Application of Virtual Reality

#### **Chapter 4**

## Perspective Chapter: Digitalization of Museums and Academic Benefits for Tourists (Slemani Museum as Case)

*Rukhsar Ahmed*

#### **Abstract**

New inventions of technology can become necessary means for museums. In the last decades, museums have used new technology more than ever to reach out to visitors worldwide. Online workshops in museums have shown that visitors at the museums want to use digital tools and interactions to search for information on the archeological pieces of museums. Museums are constantly trying to achieve their long-term goals for digitalization. Museums are part of these institutions that can use various technology to compete and provide their information for archeologists and readers who are keen to learn cultural heritage and archaeology. Because technological diversity is the way to make museums more attractive and more affordable, as well as easier access to information. The Slemani Museum has started the digitalization of its archeological pieces. In this regard, this study attempts to explain the methods and the benefits of digitalization and their future efforts to use technology in other areas of the museum. A key question that leads this study is: what are the strategic advantages of digitalization of Museums such as Slemani Museum?

**Keywords:** digital museums, cultural heritage, Kurdistan region, Slemani museum, archeological pieces

#### **1. Introduction**

In this era of rapid technological progress and change, the digital revolution with its amazing innovations gives different tools and opportunities to different institutions around the world to do their jobs more effectively and share their important information easily. So that, everyone can access information that was previously just available to experts from the libraries or museums. These constant technological changes and innovations have made institutions compete to adapt to technological innovations while maintaining their unique characteristics. Thus, no organization or institution will be immune to the changes caused by technological innovation. Museums and archives are some of the established organizations that will benefit from this technological revolution, but how can museums and archives prepare

to adjust digitalization for the future generations? Can they take advantage of the unlimited possibilities that digital technology creates throughout the years? It can be said that technology has provided a golden opportunity to access digital information, photos, recordings, and online publications. Thus, digital technology has significantly increased the ability of individuals to participate and take advantage of the opportunities it has provided. It facilitates allowing institutions to facilitate partnerships and collaborations between institutions because digital technology offers people an organized way to access information ([1], p. 1–3). The effects of technology and digital media have emerged in all aspects of society, economy, and culture in this era. However, the beginnings of the use of technology in the field of art and cultural activities did not have much information about how the content of the online show can encourage people to visit museums ([2], p. 8).

Before technological innovations, museums' efforts were to direct visitors to physical museums, but these changes brought about by the community of digital platforms allow museums to introduce themselves and provide useful information to people interested in archeological information. In general, smartphones, apps, websites, and social media have changed the way institutions and visitors communicate in a digital world that is cheaper and easier. Museums have had to adapt to this new way of communicating because the new communication tools are more suitable for museum visitors. The latest innovations in smartphones and the place they occupy in people's lives around the world allow interactions to happen wherever and whenever possible. This is in addition to various other technological innovations and applications in the museum field such as quick response codes (QR codes) augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). They can be used to identify and disseminate archeological information in a more modern and enjoyable way than the old ways of receiving and giving information in museums ([3], p. 25).

This paper attempts to explain the role and importance of contemporary technological innovations in museum management and the introduction of archeological pieces in digital form in one of the museums in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (Slemani Museum). After collecting data and explaining the museum digitization project, the importance and impact of using technological innovations in museum management being discussed. Moreover, the academic benefits of the project are for tourists and archeologists to access information via online services.

#### **2. The importance of museum digitalization**

Two decades ago, Since the early 1990s, museums have begun to use the internet and put their information online, although initially, only a small portion of archeological information and images were available on the Internet. Archeological information enthusiasts have been waiting for all the information to be available online. However, museums have had difficulty developing their digital collections due to several laws and factors, including: lack of required resources and information, decisions on the type and quantity of information available, digital technical infrastructure, legal restrictions on museums' authority and contracts, and operations costs. With all of this, permission to publish information has expanded gradually. The free and online availability of museum information is expected to affect museum activities in terms of time and space. Museums can adopt digital forms to serve visitors by tourists looking for museum information and activities online, thus expanding visits and activities ([4], p. 201–208). Museums were important places for storing and preserving cultural

#### *Perspective Chapter: Digitalization of Museums and Academic Benefits for Tourists… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110797*

heritage and were important centers for teaching about the history of society by displaying archeological pieces and providing information about the artifacts collected in museums. With the advent of digital technology, the methods of activities of these centers have changed. Learning and access to information through digital museums have become available everywhere through online, websites, and cultural platforms. The digitization of cultural collections will be a rapid change in traditional models of management and access to information related to cultural heritage. The traditional model of museums has been based on a collection of physical objects. Their main task was to preserve the archeological pieces in the museums, catalog them, and develop them scientifically to transfer national and international culture to the public and provide material for scientific research. In the digital age, museums as managers of cultural materials have been able to radically change how culture is managed and produced. Museums should consider building relationships with viewers and users of archeological information digitally, which is economically cheaper for users, but for museum revenue, digital control of museums, community cultural assets, and cultural heritage in museums is likely to be possible it allows museums to generate new revenue and maintain their position as custodians of cultural content and trusted authorities. The traditional model of museums was based on physical objects in a building and was funded by the government. The function of museums has been different from that of the digital era, mainly to preserve and catalog archeological objects and to transmit national and global culture to the general public ([5], p. 1–4).

#### **3. The newest technological trends in the museums**

During the COVID-19 pandemic, museums have spent more on technology than before to adapt to people's needs and safely open their doors to tourists. Some museums are continuing to experiment with the digitization of museums. The most important trends used in the era of new technology are expected to become part of museums in the future.

#### **4. Immersive augmented reality (AR) experiences**

Augmented reality offers a near-realistic experience in museums using this technological innovation, which is considered one of the biggest technology trends for museums. It is expected to be used in different fields and in different ways in the future. Augmented reality (AR) is likely to completely change the field of museums and how the world sees them.

#### **5. Self-guided audio tours**

The use of self-guided audio developments has increased in the past couple of years, especially after the use of this technology at the Walt Disney Family Museum. These museums use their own voice tour guide app to tell the stories. This is a new way of allowing tourists to use their own devices (for a more hygienic experience). On the other hand, the rent of sound equipment is removed from the museum. Museums that have used this technology are trying to make more use of it in the future by adding more information to their apps [6].

#### **6. Museums trends shaped by the virtual reality (VR) culture**

Virtual reality is a technological innovation that completely changes the way we look at things. You feel like you are in a certain place when you are not really there. This technological trend is used by museums and is likely to affect how they work. Imagine being able to virtually enter the majestic world of an art painting or learn about your country's history at home through the use of virtual reality. Museums can take advantage of these endless technological innovations in different ways.

#### **7. Quick response codes (QR codes) galore**

Quick response codes are a simple but important piece of technology for museums. By scanning this code on the museums' artifacts that use this new trend of technology, visitors can get the necessary information about the archeological pieces in the museum. Clearly, some of these technological trends are related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Others are generally applicable. In both cases, it is clear how these technological trends are affecting the development of the museum and museum industry [6, 7].

#### **8. Online access and display of images**

Museum websites are one of the most widely used methods of accessing images and information. Users can directly collect specific information and images related to archeological objects. Especially online access to digital collections may be able to be used as an innovation to reach museum visitors. Because it often increases access to relevant information, it complements the physical experiences of museum visitors. Perhaps, museums offer more information, higher-quality images, and more indepth research and articles. These digital websites are designed online for seekers of museum photographs and information and have two features. Searching for photographs and information is easier and less expensive, or downloading photographs from museum websites is generally free. With this, museums should adapt to this digital investment model and aim to promote the collection of art and artifact pieces for their museums and increase visitor numbers. In some circumstances, museums may need to rely on a variety of technological protection measures, such as visible watermarks, disabling copy features, and saving them to their websites when necessary ([5], p. 11).

#### **9. Historical background of Slemani museum**

The Slemani Museum was established in 1961 and remains open to the public. After the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, it is academically the most significant museum in Iraq. The museum staff runs an education department, with a visitor program that engages with local schools, and scientific laboratories for documentation, conservation, and analysis of ancient materials. It is currently considered the second-largest museum in Iraq, the museum has about 60,000 artifacts that show visitors the history of different historical stages of Mesopotamia and will be an important scientific resource for archeologists and academics in the field of archaeology. The number

#### *Perspective Chapter: Digitalization of Museums and Academic Benefits for Tourists… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110797*

of these artifacts is constantly increasing because archeological teams are continuously conducting excavations in different archeological sites and the artifacts found are returned to the Slemani Museum. It shows the archeological collections of all Mesopotamian civilizations with unique artifacts from the Stone Age to the Islamic and Ottoman periods. On the fiftieth anniversary of its establishment, the master plan for the development of the Slemani Museum has been complemented with collaboration of UNESCO guaranteeing the museum's future as a vibrant cultural force in Kurdistan and Iraq. In 2011, a museum modernization project was launched with the assistance of UNESCO and the European Union. This includes: enhancing organization and management, educational programs, care and registration of collections and their restoration, and expansion of museum buildings and design of exhibits [8]. Slemani Museum, the second largest museum in Iraq, through exhibitions of their museum artifacts highlights the richness and cultural heritage of the region and Iraq in general. Including cuneiform masterpieces dating back to the 3rd Millennium BC. In partnership with UNESCO work on improving its management and education confirms UNESCO's commitment to making the Slemani Museum "a true regional landmark in the field of museology." In 2013, a pioneering initiative was launched by UNESCO with financial support from Sulaimani Governorate and the European Union through the UNDG Iraq Trust Fund. Modernization of Slemani Museum with the aim of taking the Slemani Museum into the 21st century, this project is considered to be one of the best projects of advanced museums [9, 10]. The museum consists of four halls, the prehistoric period hall (**Figure 1**), Paikuli Gallery Hall (**Figure 2**), the hall of writings or cuneiform writing (**Figure 3**), Warka period to the Ottoman Period Hall (**Figure 4**) with a specific section for children, which is called Slemani Museum Kids (**Figure 5**).

#### **9.1 The prehistoric hall**

It is one of the largest museum halls devoted to displaying artifacts dating back to prehistoric times. These artifacts have been found mainly in archeological excavations in Kurdistan and Iraq and show the entire history of ancient Mesopotamia.

#### **Figure 1.**

*The prehistoric gallery at the Slemani museum, Iraq Kurdistan. https://trek.zone/en/iraq/places/166781/ sulaymaniyah-museum*

#### **Figure 2.**

*Paikuli Gallary Sulaimani museum. https://www.pukmedia.com/EN/Home Slemani museum. The second largest museum in Iraq 26-8-2021.*

#### **Figure 3.**

*Writing and cuneiform tablet gallery. https://www.tripadvisor.com/ Slemani museum - picture of Slemani museum, Sulaymaniyah.*

#### **9.2 Paikuli gallery**

It is one of the museum's newest galleries in 2019 sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage. This gallery consists of inscribed.

