Museums without Visitors? Crisis of the Polish Museums during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Revival under the Digital Experience Offer

Museums, as many other organisations, froze during the lockdown. Museums offer insights into varying cultures and since no forms of culture can sustain without the engagement of audiences, participants, or visitors, the lockdown forced by the pandemic compelled museum authorities to look for new ways to reach audiences and establish relationships with them, thereby facilitating previously untapped forms of cultural participation. This worldwide experience of the pandemic undoubtedly accelerated the digital transformation of the entire cultural sector. To what extent these new opportunities have changed the forms of participation in the cultural realm remains an open question. This current research carried out in some of the largest Polish museums allowed us to conclude that the pandemic period saw a significant leap forward in terms of the involvement of digital technologies in popularising museum collections, as well as in seeking contact with audiences at various levels. At the same time, the reopening of museums resulted in increased attendances on an unprecedented scale. It could be said that the pandemic made us realise how global threats can, in a short span of time, take away the possibility of enjoying traditional forms of cultural participation, but at the same time enable the development of digital technologies that can significantly contribute to the popularisation of museum collections or exhibitions. This research was designed to find out whether museum audiences wanted a change in the way they experience the collections and exhibitions held in museums, and whether the digital experience created during the pandemic was attractive enough to compete with a personal visit to an art gallery. The results of the research clearly indicated that despite the rich digital experience offered in Polish museums, viewers still stated a desire to return to a “real museum”. The pandemic allowed the museum authorities to learn novel administration techniques and numerous technological solutions that were previously never used have now become a permanent feature of regular museum operations. However, the reaction of the audiences after the lockdown was clear: they still wanted to enjoy traditional forms of cultural participation, valuing above all the possibility of personal contact with an original work of art in a museum gallery.