diminishing. Four creative souls from the world of design and communication - Erik Kessels (KesselsKramer), Lies Willers (OPERA Amsterdam), Cyril Sterkenberg (Vandejong) and Merien Kunst (Woedend!) - were invited to bring modern and contemporary art into the spotlight in a new and unexpected fashion. Together they decided to present an alternative for contemporary art exhibitions, which are so often held in white-walled halls and accompanied by meagre snippets of information. The basis for their approach was the average time that museum visitors spend looking at artworks. The question is how to extend this interval and whether more time results in a better understanding of art. For Museum Minutes, they made a selection of modern and contemporary artworks from Gemeentemuseum The Hague, all with time and movement as their main theme. In addition, each work is supported by an audio tour created in coloboration with sixteen different partners. A hiphop artist raps about a painting by Frank Stella and two children take a critical look at artworks by Tjebbe Beekman.
Symposium
Museum Minutes includes a comprehensive audience research study and a symposium. The research answers the question as to whether the new type of exhibition results in visitors gaining a better understanding and a different experience of art. The results of the study will be presented and discussed by experts from the museum world during the symposium on 14 January.
With special thanks to:
Akwasi, Michel van der Aa, David Bade, Vincent Bijlo, Suzanne Blotenburg, Mieke Boon, Aernoud Bourdrez, DJ Sandeman, Renske de Groot, Wibo Kosters, Jasper Krabbé, Perquisite & Slider Inc., Sterre van Rossem, Maurice Seleky, Benno, Lotte & Julius Tempel, Dorothy Vrielink en Fleur van Zonneveld.