*Perspective Chapter: Digitalization of Museums and Academic Benefits for Tourists… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110797*

#### **Figure 4.**

*Warka period to the ottoman period hall: https://slemanimuseum.org/default.aspx*

The Pakuli inscription was the text of the Parthian and Middle Persian inscriptions written on the stone blocks of the walls of the Paikuli tower. These inscribed stone blocks were found in southern Kurdistan/Iraq near the Barkal village in Sulaimani province, these stone blocks are now on display in a special hall in the Slemani Museum, which is called Paikuli Gallery. Stone blocks from the time of the Sassanian king Narseh around 293 AD. The Slemani Museum is a collection of inscribed stone blocks, including many newly discovered ones of the commemorative monument of the Sassanian king Narseh.

All the halls display archeological pieces and present the complete history of different periods of Mesopotamian civilization. The prehistoric hall contains archeological pieces dating back to the prehistoric period to the Abbasid period. The most important museum artifacts are displayed in this hall. Previously, a large number of archeological pieces were numbered with IM labels, but now with the beginning of the first step of digitizing the museum, all the pieces of the museum have been labeled with the SM label Slemani Museum.

#### **10. Warka period to the ottoman period hall**

Museum artifacts made of clay and pots displayed in this hall from the Warka period, which dates back about 9000 years to the archeological pieces of the Ottoman period [11].

#### **10.1 Slemani museum kids**

It is one of the new sections of the Slemani Museum and was opened in 2019. The aim of this section is to provide archeological information to children. The museum hall has many educational and exhibition facilities for children. It is considered the first archeological museum for children in Iraq. One of the programs of the museum to disseminate archeological information among different sections of society is to establish contacts with schools, according to a joint program of the museum and schools. Students and teachers of different stages will visit the museum according to a visit schedule determined by the museum. After giving a scientific seminar about the artifacts in the museum, with the help of several archaeologists of the museum staff, the visiting students will visit all the sections of the museum in order to get the necessary information [11].

#### **11. The method of technology that Slemani museum starts to use in the nearest future**

Presenting archeological information through digital museums has brought other options as a result of the conversion from analog to digital. The difference between the museums of the 21st century and those of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries was that they were systematized and fully organized in the 19th century. Twentyfirstcentury museums are distinguished by trying to use the most technological innovations to display archeological pieces in museums and preserve their artifacts. Museum websites and digital archives are new dimensions in the way of practically looking at a unified story ([12], P. 26–28). Today, in the age of technological advances, museums are trying to display fewer of their artifacts in interaction, but rather present their display environments with the help of video, photography, and film technology. Museum websites and accounts have attracted all kinds of visitors from all groups and ages as interactive screens supported by technological innovations. In the context of modern museums, they can nowadays be considered places of life that produce information about different aspects of life from ancient times of human life to the present modern era. At the same time, they show and evaluate the history of different material objects around us. Their goal is to communicate information to all sections of society through educational activities ([13], p. 546). The technological method that Slemani Museum will use is an online access and display of images through the museum's website and Facebook account. Access to images and archeological information on museum websites is one of the most common and direct ways to use digital innovations. Through websites, museums communicate products and information to website visitors in a simple way. Thus, electronic evolutions have become a complete electronic experience. The relationship between museums and websites is positive and important for museum professionals and museum visitors. Through their websites, museums can attract visitors into museums thus visitors to physical museums should feel similarly inspired to visit museum websites. Museum visitors can use websites as a bridge to connect their activities before their visit. The purpose of the

#### *Perspective Chapter: Digitalization of Museums and Academic Benefits for Tourists… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110797*

visit is to learn more and get more information about this museum. If visitors accomplish these steps, feedback results will increase visitor rates and overall satisfaction. Building this relationship as well as encouraging museum visitors to make museum websites part of their daily lives and designing museum websites that complement physical museums can be difficult. It is important to know how museum professionals can use these websites to build stronger relationships with museum visitors before and after their visits ([14], p. 337–339). The Slemani Museum has begun its initial steps of digitization, which initially required all archeological pieces to be data with museum codes and separation numbers. More than fifty percent of their work has been completed in data. Electronic codes for museum artifacts are one of the most important tasks because they are used to identify archeological artifacts in the name of the Slemani Museum. It is used as an electronic identity card to protect museum artifacts from theft, looting, and smuggling. That will be part of the museum's digitization project in the future. Online and digital exhibitions are one way to attract visitors and build strong relationships between museums and their visitors. These projects end old barriers to access and eliminate time and space restrictions that historically restricted artifacts and collections to public museums and private galleries. Using digital surrogates archeologists and museum visitors have been able to interact with diverse collections regardless of place or time [15]. Slemani Museum has used its website and accounts to attract more tourists, especially after implementing a joint program between museums and schools to teach students about archaeology, museums, and the history of Mesopotamian civilizations. The number of museum visitors has increased significantly, especially since the end of the coronavirus pandemic. The number of visitors to the museum in 2022 increased to more than 24,000 people. The largest number of visitors are university and school students, people who want to spend time, and archeological enthusiasts. Some of the visitors were familiar with the history of the archeological pieces in the museum through digital websites and accounts before going to the museum. These digital websites motivated them to visit the museums physically. With the start of the initial steps of the museum digitization project and the use of websites and accounts, the staff of the museum has noticed an increase in the number of visitors, especially university students and academics in archeology and historical subjects. According to the staff and archeologists in the museum, they expect the number of visitors to increase unexpectedly after the completion of their project and the digitization of the archeological pieces of the museum and have online visitors worldwide. Since they plan to upload a high-quality photograph of each of museum's artifacts with a full description of the era, civilization, and artistic style of the archeological piece with the number and code of the Slemani Museum into the website of the museum (like **Figures 6** and **7**), archeologists and academics can easily obtain basic information about the museum and its artifacts, even if they are far from the museum or even from another country or region of the world.

#### **12. Conclusion**

As it is experienced, the relationship between museums and museum websites is complimentary. This is mostly explained by online and physical visitors to museums. They visit the museum websites before or after visiting the museums and have high expectations met after accessing the information. It is important for museum professionals to understand that the needs of visitors, whether visiting an online or

**Figure 6.** *A Jemdet Nasr period stamp.*

#### **Figure 7.**

*A coin of the Sassanid period. Sulaimani museum 2023.*

local museum, change with the changing times and technological advances ([14], p. 337–339). According to Navarrete [4], digital technology allows the rediscovery of communities through new applications of digital technology in different fields. Museums are implementing digital applications in order to develop new products and services. The use of digital technology in a large museum requires more resources than in a small museum, especially in practical work. Therefore, a small museum can be more innovative in the use of social media and its own website can create a wonderful environment for the virtual visitors. But the same work for a large museum might take decades. The use of the Internet and digital technologies such as smartphones and virtual reality and the availability of all these technological innovations to the public and archaeological institutions, especially museums, has led to the integration of many different media platforms with museums. They are also a good helper to establish a continuous relationship with tourists and archaeologists and museum enthusiasts. Especially during the global crises, it appears how important these websites, such as during COVID-19 pandemic. Nowadays, it is important for

#### *Perspective Chapter: Digitalization of Museums and Academic Benefits for Tourists… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110797*

museums to see how they change their ways to reach their visitors. One of the characteristics of the digital museum is that the actions of museums and visitors are limited. Using different technologies of QR-Codes, VR, and AR, they give unique experiences that are not repeated. The ultimate goal of the museums in the use of digital websites, along with attracting visitors, is to distribute information and educational experience of the physical museums in common and different units belonging to the museums ([3], p. 31–34). The Slemani Museum at the beginning of their efforts to digitize the museum, one of their goals is to distribute educational and academic experiences for visitors and archeologists, especially through their websites and accounts. By providing information about their museum artifacts and historical information, they have attracted the attention of tourists and facilitated archaeological researchers to obtain the necessary information. This is clear especially in many museums of countries, such as Iraq and countries that are in war zones and they have not stable security situations, that they cannot display all the archeological pieces either in the physical museums or on websites due to public security. But the use of websites helps museums to attract attention. Archeological academy, which is a major motivation for researchers to visit the museum and receive information directly from experts in museums regarding the Slemani Museum, their joint programs with schools and visits to different stages and children's departments in museums, known as the children's museum, are two important factors to attract tourists to their museums. On the other hand, the Slemani Museum, the museum's library, the museum artifacts, and information on archeological pieces uploading on their website became important sources for archeological and ancient history researchers. They are also a factor in attracting the attention of foreign archeological teams to come to Kurdistan and obtain permission to excavate archeological excavations in the archeological sites of Kurdistan. Eventually, by returning their archeological pieces to the Slemani Museum, they will increase the number of their museum artifacts on a regular basis and will be new sources for researchers. All of these actions are easier to do with the digitalization of the museum and attract more tourists. Both types of visitors, such as tourists or visitors with the aim of academic and scientific activities, display new archeological pieces discovered in the latest work of the region.

Finally, it was a study on the digitalization of the Slemani Museum and its effects and benefits for tourists and academics in the field of archaeology. It has also been an investigation into the obstacles and strategies to use in the management of the digital museum. Because the environment of the digital network with the advancement of technology may change, on the one hand, the museum is constantly increasing the number of archeological pieces due to the continuous archeological excavations in the region and returning archeological pieces to the museum. This is how to update information on the latest pieces of archeological sites on museum websites and accounts. It attracts academic attention to further research in the field of Mesopotamian archaeology in general and Kurdistan in particular.

*Application of Modern Trends in Museums*

### **Author details**

Rukhsar Ahmed1,2

1 University of Raparin, Presidency of University, Cultural Heritage Unit, Rania, Iraq

2 Ministry of Education, Directorate of Education –Halgurd High School, Rania, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

\*Address all correspondence to: rukhsar.ramazan@gmail.com

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110797 Perspective Chapter: Digitalization of Museums and Academic Benefits for Tourists…*

#### **References**

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[2] MTM, London. Digital audiences: Engagement with arts and culture online. This research was commissioned by Arts Council England in partnership with Arts & Business and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). 2010

[3] Taher H. Digitalisation at Museums: A Study on the Various Effects Digitalisation Have Had on Museums and How Museums Can Develop New Digital Interactions for their Visitors. Sweden: Master Thesis, Malmo University; 2020

[4] Navarrete T. Digital heritage tourism: Innovations in museums. World Leisure Journal. 2019;**61**(3):200-214

[5] Bertacchini E, Morando F. The future of museums in the digital age: New models for access to and use of digital collections. International Journal of Arts Management. 2013;**15**(2):60-72

[6] 8 Top Technology Trends for Museums in 8 November 2022. Available from: https://stqry.com/blog/ technology-in-museums

[7] 8-trends-that-are-transformingmuseums. 2022. Available from: https:// mysmartjourney.com/en-ca

[8] The Museum. Archived from the original on 29 Sep 2015. www. slemanimuseum.org. Retrieved 16 January 2015

[9] Sulaymaniyah Museum opens its first renovated halls to public. UNESCO. 2013a. Last update: 21 April 2022a.

