In the second half of the last century, museums, galleries and cultural communities entered into the exciting adventure of “heritage digitalization”. And, regardless of the specifics of the path that each individual institution takes, there are points of intersection, common problems and good solutions that connect us. Driven by our professional conviction of the importance and urgency of the process, we are all searching – through new studies, borrowing experience, adaptation, building partnerships, collaborations with the public and private sectors, and more.
Therefore, at the House of Humor and Satire, since the beginning of the new century, we have been challenging ourselves to learn more and faster about museum digitalization. Thanks to the project “Creation of space, plan and model for digitization of cultural values and archives”, financed by the National Culture Fund under the “Program for the restoration and development of state, regional and municipal cultural institutes”, we created better conditions for the implementation of our long-term goals in this direction, and it is an integral part of our mission to collect, preserve, study and celebrate what makes the world laugh.
We managed to refurbish and equip our digital workshop where photography/scanning and processing of exhibits and archives is done, and we visited two cultural institutions abroad – SALT Research in Istanbul and NOESIS in Thessaloniki to get inspired by the experience of organizations that started before us. We worked on the creation of a collection of good practices in the field of digitization of museum content and adaptation of museum activities to sustainable and green development, which we will build on in the years to come with new lessons learned.
And since we made sure to document what was happening in the project (so that we could narrate highlights of the experience through photographic works), the Museum of Humor and Satire now presents the outdoor exhibition “Digitalize This”.
The exhibition is on display on Shtastie Street, to the right of the Museum’s main entrance, until 10 August 2024.
