Zaffiria Centre / Centro Zaffiria, Italy
This project was initiated in response to two problems: when a museum does not have a large collection, and when visitors of that museum are mainly seasonal, either tourists visiting in the summer months or schools visiting in the winter, and how you address these problems to create critical mass. Four years ago the museums of Verucchio, Santarcangelo and Bellaria Igea Marina in the Rimini area of Italy began a process of visitor engagement through the development of joint projects and online products.
They had few resources for their operation, and in recent years a strong need for networking emerged to create a wider range of initiatives and strategies. The projects were carried out in teams involving both museum curators and the Zaffiria Centre, which provided its experience of technology mediation deriving from twenty years of media education.
Technology and especially interactivity posed new questions to the curators of the collections: how to start a dialogue with online visitors and arouse interest and curiosity, how to find good stories to listen to and share? The collaboration encouraged staff to work in a team with colleagues based in other museums and experiment with developing different narratives through a series of projects.
The project generated tangible outputs: an e-book connected to a puzzle, a video game and a common website became the places where museums involved commenced a dialogue with visitors.