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[10] Sulaymaniyah Museum opens its first renovated halls to public. UNESCO. 2013b. Last update: 21 April 2022b

[11] Slemani Museum. The second largest museum in Iraq. 2021. Available from: https://www.pukmedia.com/EN/Home

[12] Stevens M. Touched from a distance. The practice of affective browsing. In: van den Akker C, Legêne S, editors. Museums in a Digital Culture. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; 2016. pp. 13-29

[13] Çıldır Z, Karadeniz C. Museum, education and visual culture practices: Museums in Turkey. American Journal of Educational Research. 2014;**2**(7):543-551

[14] Marty PF. Museum websites and museum visitors: Before and after the museum visit. Museum management and curatorship. 2007;**22**(4):337-360

[15] Galani A, Chalmers M. Can you see me? Exploring co-visiting between physical and virtual visitors. In: Bearman D, Trant J, editors. Museums and the Web 2002. Pittsburgh, PA: Archives & Museum Informatics; 2002 Available from: http://www.archimuse. com/mw2002/papers/galani/galani.html

#### **Chapter 5**

### Perspective Chapter: The Integration Narrative of Media and Space in Museum

*Lie Zhang, Husheng Pan, Guobin Wang and Wen Zhang*

#### **Abstract**

With the increasing popularity of digital presentation and narrative means in museum display design, the role of media art in museum space design has become increasingly prominent. The integration narrative of media and space will deconstruct our design and understanding of exhibition space, thus bringing a new design paradigm. This chapter will discuss the ways and methods of innovative design of museum space in combination with the design case study of new museum space; It tells about the new design concept of the integration of media and space, discusses the integration way of media and exhibits, media and space, and how to use the characteristics of media art with great appeal and guidance to realize the digital innovation of museum exhibition.

**Keywords:** museum, space, media, integration narrative, display design

#### **1. Introduction**

With the rapid development of digital media technology, the application of media art in the public cultural space such as museums and relics has become increasingly widespread and popular. It is pointed out by the International Council of Museums in the interpretation of the theme for International Museum Day 2022 that museums "have the power of innovating on digitalisation and accessibility, museums have become innovative playing-grounds where new technologies can be developed and applied to everyday life. Digital innovation can make museums more accessible and engaging, helping audiences understand complex and nuanced concepts" [1]. It can be seen that the integration and display of new technologies in new media in the museum space has not only become a new technical means attached to the museum space, but become an active builder in the museum space as well. In this way, more exhibits have been displayed, which are diverse, vivid and attractive. The traditional space narratives and construction methods of the museums have been reshaped. The learning mechanism and behavior mode of the audience in the museum space have been changed. New possibilities and opportunities have been brought to contemporary museum space and display design. New technologies are undoubtedly of great value and significance.

However, as new technologies and new media have been continuously applied to the traditional exhibition space of museums, disharmony arises between traditional space and modern media as a result of their rapid development. Exhibition designs of museum space are confronted with new challenges. To address this issue, this paper adopts the research methods of case study and documentary analysis and studies the design idea of the integration of exhibition space in museums, aiming to provide today's frontier exploration and thinking for the design path of contemporary exhibition space.

#### **2. Literature review**

It is a great trend and focus in the current work of exhibit display in museums across the world to plan, discuss, interpret and study the exhibit display with the relevant theories of narratology. It is an effective method widely recognized by the relevant industry and academia in the world as well.

Before narrative theories were formally introduced as the organization forms or means of the exhibit display, museum exhibitions, particularly thematic exhibitions with the timeline sequence, implied "narrative budding" [2]. For example, Steven Lubar pointed out in the article Timelines in Exhibitions that timeline is a natural and intuitive way to present and understand the past, and is highly capable of staging the historical narratives [3]. Edward Bedno, an American scholar, also stated in his article Museum Exhibitions: Past Imperfect, Future Tense: "Many thematic exhibitions have basic narrative clues. A story can connect all exhibits or all perceptible exhibition elementss, which is more powerful than creating a simple theme including all exhibits" [4]. In 1998, an academic concept of "systematic exhibition" in the exhibition design of world museums was put forward by the academic circle of Japanese museums, that is, the design methods of exhibition scripts with information structures are established on the basis of a good understanding of exhibits' information [5]. The "information structure" here has nearly the same meaning as the structure research of traditional texts in the narrative theories.

Spatial narrative theories have been used for the relevant academic analysis of museum exhibitions, growing like mushrooms. However, the early academic analysis paid more attention to studying the relationship between museum exhibitions and narratives as well as their significance while the later placed more emphasis on studying with museum exhibitions as the structures and methods of narrative texts. For example, Mick Barr used narrative theories such as narrative voices, narrative focus and narrative time to analyze the exhibition of the American Museum of Natural History for the first time in the first chapter Telling, Showing, Showing off of Double Exposures [6]. Mieke Bal believes that the narrative perspective provides a significance that cannot be obtained by other methods. Such analysis can be utilized to read the museum and its exhibits rather than the objects on display alone [7]. Liu Jiaying and Song Xiangguang explored the relationship advantages and feasibility of museums and narratives through the analysis of the advantages of museums' "sense of existence," "cultural" and "entertainment" in their article Media Advantages of Museums—A Trial Analysis of Museum Exhibitions from the Perspective of Structuralist Narratology and combining the research perspective and theoretical framework of structuralist narratology [8]. However, the real in-depth analysis of the relationship between exhibitions and narratives should pay attention to Museum Making: Narratives, Architectures, Exhibitions [9], a work co-authored by Suzanne Macleod and others, and Narrative Turn of Contemporary Museum Exhibitions authored by Zhang Wanzhen [10]. Since then on, with the collision of narrative theories and design disciplines, narrative theories have also started to combine with

#### *Perspective Chapter: The Integration Narrative of Media and Space in Museum DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110798*

exhibition design space, forming a research trend in the narratives of museum exhibition space. At this stage, it is believed by some researchers that the theme and spatial form conveyed by the exhibition bear similarity to the expression or logic of the narrative, therefore, it is feasible to take the museum as the narrative text and conduct the research of spatial narratives around it [11]. For example, Li Nvxian analyzed the relationship between the sequence of museum display space and the narrative of exhibition theme and explored the design methods of museum display space with narrative characteristics [12] through the spatial narrative theories.

Over the past decade, with the vigorous development of information technology, digital technology and intelligent technology, we see an increased use of digital media products in all aspects of human society. The expression and interactive narrative of media art have gradually become one of the means of cultural and artistic communication that enjoy the most popularity. So are the museum exhibitions. At present, the narrative means and digital form of museum exhibition media have become important ways to achieve "getting cultural relics alive" and "getting cultural relics fashionable," and have become the consensus of the academic circle and industry in this field [13]. Overall, it is more often to see application cases of digital media narrative expression in museums; however, the writings on relevant academic and theoretical researches are rarely seen. The former includes WeChat widgets such as Digital Palace Museum and Traveling in Dunhuang, Decorative Pattens Carry the Great Truth- The Palace Museum Tencent Digital Experience Exhibition, and Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Digital Museum, of which the author participated in the planning and design, as well as the National First Robot Stage Drama that integrates technology, culture and art, etc. [14]. The latter, for example, Zhao Ling, conducts a study [15] of the applications of media in the museums from the narrative perspective with the narrative expression of digital media in the museums as the object of study in the article Digital Representation to the Integration of Feelings and Setting—A Study of Museum Digital Media Exhibition in the Context of Narration. In 2022, the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China issued the new version of the official document Evaluation Criteria for Museum Operations, formally proposing that "the situation of using auxiliary exhibits and modern information technology to improve the level of cultural communication in the representative temporary exhibitions will be regarded as an indicator for the assessment of museums" [16]. The guiding value and incentive effect brought by this policy will produce a profound effect on the follow-up development of museum exhibitions.

At present, a tidal wave of digital technology is showing a rapid spread in global museum exhibitions, but not a few museum exhibitions do not have enough time to think about the relevance between digital technologies and their exhibitions under such an explosive development. Without corresponding theoretical discussions and a summary of methods, they are involved in the flood of digital technology in an instant. As a result, a number of problems arise from practical operations, such as the incompatibility of the content and form of media and space, the hybrid sequencing of space organization and structure, as well as the follow-up maintenance and operation of media equipment [17]. To overcome these problems, some researchers have also paid attention to the necessity and importance of the study of integrating media into the design of space. For example, Lin Shaoxiong stated in his article Physical Narration and Space Integration in Museum Phase 4.0: The current and future museum phase 4.0 museums are based on the creation of integration experience space in the future tense, which place more emphasis on the organic integration of real space and virtual space, physical space and psychological space, aiming to the construction of the self-growing integration fields [18]. Here, the virtual and psychological space refers to the media space of the museum exhibition, while the real and physical space refers to the real physical space of the museum. Some researchers have done something further, namely, taking the visitor guiding display system in museum exhibitions as an example. They explored the problems and applications of the complementary functions and the shortcomings of the traditional guiding system and modern digital media and came to a clear conclusion that the visitor guiding display system innovates, improves and upgrades the original visitor guiding system, which is really a cutting-edge idea [19]. Therefore, the relevant studies of the integration narrative design of media and space in museum is not just a cutting-edge academic issue that needs to be further explored. The relevant studies and explorations are urgently needed due to their values to a certain extent.

To sum up, the studies of digital applications have started with a bang in the museum exhibitions across the world. The space narrative and media narrative methods of the exhibition have also respectively demonstrated their important values and roles. However, media narrative in the museums are developing too explosively; moreover, media narrative and space narrative are limited by their respective knowledge characteristics and scopes. Due to this fact, lots of disharmony problems arise inevitably from the hybrid application of media narrative and space narrative in the museum exhibitions, thus requiring the study of the interrelated whole for the purpose of integration. Therefore, this paper attempts to take the lead in exploring the challenges faced by the narrative and design methods of museum exhibitions and their new design ideas after the integration of media and the space which traditionally focuses on objects. It is hoped that the study in this paper can be the first to fill this nearly blank field, realize the integration and innovation in the museum exhibitions, and thus produce a new design paradigm, which are our research objectives and values as well.

#### **3. The proposal of the narrative design methods that integrate space and media**

The integration narrative space refers to a new spatial form brought by the integration of multiple media means and physical space. The narrative of traditional museum display space is connected by cultural relics and space. The presentation of objects and the construction of architectural space jointly determine the narrative logic of museum display. However, digital media plays an increasingly important role in museum narrative, which will greatly affect the changes in the structure of traditional display space, thus bringing a new integration narrative space.

#### **3.1 Several elements of integration narrative space**

#### *3.1.1 Space*

Space is the most basic and the most important material basis of museums, and a key elements that distinguishes physical exhibitions from the experience of the online cultural heritage communication. The existence of space is an important prerequisite for the attraction of visitors. Personal experience of space is one of the most effective ways to collect information. Compared with ordinary "objects," it is omni-directional and multi-channel to exchange information with space and obtain perception from space.

#### *Perspective Chapter: The Integration Narrative of Media and Space in Museum DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110798*

It is natural for people to emotionally depend and become interested in space. As Norberg-Schulz Christian, a well-known architectural theorist, said in Existence, Space and Architecture, "the root of people's interest in space is existence" [20]. The relevant evidence is found from the research results of cognitive psychology and linguistics. Experts have identified a great relationship between space and human cognition and emotional formation. People interact with the external space through their own bodies from childhood. An image schema based on spatial perception of the external world is the basic structure for understanding and recognizing more complex categories and concepts [21]. The cognition of one's own body and the surrounding space is the most basic cognitive activity of human beings, so image schema mostly reflects a spatial relationship between human beings and the external world. This abstract understanding of spatial relationship forms the empirical basis for people's understanding and reasoning of anything. Therefore, space is not only the basis for the formation of cognition, but also the basis for human behavior and emotion. It is also an important prerequisite for the development of the indispensable attachment to a place and a sense of belonging in their minds.

In addition, the significance of space to museums and people is also reflected in the aspects such as space and narrative logic, space and environmental cognition, and the cultural spirit of space. The museum space is constructed to meet the needs of functional logic, structural logic, behavioral logic, and spiritual logic. Once the spaces are constructed, they conversely construct the audience's behavior in the museum and guide their emotional clues and changes during the visit. It is an important elements of museum experience to create environmental experience in the museum space. Human senses are very keen. Beyond the traditional five senses such as vision and hearing, we also develop perceptions of ourselves, space environment, changes of light, air flow, changes of temperature, vibration, etc., and every cell of our body is even communicating with the surroundings. As Margravial Opera House Bayreuth described in Michael Haim's From Interface to Cyberspace: The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality, the creation of space and atmosphere "mobilizes all human senses: visual, auditory, tactile, plot, and even the smell of incense and candles [22]. The audience of Bayreuth is the pilgrim of exploration, immersed in an artificial reality, that is, a holistic experience." The layout and creation of the space also reflect a certain cultural and spiritual connotation, such as gardens in the south of China and courtyards in the north of China. They contain the traditional Chinese values and ideas that are reserved and aggregated, and reflect a number of dialog relationships between humans and the external environment such as heaven, earth, nature, cities and towns, as well as between the family members.

As a result of the essential status and multiple attributes of space, the audience develop an overall perception of the image and cultural spirit created by the space environment through the conscious creation of the space so that the space becomes a "field" to guide their emotions and display their spiritual power. Under the guidance of the narrative logic planned by the space, the audience's learning and experience behaviors are constructed as well.

#### *3.1.2 Objects*

The significance of "objects" is self-evident in the display activities of cultural heritage. Sima Qian described the Confucius temple he saw in Qufu and Confucius' remains such as "clothes, hats, zithers, carriages and books" in the Historical Records of Confucius Aristocratic Family [23]; the "carriages, clothes and ritual vessels" enabled Sima Qian to imagine Confucius' conducts. He was so attracted that he forgot to return. This is probably one of the earliest descriptions of the significance of "objects" on museum exhibitions. The presentation of "objects" directly proves the real existence in history. Additionally, but the uniqueness of heritage is often an important elements to arouse the audience's strong interest and exploration spirit. The so-called "prove history by material evidence" has always been one of the important concepts of museum construction.

Digital technology has brought a new way of display; however, it cannot completely replace the position of "objects" in people's minds. Although we can easily get access to the high-definition pictures of the Mysterious Smile of the Mona Lisa online, millions of people still go to the Louvre Museum to see the Mona Lisa every year. People can roam freely in the real space of the ancient city, and appreciate the cultural relics and treasures in close proximity, marveling at the wise ancestors' craftsmanship. This sense of reality produced by the existence of reality as well as the emotional and spiritual guidance and infection given by the size and turns are still irreplaceable by digital means. Digital technology will not eliminate people's desire for "reality"; conversely, it may act as a bridge between people's minds and the real objects, stimulating their desire to explore the real objects.

Objects are the realistic basis of human cognitive system. A variety of states of "objects," natural laws, and interactions and exchanges between objects and people are also the foundation for us to understand this world. Objects are also an important link between human emotions and the cultural world, as well as the important carriers and symbols of human cultural system. The remembrance and worship of "objects" universally exist in human civilization, which are the direct presentation of cultural symbols, and the external expression of profound and abstract cultural connotation and spiritual world. Culture is a collective memory. This converging behaviors and mode of thinking are usually maintained and symbolized by "objects" in a certain forms.

It is one of human instincts to pursue materiality. From the perspective of physiology, the operation and play of objects stimulates the secretion of adrenal hormone and brings excitement and pleasure to the cerebral cortex nerves, keeps people unceasingly relying on objects and chasing objects and communicating and interacting with the objects. Animals are curious about objects and eager to play with objects, which is actually an instinctive expression to exercise their predatory skills and survival ability. Likewise, human's desire to understand, control, conquer and collect objects also comes from the born instinct.

Therefore, "objects" are not only physically visible and touchable. They exist in our spiritual and cultural world as well. The display of "objects" in museums is of irreplaceable significance.

#### *3.1.3 Media*

Interactive digital media is known for its characteristics such as sensible, interactive, narrative and interrelated, which can bring extremely strong experience and extremely strong communication and produce fundamental changes to culture communication, education and other areas.

Through sight, hearing and touch, digital media can generate super-infective power which is immersive, full-view, and media-rich. Particularly, when media is applicable to everything today, digital media brings so great infection that it has

#### *Perspective Chapter: The Integration Narrative of Media and Space in Museum DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110798*

broken people's imagination time and time again. Interaction is another aspect of the extremely strong experience. It is one of the most basic ways for humans' development of cognition to interact. The interactive media endows everything with spirituality through the cognition of various sensors of language, movement, orientation, eyes, EEG, touch, etc., interactive media, so that the object can talk with us. Interaction brings pleasure, experience, emotion and recognition to people.

Interactive media is also known for its narrative. It is a form of art about time and narrative. As Roger C. Schank, an American cognitive scientist, pointed out that Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories [24]. Mark Turner also wrote in his book The Literary Mind: "Storytelling is a basic way of thinking, and most of our experiences, knowledge and thoughts are organized in the form of stories" [25]. Digital media is naturally born with narrative characteristics, which makes it have an edge in the area of communication. At the same time, the Internet, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, big data, cross-media, O2O and other technical means have not only brought about subversive and explosive growth in communication capacity, but brought about the transformation of communication paradigm and discourse system as well, leaving endless space for possibilities and imagination.

Boosting with unique advantages in the area of communication, interactive digital media has gradually integrated into the new museum space. It is no longer an optional auxiliary means ranging from small interactions to big experience. Instead, it will an important part of the new integration narrative space and an important link in the museum narrative. In the construction of the new museum space, the space narrative that integrates media will generate more inspiration and creativity for architects and space designers and become the leader of an important trend of museum construction in the future.

#### *3.1.4 People*

People are the complex existence and ultimate goal in this system, but they are also the elements that can be most easily overlooked. Museum exhibitions communicate information to people, and the needs of people are multi-level and multi-dimensional.

On the one hand, the characteristics of the audience as the object of communication should be considered. The characteristics and ability of the audience in receiving information largely determine the effectiveness of communication. The knowledge system is asymmetric at both ends of the communication. The sender is better at the expert knowledge system, while the receiver often does not have the knowledge reserve in this respect. Therefore, there is a key part of transforming from knowledge text to exhibition script in the link of exhibition planning and text design.

On the other hand, in addition to specific information transmission, it is important to consider the visiting process and behaviors of individual visitors, and the possible visiting mode of group visitors. The designer should handle the key issues to realize stronger spiritual appeal and information transmission, namely, how to mobilize the audience's emotions and expectations by the entire space field that integrates information and atmosphere, guide their behaviors, shape the emotional curves with the specific space plot, construct their behaviors with rich interactions and dialogs, and guide them to the preset situations. Media and interaction have

particularly outstanding advantages in guiding the audience's emotions as a result of more active dialog ability. Meanwhile, as an open public cultural service facility, people also have diversified activities and needs in the museum space. The integration and satisfaction of more needs and participation in activities such as visiting exhibition, reading, learning, taking a rest and social interactions will also complement and change the construction and understanding of the future integration narrative space.

#### **3.2 Narrative design methods that integrate space and media**

The narrative design method that integrates space and media attempts to organically integrate "objects," "media," "space" and "people" to form a new type of display space that is very attractive, communication-oriented, narrative-centered, carried by space, media breakthrough, and the combination of the real and the virtual. Here, communication and education remain the goal orientation of integration narrative space in the museums as well as the major part of museum space open to the public. Narrative is the core means and basic process of the museum's display space, as well as an important basis for organization of exhibits and media and space design in the museum. It tells stories through cultural relics, commemorates great people and past events, reveals the cultural phenomenon behind the people and events, shows the laws and characteristics of human survival and development, and expresses the spirit and significance. Space is the basic carrier. The museum, as a physical space, distinguishes itself significantly from the complete online virtual space, which is also an important factor for the audience to acquire rich and real experience. Media has become an organic part of the space, performing the important functions of time narration and theme narration.

Therefore, in the narrative design method integrating space and media, we should, from the very beginning of the conceptual design, consider with emphasis the possibility of new media artistic expression forms, the possibility of space and media combination, as well as the possibility of media guiding emotional changes of the audience during the visiting process. Key exhibition items that are condensed in response to the narrative needs and suitable for media expression, in combination with important and large exhibits that are mainly shown in traditional museums, become key elements that need to be considered first in the "point" and "line" relationship of the museum space organization. What's more, through the logic and clues organized by spatial and emotional narratives, these points are used as key points and memory points to form a complete exhibition route for visits and experiences, thereby forming the basic paradigm of museums' innovative design.

#### **4. Design case of integration narrative**

In recent years, under the guidance of the above design ideas, the author's team have made an effort to apply such ideas and concepts to the design of new museum exhibitions. They have achieved positive results and won wide recognition by the cultural and museum circles and the public. The exhibition designs of the Confucius Museum and the China National Pavilion of the 2019 Beijing World Horticultural Exposition are taken as examples in this paper to introduce the application and thinking of relevant methods in practice.

*Perspective Chapter: The Integration Narrative of Media and Space in Museum DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110798*

#### **4.1 Confucius Museum**

#### *4.1.1 Theme and planning*

The theme of the exhibition in the Confucius Museum is "The Great Sage: Confucius." As a representative of the Axis era, Confucius and his thoughts have had a profound impact on Chinese civilization and even world civilization. The exhibition design of the Confucius Museum demonstrates great cultural significance and contemporary values, but it also creates a tough problem and a big challenge for the designer. According to the conventional narrative logic to honor celebrities, text narratives are divided into five parts, namely, Confucius' Era, Confucius' Life, Confucius' Wisdom, Confucius and Chinese Civilization, Confucius and World Civilization. But how to better attract the audience in a journey of space? How to produce stronger pertinence and guidance for audience's emotions and expectations? The author team have organized a new integration narrative logic for the museum based on the spatial conditions, content logic and emotional clues.

What kind of person Confucius should be told? Liang Shuming said, "The Chinese culture before the era of Confucius was almost in the hands of Confucius, and that after the era of Confucius almost originated from Confucius" [26]. Just as the ancients used to describe Confucius as "His lofty conduct is like a high mountain, which is regarded as the code of conduct by people." We believe the audience's admiration to be the most important goal in the museum of such a sage. The corresponding content is called "preface."

Secondly, it is cognition. Admiration is emotional while cognition is rational. It is necessary for the audience to develop a complete understanding of the background and the whole life of Confucius. The corresponding contents are Confucius' Era and Confucius Life, the first and second parts of the exhibition. We attach great importance to Confucius not only due to his position as a great man in history but also due to the valuable enlightenment and instructions given by his thoughts thousands of years later. Then, how can we effectively draw nutrition from his thoughts? We come up with another word, "dialog." We should help the audience to learn and think through dialogs. The Lunyu (Analects), the most important carrier of Confucius' thoughts, was compiled by the succeeding generations of Confucius's disciples in the form of dialogs. A dialog situation is created and dialog behaviors are constructed to make the interactive "dialogs" become a way for the audience to experience and learn in the visit. It is our third goal. The corresponding content is the sacred map in the special experience hall and Confucius Wisdom, the third part of the exhibition.

We expect the audience to gain something valuable and be touched and inspired finally after admiring Confucius and creating dialogs with him, understanding his life and important thoughts, as well as his broad and profound impact on Chinese civilization and world civilization. Therefore, the fourth goal is "baptism." In particular, we expect to infect the audience through the exemplary power of the deeds of the people with lofty ideals who have been infiltrated by Confucianism that demonstrates self-cultivation, family-regulation, state-ordering and land governance in the history since then as well as to deduct Confucius' understanding and interpretation of "a gentleman" in the Phantom Theater. It corresponds to Confucius and Chinese Civilization, the fourth part of the exhibition, and the Gentleman's Hall of the special experience hall.

In Confucius and World Civilization, the fifth part of the exhibition, large art installations are used to present the international influence of Confucius' thoughts. We achieve the fifth goal, namely, "paying respects to" knowledge and to Confucius by building the last hall, the Permanent Confucius, into a professional Confucius library.

The basic thread of the Confucius Museum exhibition narrative and the overall keynote of the exhibition design are formed by developing from admiration, cognition, dialog, baptism to respect and integrating the communication intention and the audience experience.

#### *4.1.2 Space and media*

The Confucius Museum is a very special, as very few cultural relics are directly related to Confucius. It is the most important to display Confucius thoughts, wisdom and contemporary values in the Confucius Museum, but all of them are abstract concepts. How to interpret abstract concepts and show the power of spirit in the museum? It requires us to transform these abstract contents into perceptible elements and atmosphere through creativity, and to tell the truth and explore the spirit through stories, and to express his ambitions by means of things and metaphors the combination of space, media and various artistic techniques. Because of the powerful infective characteristics, new media has also become a prominent means for the Confucius Museum to reflect the interpretation and experience of the key contents of the five goals as above, and has generated apparent rhythm changes in space. The most important highlight is the mapping projection of "The Great Sage: Confucius" in the prolog hall, the interactive long scroll of the sacred map, and the Youlan Cao of the Gentleman's Hall of Phantom Theatre.

The prolog hall is the space to achieve the goal of "admiration." In the tall and broad theme space, light is used to shape the great figure of Confucius in the arms of the mountains, presenting the meaning of "softy conduct as high mountains." By projecting the shocking video and audio effects of "The Great Sage: Confucius" through the 80-second ring immersive mapping, the designer generalizes the contribution and influence of Confucius, and finally shapes the prolog hall into a solemn, pure, and soul-shaking ultimate space (**Figure 1**).

The Confucius Museum has a total of 36 pieces of authentic relics of the holy signs drawn by the Ming people. Through the combination of art and technology, the stories of the sacred map have been redrawn into a dynamic digital scroll, which are projected on the wall and also on the long table below the scroll in an interactive way.

#### **Figure 1.**

*"Great Confucius" light sculpture and media narrative fusion scene in the lobby of the Confucius Museum.*

#### *Perspective Chapter: The Integration Narrative of Media and Space in Museum DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110798*

When the audience clicks on the characters in the image, it will trigger a story, as if talking with Confucius, shortening the distance between Confucius and the audience, thus forming the integration of the virtual and the real and an integrated space of "a dialog" between the ancient and the modern (**Figure 2**).

The Gentleman's Hall is a deductive space using multi-screen phantom stage technology. Centering on the theme of "The Way of the Scholar," it allows the audience to understand and think about how to cultivate themselves through the continuously updated repertoire, so as to achieve the purpose of education and "baptism." "Youlan Cao" is our first show. It is said that the zither music of "Youlan Cao" was composed by Confucius. Confucius used orchids as a metaphor to express his praise of the character of a gentleman, as well as his confidence and generosity in facing difficulties. With this as the creative theme, dance design attempts to reconstruct and interpret the charm of traditional Chinese culture by using modern digital means such as sound, light and electricity. The addition of bamboo flute playing robots adds a different style to the Phantom stage. Combining the traditional elements with the cutting-edge technology, harmonizing the piano and flute, dialog between ancient and modern, and leaving a deep memory for the audience through surreal and novel experience (**Figure 3**).

Finally, the key media means of the Confucius Museum became an organic part of the space narrative logic and integrated harmoniously with the whole building.

**Figure 2.**

*Interactive digital fusion scene of the "Drawings of Confucius Saint Deeds" in the Confucius Museum.*

#### **Figure 3.**

*Orchid parade robot phantom technology theater in the Scholar's Academy of the Confucius Museum.*

#### **4.2 The China National Pavilion of the 2019 Beijing World Horticultural Exposition (the China National Pavilion in short)**

#### *4.2.1 Theme and planning*

The theme exhibition of the World Horticultural Exposition is "Living forever - China Ecological Culture Exhibition." According to the characteristics of the theme, we put forward an overall idea, emphasizing the combination of dynamic interpretation and static display, the combination of virtual artistic conception and physical flowers, the integration of contemporary science and technology and traditional art, the expression of the Chinese ecological culture spirit of harmonious coexistence between human and nature in poetic Chinese language, the display of green water and green mountains and gardening masterpieces, and the demonstration of the achievements of contemporary ecological civilization construction. In this way, cultural confidence and national image are demonstrated. Combined with the space conditions, we explore a narrative clue that is mainly based on logical relations and supplemented by temporal relations. From the origin of ecological concept to macro development, system composition to mesoscopic phenomenon, and from traditional concept to current innovation and development. The "six harmonies" narrative clues of "harmony between heaven, earth and man," "harmony between four seasons," "harmony between mountains and rivers," "harmony between spring and river winds," "peaceful and comfortable living," and "harmony and symbiosis" were put forward, respectively representing the traditional ecological concept of harmony and simplicity, the green development concept of beautiful rivers and mountains, the ecological overall concept of harmonious symbiosis of mountains, forests, fields, lakes and grass, the concept of people's livelihood and universal benefits of sharing ecological achievements, and the win-win global view of conspiring to build ecological systems. From philosophy to scenery, landscape and human settlements, and then to the global perspective, layout in order and step by step.

#### *4.2.2 Space and media*

The theme exhibition is located on the basement of the China National Pavilion. The architectural layout has been more restrictive. The entrance and exit are located in a fan-shaped hall, connecting a circular patio and a relatively small fan-shaped space through two corridors. On the one hand, we need to consider the space streamline, on the other hand, we need to consider the relationship between the space and the expression of the exhibition content under the limited conditions.

The prolog hall is quiet space compared with other halls. Through the combination of ramming earth, astrology and plant seeds, the poetic landscape painting skillfully composed of the three elements tamps the earth wall, reflecting the theme of the exhibition "endless life," reflecting the philosophical thinking of Chinese ancestors on the harmony and unity of heaven, earth and man. "Harmony between Heaven, Earth and Man," reflects the hazy cognition and simple emotion of Chinese ancestors on natural plants and reflects the simple natural view of harmonious coexistence between man and nature through the words related to plants in Chinese oracle bone inscriptions and the chapters eulogizing plants in the Book of Songs. Through AR technology to expand the knowledge of plants in the Book of Songs, the media began to participate in our exhibition. "Four Seasonal Scenes and Harmony," is located on one of the corridors. We take the long scroll of the famous blue-green landscape "A

#### *Perspective Chapter: The Integration Narrative of Media and Space in Museum DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110798*

Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" as the theme, use the immortal moss as the painting material to reproduce the classic scroll, and use the projection technology to perform dynamic light and shadow interpretation on it, depicting the combination of mountains and rivers, living between vegetation, and the benign interaction between human and nature, highlighting the cultural origin of the green development concept of "green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains." "Landscape Harmony," is located on the central axis of the building. In combination with the architectural space characteristics of the circular submerged courtyard, the audience moves from the quiet corridor to the bright open space, and the mood is mobilized to reach a small climax of the exhibition. The Shuiyuan Mountain Hall respectively displays 24 landmark and rare and characteristic plants in the history of Chinese horticulture. On the central axis of the building, the dialog between ancient and modern times, the harmony of mountains and rivers, and the formation of interesting landscape space, show the ecological holistic view of the symbiosis of mountains, forests, fields, lakes and grass. "Spring River Wind and Harmony," echoes the exhibition hall of "Four Seasons Scenery and Harmony," and is located on another corridor. With the title of The Dwelling in Fuchun Mountains, it vividly represents the ink and water artistic conception of The Dwelling in Fuchun Mountains by combining the plant art installation with the transparent light and shadow technology of electrified glass, and reveals the Chinese people's pursuit of an ideal living environment full of poetic charm and the unity of nature and man. "Xianghe Yiju" is an innovative space progressive panoramic image space, with multi-layer gauze and image light and shadow strengthening the level and depth of space. With the representative themes of The Painting of the Eighteen Scholars and The Painting of the Forty Scenes of the Summer Palace, the audience is immersed and traversed in depth, making the audience feel like stepping into the painting, from the rhythm of the twigs and leaves and the breathing of flowers and birds, from the ecological interest of the literati residence to the royal garden, from the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, to feel the close combination of gardening and life, highlighting that a good ecological environment is the most inclusive well-being of the people's livelihood. "harmony and symbiosis" reflects the innovative development of contemporary ecological civilization. The space is transformed from a symmetrical progressive traditional Chinese space to a modern landscape image space that emphasizes block changes. The audience is like walking on a huge blueprint, overlooking green mountains and waters, and full of vitality. Scenarios of major achievements in the protection and construction of contemporary ecological civilization in China are immediately visible, affirming China's sense of ecological responsibility of "harmonious coexistence" and the win-win global view of "embracing all rivers." The whole exhibition also reached a climax.

As shown in, the opening and closing changes of the whole spatial pattern and the involvement of the media are integrated with the space, and the media changes from point to line and then to immersion in the space, leading the audience to change their emotions from exploration to immersion, from pursuit to sudden openness, thus forming a novel and overall narrative experience (**Figure 4**).

#### **5. Discussion**

To summarize, this paper summarizes the four core elements of "space," "matter," "media" and "people" by combing and analyzing the evolution trend of academic

**Figure 4.**

*Space and media narration of the Ecological Culture Exhibition in China Pavilion of the International Horticultural Expo.*

development related to integration narrative design, and demonstrates the landing of the proposed integration narrative design ideas and methods through detailed discussion and exploration, as well as the exploration of theories and methods oriented to media and space integration narrative It is practical, scientific and of great forwardlooking value. For example, the exhibition design of the Confucius Museum and the China National Pavilion of the World Horticultural Exposition has won more than 10 important design awards at home and abroad, and has become one of the important topics for media reports and discussion in the cultural and museum circles. Among them, the total number of visitors to the design series of the China Pavilion of the World Horticultural Exposition by China Xinhua has exceeded 2 million, and the number of on-site visitors has also exceeded 5 million during the half-year session, which has become an important phenomenal work in China's cultural and museum industry in recent years. In addition, the following five points of thinking and inspiration have also been formed in the process of the rich practical experience of the front line.

#### **5.1 The importance of curators' "media literacy": Increasingly prominent**

In the exhibitions of the museum, communication is the purpose, and planning is the overall planning process to achieve the purpose. The success of the planning largely determines the attraction and success of the exhibition. Planning is a logical thinking that precedes text compilation and artistic design. It is a blueprint planning after comprehensive consideration of the theme, content, communication purpose, spatial structure and media means. In the current new exhibition planning activities, the understanding and understanding of the media has become an important quality of the curators, an important factor determining whether the exhibition planning is attractive and progressiveness, and an important reference and measurement factor for the later official and public evaluation criteria.

#### **5.2 Integration narrative design method has become a key link in contemporary exhibition design**

Text narration has a relatively mature mode. The first step of thinking and work of exhibition planning often starts from text narration. For example, for celebrity introductions, it is often explained from the character's life background, life experience,

#### *Perspective Chapter: The Integration Narrative of Media and Space in Museum DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110798*

intellectual contribution, influence of later generations and other aspects, which is natural and logical. But in museums, we need stronger emotional guidance and more focused interpretation paradigm. This kind of narration starts from the understanding of the main characteristics and characteristics of the exhibition theme and content, and comprehensively considers the purpose of exhibition communication, the conditions of architectural space, the possibility of exhibition streamline, the natural tendency of audience behavior, the guidance of audience emotion, the use of large space media and other elements, and echoes the logical narration and emotional clues, and integrates the space narration and media experience, so as to achieve the effective reconstruction of the integrated narration.

#### **5.3 Design trend of museum exhibition under integration narrative: theater and theme**

With the help of media means, the museum space tends to be a "mobile drama stage." The audience walks through scenes one by one, feels different spatial expressions, accepts the information conveyed by different media, perceives the turning changes of the narrative plot, and participates in various activities to guide the audience's cognitive and emotional experience. In the integration narrative, the "theatrical" and "thematic" approach has become an effective means used in the industry. It also uses the concept of "screen" in the stage language to connect the structure and logic of the narrative and guide the audience's behavior (activities, emotions) actively and unconsciously.

#### **5.4 Cross-disciplinary cooperation is an important way to stimulate new ideas**

The design and research of integration narrative space involves many disciplines, such as history, archaeology, museum, communication, architecture, art design, new media, and so on. It requires interdisciplinary and cooperative research and personnel training with complex knowledge structure to realize the integrated, systematic and event-based comprehensive narrative mode and new knowledge dissemination system. In the interdisciplinary team, designers' space awareness, visual thinking and media literacy play a key role in the creative transformation from text narration to integrated narration, but at the same time, attention and experience accumulation from the perspective of content creation, narrative logic and communication audience cannot be ignored. These organic integration with space, media and vision can help the design team to promote more targeted, innovative and diversified creative transformation and generation.

#### **5.5 Training of new creative talents oriented to integrated narrative: Imminent**

The process of transformation from knowledge text to exhibition script is an important stage of creative transformation, and many breakthrough and important ideas are often generated at this stage. Traditionally, the transformation of this stage is often completed by experts who provide knowledge, but this often leads to the little difference between the exhibition script and the knowledge text, which is still limited to the text narrative thinking, and has not effectively completed the transformation to the integrated space exhibition language, and it is difficult to effectively stimulate the large design creativity. In the future, the chief director of integrating narrative space needs content and story creators with space and esthetic experience, or space

designers with macro logic consciousness and narrative ability, content creativity and exhibition thinking. Only by breaking through the inherent professional category and thinking paradigm and integrating multidisciplinary knowledge and experience can we play a leading role in the integration of narrative space and bring creative breakthroughs and systematic innovation. Therefore, the guidance and training of cross-creative talents and the discussion, setting and teaching of relevant courses or discipline systems are the initial core and focus of the current work in this field, and are also in urgent need.

#### **6. Conclusion**

In conclusion, the idea and method of integrating space and media narrative proposed in this paper is a relatively new solution and design understanding put forward by the author's team in view of the cutting-edge changes in the development of the industry in the face of new technological challenges in museums over the years. Although it has the meaning of preliminary exploration, it has also obtained good feedback and verification. Therefore, the participation of digital media and other elements is not only a useful supplement to the new museum space, but also an active builder of the new museum space. Its involvement will reconstruct our understanding of the narrative system of museum space, and bring new ideas and creativity in narrative mode, space construction and even museum architectural design. Looking forward to the future, with the media narrative occupying an increasingly important position and role in the museum space narrative, the designers' understanding of the museum's social education value and attention to the audience's behavior are becoming clearer and clearer. In combination with the systematic training of interdisciplinary disciplines and the designers' cross-learning, we believe that the future will be more systematic and systematic integration of narrative design ideas, concepts, strategies, methods and even systems and paradigms, It will take shape gradually. On the other hand, we also hope to have close communication and partnership with more relevant research teams abroad, so as to make greater research contributions.

#### **Acknowledgements**

The paper is supported by the National Social Science Foundation project Research on the Application of Interactive Design in the Field of Cultural Heritage Display and Communication (20BG127), the liberal arts special project of Tsinghua University's independent scientific research program Research on Knowledge Organization and Service for Cultural Heritage (2021THZWYY15), and the key scientific research project of the National Museum of China in 2021 Research on Intelligent Interactive Design of Museum Exhibition Based on Audience Experience (GBKX2021Z10).

*Perspective Chapter: The Integration Narrative of Media and Space in Museum DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110798*

### **Author details**

Lie Zhang1 \*, Husheng Pan1 , Guobin Wang2 and Wen Zhang3

1 Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China


\*Address all correspondence to: zhlie@tsinghua.edu.cn

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

### **References**

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[2] Jie X. Research on the Structure and Construction of Narrative Exhibition [thesis]. Hangzhou: Zhejiang University; 2018. p. 16

[3] Lubar S. Timelines in exhibitions. The Museum Journal. 2013;**56**(52):169-188

[4] Bedno E, Xiangguang S. Museum exhibitions: Past imperfect, future tense (I). China Museum Newsletter. 2000;(4):28-30

[5] Jianqiang Y. Theory and Practice of Museums. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Education Press; 1998

[6] Bal M. Telling, showing, showing off. Critical Inquiry. 1992;**18**(3):556-594

[7] Bal M. In: Ferguson BW, Greenberg R, Nairne S, editors. The Discourse of the Museum. Thinking about Exhibitions. London; New York: Routledge; 1996. pp. 201-218

[8] Jiaying L, Xiangguang S. The media advantage of museums—An analysis of museum exhibitions from the perspective of structuralist narrative. Museum Research. 2009;(04):3-7

[9] Suzanne Macleod, Laura Hourston Hanks, Jonathan Hale. Museum Making: Narratives, Architectures, Exhibitions. London: Routledge Press, 2012.

[10] Wanzhen Z. Narrative Turn of Contemporary Museum Exhibitions. Taipei: Yuanliu Publishing House; 2014

[11] Wei Y. Research on the Display Design of Folk Museums Based on

Narrative Space Theories [thesis]. Dalian: Dalian University of Technology; 2020. p. 23. DOI: 10.26991/d.cnki. gdllu.2020.001277

[12] Nvxian L. Sequence analysis of museum display space based on space narrative. Furniture and Interior Decoration. 2015;(08):82-83. DOI: 10.16771/j.cnki.cn43-1247/ts 2015.08.031

[13] Guangming Net. Making Good Use of Digital Technology to Get Cultural Relics Alive 2022. Available from: https://m. gmw.cn/baijia/2021-12/02/35355460. html. [Accessed: 2022-12-02].

[14] People's Information. The First Robot Stage Play "Song of Heaven" Was Stagedin China 2022. Available from: https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=16804 08185494550215&wfr=spider&for=pc. [Accessed: 2020-10-13].

[15] Ling Z. Digital representation to the integration of feelings and setting—A study of museum digital media exhibition in the context of narration. Appreciation. 2022;(14):31-33

[16] Notice of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China and the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China on Printing and Distributing Evaluation Measures for Museum Operations and Evaluation Criteria for Museum Operations 2023. Available from: http://www.gov.cn/ zhengce/zhengceku/2022-11/25/ content\_5728693.htm. [Accessed: 2022-11-08].

[17] Qiuxia C, Linxin J. Existing problems and countermeasures for digital display of museum collections. Science Education and Museums. 2022;**08**(02):42

*Perspective Chapter: The Integration Narrative of Media and Space in Museum DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110798*

[18] Shaoxiong L. Physical narration and space integration in museum phase 4.0. Journal of Aesthetic Education. 2018;**09**(04):18-23

[19] Yuan L. Research on Comprehensive Museum Guide Design under Digital Media Presentation [thesis]. Guangzhou: Guangdong University of Technology; 2017. p. 61

[20] Schultz N. translated by Wang ChunlongExistence, Space and Architecture. Taipei: Tailong Bookstore; 1985

[21] Haosheng Y. Embodied cognition: A new orientation of cognitive psychology progress in psychological. Science. 2010;**18**(5):705-710

[22] Haim M. translated by Jin Wulun and Liu GangFrom Interface to Cyberspace: The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality. Shanghai: Shanghai Science and Technology Education Press; 2000

[23] Maqian S. Historical Records of Confucius Aristocratic Family. Beijing: Zhong Hua Book Company; 1999

[24] Pink DH. A Whole New Mind. Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press; 2007. p. 79

[25] Haosheng Y. Theoretical psychological thinking on the thought of embodied cognition. Acta Psychologica Sinica. 2011;**5**:590

[26] Shuming L. Eastern and Western Cultures and their Philosophies. Beijing: The Commercial Press; 1999. p. 150

#### **Chapter 6**

## Building a Museum Facility at the Local Level in the Conditions of the Slovak Republic, Example of the Town of Považská Bystrica

*Karol Janas, Michaela Haladejová and Zuzana Haladejová*

#### **Abstract**

The Town of Považská Bystrica is currently establishing a museum facility, which will be considered a key cultural institution under the municipality administration. Its purpose will be to make available local history, archeological findings and archival documents as well as various educational activities for schools and public using modern digital technologies.

**Keywords:** museum facility, modern technologies, education, exposure, Považská Bystrica

#### **1. Introduction**

The protection and promotion of cultural diversity is a great challenge of the twenty-first century. In this context, museums and museum facilities are considered the main means of protecting tangible and intangible heritage. Museums represent a place of cultural mediation, intercultural dialog, learning, discussion and education. In addition, they play an important role in formal, informal and lifelong learning as well as in the field of sustainable development.

Museums are living public spaces having potential to address the general public and therefore play an important role in developing social ties, building active citizenship and collective identity. Museums should be available to everyone and should strive to be physically and culturally accessible to everyone, supporting social inclusion. They create space for reflections and discussions on historical, social, cultural and scientific topics. Moreover, they have a huge potential to build public awareness of the value of cultural heritage, support economic development, especially through cultural and creative industries and tourism.

In the Slovak Republic, several towns and municipalities have decided to build their own museum or museum facility in recent years. Since the functioning of museums is mostly ensured by the state or self-governing regions, towns and municipalities opt for museum facilities. From the point of view of organization of operation and also of establishment or operating costs, simpler criteria are imposed on museum

facilities. Also, the operation is less complicated and the operational costs are less demanding for scientific or professional activity.

From the point of view of the current legislation, a museum facility functions as a specialized legal entity or an organizational unit of a legal entity or a specialized facility that acquires objects of cultural value and makes them available to the public for the purpose of knowledge and esthetic experience through specific means of museum presentation. Its founder is authorized to apply to the Slovak National Museum for registration in the Register of Museum Facilities and to request professional guidance.

A similar kind of museum facility is planned and currently being created also in the Town of Považská Bystrica. The content of the work of the museum facility will be to make local history, archeological findings and archival documents available to the residents of the given municipality and region. An important role that museum facilities focus on is pedagogical activity in cooperation with local schools, as these institutions play an important educational role. Changes related to the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) are currently opening up new opportunities for museums in the field of care, study, building and dissemination of heritage and related knowledge. They are currently penetrating every area of life; therefore, it is important to adapt to this trend in museum education as well.

The museum facility works closely with the local state archive, from which it acquired many local history documents which are about to be digitized. It also cooperates with higher museums at the level of the self-governing region, from which it obtained materials of archeological and natural history provenance. From the professional point of view, the museum facility cooperates with the Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín. The Town of Považská Bystrica provides the exhibition space for the operation of the museum facility and also fully covers its operation.

#### **2. The idea of creating a museum facility in Považská Bystrica**

The idea of creating a museum facility in Považská Bystrica emerged in 2020. It followed the previously accepted concept of protecting the town's cultural heritage. This was reflected in the adoption of a Generally Binding Regulation of the Town of Považská Bystrica, which adopted the principles of protection of cultural monuments in the town, not protected by the state with special regulations. This adopted regulation represented an extension of legal obligations at the local level. Despite the requirements these extended regulations brought to the owners (a large part of the monuments was not owned by the town, but by private individuals or churches) of cultural monuments, this principle met with general support.

The decision to establish a museum facility in Považská Bystrica arose at the beginning of 2021. It assumed a 2-year preparatory process. Part of it was the decision of the mayor of the town, who decided to establish a working group, which was to determine the content and scope of the professional focus and scientific activities of the town museum facility. The commission was made up of employees of the municipality, whose agenda includes culture, communication, and town development. To the commission were invited as expert advisors the director of the State Archive in Považská Bystrica and the director of the National Museum, managed by the Trenčín Self-Governing Region, where Považská Bystrica as a town belongs administratively. With these institutions, long-term professional cooperation is planned for the museum workplace.

#### *Building a Museum Facility at the Local Level in the Conditions of the Slovak Republic… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110796*

The participation of employees of the Town Development Department was also important. After determining the professional and scientific focus of the museum, they were to prepare suitable spaces and ensure the necessary material background for the exhibited items. The working group also proposed some specific solutions. The group designed the concept of the museum facility as a priority historical museum, focused on the history of the Town of Považská Bystrica. It suggested to place in the entrance hall the heraldic symbols of the town, from the oldest to the youngest ones. As part of the museum, a reference library containing all the books published in the past and referring to the Town of Považská Bystrica was proposed. In addition, all promotional materials referring to the town and its subjects printed in the past should be placed here. It is assumed that the library will be progressively supplemented in a long-term and complementary manner and will thus create an important base for scientific workers and students dealing with the Town of Považská Bystrica. The working group proposed to include in the museum facilities special exhibitions dedicated to the history of the town in the twentieth century, important personalities acting in the Town of Považská Bystrica as well as an exhibition dedicated to the Engineering company Považské strojárne, which significantly influenced the development of the town. The state archive has committed to borrow for the expositions of the museum facility historical maps, authentic instruments and documents related to the history and development of the town. The study room is also planned to be developed; this room should serve as lecture room for researchers, museum staff and external experts for primary and secondary schools located in the town.

"It was also decided that folk costumes, which map the folklore traditions of the town and its immediate surroundings, will also be part of the museum exposures. They complement other funds appropriately, even if they do not form the main sphere of research of the museum facility. The costumes are an integral part of the culture and history of the town's inhabitants" [1]. "The costumes are interesting in their decoration and point to local and regional specifics due to their local and regional origin" [2]. The museum facility of the Town of Považská Bystrica acquired them as a gift from collectors and also through long-term purposeful activity, as they form patterns for today's sewn costumes used by folklore ensembles acting in the town. "The folk costumes are placed in a special depository. The museum facility must comply with strict conditions for their protection and exposure" [3].

#### **3. The establishment and structure of the museum facility in Považská Bystrica**

"Since the creation of a unified network of museums and galleries, town museums have been specialized in town history or natural and social phenomena related to its historical and cultural needs" [4]. Despite the disintegration of the unified network, the focus and specialization of town museums and museum facilities remained unchanged. Today, the activities of museums and museum facilities are governed by legislation that determines their activities. "This legislation directly regulates their tasks, activity and operation as well as the conditions of their creation and dissolution. At the same time, the legislation defines basic professional activities they must respect and follow" [5].

According to the current legislation, the role of towns and municipalities is to ensure the construction and operation of cultural facilities, establish cultural organizations and create suitable conditions for cultural, educational and artistic activities. "An important task of the municipalities is also to inventory and make cultural heritage available. Scientific research will play an important role in the process of preservation, protection and evaluation of museum exposures" [6]. However, the preservation must be connected with other important activities that the museum facility in Považská Bystrica will fulfill. "Since the museum facilities will be considered a key cultural institution, it should focus on documentation, collection-building, scientific-research, methodological-advisory, cultural-educational, project, information, presentation, organizational and publication activities" [7].

The museum facility in Považská Bystrica will have a classic structure of working professions in the area of administration, care of collections, operation, services and education. Since it is a newly built museum facility, initially several job positions will be accumulated. After completion and putting into full operation, individual work professions are expected to become independent. "For professional education, the museum facility will follow the basic curriculum for the education of museum professions, defined by the International Committee for the Training and Personnel" [8]. "The International Commission operates within the framework of the International Council of Museums, whose activities focus mainly on cooperation, exchange of knowledge, dissemination of knowledge and awareness about museums, education of museum workers, improvement of professional standards, creation and promotion of professional ethics and protection of cultural heritage" [9]. "It is characterized by five areas of professional competences. These include general competences, museological competences, managerial competences, museum-pedagogical competences and competences for collection management" [10].

#### **4. The main task of the museum facility in Považská Bystrica**

Permanent exhibitions will be a key medium for the fulfillment of the main task of the museum, which is to preserve collections in the interest of the development of society and the interpretation and promotion of cultural heritage. It will be focused on the history of the Town of Považská Bystrica and its nearby region. It will be made up of objects of material cultural heritage and also archival documents related to the history of the town. "The museum facility of the town is not interested in creating its own public archive, as there are strict legislative conditions for such an activity" [11]. In its activities, the museum facility will closely cooperate with the state archive, which will take over the professional care of the exhibited archival documents. The borrowed archival documents will complement the other collection funds that the museum facility will exhibit. They will be supplemented with photographs capturing the development of the town.

"The permanent exhibition will also include paintings from the collections of regional academic painters Imro Weiner Kráľ and Ján Rojko, capturing the town in various stages of its development" [12]. The permanent historical exposition will thus enable visitors to understand and accept the cultural heritage of the Town of Považská Bystrica. Thus "the most important collection items will be permanently available to visitors of the museum facility" [13]. "In order to achieve the expected attendance and fulfill the professional goals, it will be necessary to harmonize the professional focus with marketing and work with the public" [14]. Since the majority of society welcomes the existence of a museum facility in Považská Bystrica, communication with the public will be an important part of its tasks. The public considers museum facilities to be important in learning about the past, collecting, protection and

#### *Building a Museum Facility at the Local Level in the Conditions of the Slovak Republic… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110796*

presentation of cultural heritage. "Therefore, it is important for the museum facility to directly shape the public's relationship to the museum through the marketing activities. Although the basic activity in the presentation of collection funds will be permanent exhibitions, the museum facility in Považská Bystrica will not avoid nontraditional forms of presentations that have the potential to attract to the museum facility further visitors" [15].

Cultural offerings of the collections from the museum facility will also be exhibited outside its premises. "Part of the collection materials will be exhibited in the premises of the Municipal Office in Považská Bystrica. It will be a part of the collections of fine arts, paintings and sculptures. In agreement with the state monument institute, in the premises of the municipal office will also be an exhibition of artefacts from parts of the original Stations of the Cross, saved before its complex reconstruction, which could not be reconstructed" [16]. Collection items related to the history of sports in Považská Bystrica will be permanently loaned and exposed in the Hall of Fame of Municipal Sports Clubs. The newly built social and business center Galéria in the town expressed interest in creating an exhibition that would consist of photographs in the form of large-scale posters from the time of the construction of Považská Bystrica. "The distribution of cultural offerings to such unusual spaces will enable the museum facility to raise awareness of cultural values in an innovative way" [17].

#### **4.1 Educational and cultural activities in museum facility in Považská Bystrica**

Currently, great emphasis is placed on raising the level of education in Slovak museums and galleries. "Many professionals are deepening their professional qualifications, especially in the field of art education in the context of contemporary art, new media, electronic media using the alternative and virtual educational space of museums. However, it should cover not only the field of art education, but all areas of education" [18].

Since in the case of the museum facility in Považská Bystrica it is an institution established by the municipality, this fact also determines the basic parameters of its activity. An important and integral part of the museum facility will be educational activities for pupils and students as well as for the public. The Town of Považská Bystrica considers activity in the field of museum pedagogy and cooperation with local elementary schools to be very important. "After all, especially school groups from preschool children to adolescents represent an important target group for museums and have the potential to create the highest percentage of regular visitors" [19]. Cooperation with schools will not be limited to one-time activities, but will be permanent. Our goal is to create special programs in which the visitors themselves can actively participate in the processes. By using ICT technologies, we will be able to explain, supplement, enhance or improve the education process in our museum. The aim of the lessons in the museums is to lead young people to think about the place where they live. "Pupils should acquire knowledge and skills that will enable them to overcome stereotypes, develop critical thinking and understand the symbols of objects and phenomena" [20].

Museum facility in Považská Bystrica can rely on the state educational program, which is the highest curricular document of Slovak education, when cooperating with schools. It is an open document that gives schools the opportunity to complete their own educational program based on specific regional and local conditions and requirements. "These regional and local conditions give great scope for the educational activity of regional museum facilities" [21]. In the case of the museum facility in Považská Bystrica, focus will be on pupils and students who are usually visiting the museum for the first time, and there is the potential for repeat visits and long-term mutual interaction.

"Teachers, who are also in the position of visitors, have important role in this process. However, they expect help from the museum facility in filling gaps in knowledge. Cooperation between teachers and museum workers is therefore very important" [22]. The Town of Považská Bystrica considers educational activity as one of the main and irreplaceable task of the newly created museum facility. Education should take place in classical as well as modern methods. In addition to tours of the museum's exhibits combined with expert interpretation, model lessons in the museum's congress center are also planned. An important task will be the creation of joint long-term educational programs for museum facilities and elementary schools.

"Projects based on oral history, which are already successfully implemented in other museums, can be very attractive" [23]. "It will thus be possible to enrich period artifacts with the stories of the survivors, which will give them greater narrative value" [24]. Online education on the website as well as through digital technologies are also considered important. "Since in the case of museum pedagogue it will be a cumulative function with other professional activities, great emphasis is placed on quality education and professional training" [25]. Initially, the position will be combined with the public relations and museum marketing position. However, the goal is to create an independent position of museum pedagogue in the future. His task will be to make accessible the contents and topics of the cultural heritage of the Town of Považská Bystrica, especially exhibitions and expositions. Although in practice the museum pedagogue will deal mainly with partial and operational goals related to individual exhibitions and specific educational programs, in the long term the goals of museum pedagogy in the museum facility in Považská Bystrica must be more general. "They must be related to the overall educational strategy of the museum facility, the aim of which is to mediate the exhibits, their interpretation and building a relationship with them" [26]. It is intended to educate visitors of various target groups in an appropriate way by providing information about objects of cultural value, specimens, past and present events. "Qualification prerequisites are a master's degree in the field of history, theory and history of art or pedagogy" [27].

"Great emphasis in museum pedagogy is placed on the digitization of the collection fund, especially museum documentation, books, plans, maps, personal correspondence, archival documents, photographs and the painting collection of authors originating from the town" [28]. It is also planned to digitize one of the most endangered collection items, which consists of film recordings related to the Town of Považská Bystrica. The goal of digitization in the museum facility in Považská Bystrica will be to simplify and streamline access to cultural objects and facilitate their communication to the lay and professional public. It will enable fast and comprehensive inspections via a computer network. It will make the most frequently asked questions for museum workers available on the website. "The digitalization is also expected to make better use of the collections and provide significant assistance in educational activities. Digitized materials will be able to be used directly in schools during the educational process" [29].

#### **5. Use of digital technologies**

When creating museum facilities, our goal is to respond to the high expectations of visitors who are interested in simple and interactive information acquisition.

#### *Building a Museum Facility at the Local Level in the Conditions of the Slovak Republic… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110796*

We want to interpret the information in an interesting and effective way. Our goal is to connect documented history with the present and use modern technology to engage all the senses, so that visitors can become a part of the history of our region for a while. In the museum, we want to implement interactive technologies, through which we will introduce parts of our collections to the public in an interesting way in the form of exhibitions or permanent expositions with the aim of increasing the positive relationship between the institution and the visitor. During the on-site visit of younger generation, we want to fulfill their expectations by adapting innovative technologies to communicate with them.

At the entrance to the museum facility, we plan to install an interactive kiosk, which is a very good aid in orienting the visitor during the first visit to the museum. It will be a source of information on the layout of individual exhibitions or expositions, providing basic information. The kiosk aims to replace the form of a paper guide. We plan to install further multi-touch screens in the museum premises, so that they provide greater openness to social sharing and will serve for interactive communication of the visitor with the museum's topics.

Moreover, we wish to deepen the experience of visiting the museum facility by using 3D glasses, through which the visitors will gain new experiences of entering virtual spaces. Through 3D visualization, we want to enable the visitor to walk through the historic center of the town, merge with the history of our municipality in multimedia form and experience the most beautiful period of the town's history.

Interesting and innovative projects of the museum will be a relaxation zone where the visitor can read bonus content about the exhibits or listen to various stories related to the history of our region. Another innovative tool will be a virtual mirror; thanks to this device the museum visitor can try out what she or he would look like dressed, for example, in period clothing or folk costume.

In the future, we also want to use a mobile application in the museum, which will create an engaged approach to the museum's topics and allow the public to use this application to move around the museum space and thereby mediate the acquisition of knowledge in an entertaining way. This application will encourage visitors to take tours focusing on the physical objects, not on their mobile device screens. The mentioned application will allow the visitor to listen to unique object descriptions and audio stories that adjust their content depending on the visitor's location and will direct them to a relevant place in the building.

#### **6. Conclusion**

We live in an era where people spend most of their time in front of device screens and have an almost always available internet connection. Therefore, it is important to understand that as society changes, so do the visitor's demands on the cultural institutions, including museums. The current internationally recognized definition of a museum according to ICOM1 states: "A museum is a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing" [30]. However, the question is whether the above definition of a museum as an institution reflects the needs and possibilities of the current digital age. Therefore, when planning the museum

facility, the Town of Považská Bystrica is interested in providing non-traditional informal educational experiences with an effort to meet the increasingly demanding expectations of visitors of all age categories by adapting innovative technologies to the activities of the museum. The municipality perceives that ICT technologies are very widespread among museum visitors today and therefore wants to benefit from this fact. Information and communication technologies have been the most dynamic and very intensively growing sector in Europe in recent years. Their development gradually affects all areas of society's life, not excluding institutions that manage objects of cultural value and make them available to the public for the purpose of learning. Technical devices such as kiosks, tablets and multi-touch devices allow the condensation of information in a limited space, thus improving its accessibility without overcrowding the physical space.

Nowadays, museum tours have to respond to the high expectations of visitors. They are interested in simple and, if possible, interactive acquisition of information, but at the same time, it must be interpreted in an interesting and effective way. However, it is important to realize that the museum artifacts themselves, as well as the themes of the exhibitions, must remain a permanent area of attention at all levels, regardless of what technology is used to increase public interest.

According to the currently valid legislation in the Slovak Republic, the task of local governments is to ensure the construction and operation of cultural facilities, establish cultural organizations and create suitable conditions for their cultural, educational and artistic activities. An important task of local governments is also to preserve and convey the cultural heritage of previous generations, which is an inseparable part of culture and history.

For the Town of Považská Bystrica it is a great challenge and responsibility to establish a museum facility, since the initiator of the establishment of the facility is the municipality itself. The municipality will provide suitable representative spaces and ensure the necessary material background for the exhibited objects. The museum facility in Považská Bystrica will be considered a key cultural institution focused on documentation, collection-building, scientific, educational, cultural, presentation, publication and information activities.

In order to develop and increase the historical awareness of the population of the entire region and work with the younger generation, it is important not to limit the functioning of the museum to one-time activities. On the contrary, the cooperation must be permanent. In the current, dynamically changing world, museums have their specific position. On the one hand, they are a stable, highly professional institution, on the other hand, they are forced to defend their position in a highly competitive environment. It is essential that the museum facility in the Town of Považská Bystrica will be able to effectively and permanently communicate with the public, especially visitors, and effectively use the possibilities of the virtual environment and social networks in order to become a center of community life and reaching new visitors. Therefore it is important, that the museum facility, through its marketing activities, directly shapes the public's relationship to its activities also through the systematic building of its identity.

Despite the fact that the public perceives traditionally museums as a symbol of conservatism and stability, the museums have undergone significant changes in terms of setting priorities and forms of operation. "Today, we are working together to ensure that museums are perceived as interesting institutions that purposefully communicate with the public through the entire complex of their activities" [31]. The task of the newly established museum facility will be to attract the young generation and

#### *Building a Museum Facility at the Local Level in the Conditions of the Slovak Republic… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110796*

thus support their interest in the history of the town and create a positive relationship with the municipality where they live.

We believe that the museum facility in Považská Bystrica will contribute to the interest of the professional and lay public, and especially young people, in visiting this modern institution and thus, we will be able to contribute to the preservation of the history of our region and the transmission of real values from generation to generation.

#### **Author details**

Karol Janas1 \*, Michaela Haladejová<sup>2</sup> and Zuzana Haladejová<sup>2</sup>

1 Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín, Trenčín, Slovak Republic

2 Town of Považská Bystrica, Považská Bystrica, Slovak Republic

\*Address all correspondence to: karol.janas@tnuni.sk

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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### *Edited by Ladislav Župčán*

This book presents perspectives of the virtual world in the sphere of cultural heritage presentations in the museum environment. Virtual reality can be used in museums to not only present and educate but also help to protect cultural heritage assets for future generations.

Published in London, UK © 2023 IntechOpen © Jesse Stafford / iStock

Application of Modern Trends in Museums

Application of

Modern Trends in Museums

*Edited by Ladislav Župčán*