Thankfully, there is a crack in everything

One of Montreal’s greatest poets and songwriters, Leonard Cohen, would sing that it is through the cracks that light shines in. As we collectively reel from the devastating consequences of COVID-19, it is tempting to sink into gloom and doom. True, the revenue losses museums are witnessing are staggering. Exhibitions that took years to curate, fund and organize are being cancelled. And many museum professionals’ jobs are in limbo, as operation budgets are being declined in shades of plan A, plan B and worst-case scenarios.

Like many of us in these unprecedented times, when the bad news becomes overwhelming, I go for long walks. Mine are along the St-Lawrence River, and I often stop along the way at the nearest corner store for my guilty pleasure, a small bag of Doritos. There must be something in that god-awful bright chemical orange powder that boosts morale. At other times, reading the news and checking in with friends and collaborators, I am overwhelmed and inspired with the creative potential and enthusiasm generated by the entrepreneurs, artists and institutions that are turning their businesses and artistic production around 180°, adapting and finding concrete solutions to life in confinement as well as helping make sense form what we are collectively experiencing.

Amidst the news of rising death tolls, ‘cracks of light’ come to me when I think about the strength and resilience of the museum community. While the role of museums has evolved over time, they have always remained strong storytellers and places where one can find meaning and respite from the daily grind. Here are some thoughts on how museums can weather the storm.

Shining new light on permanent collections. It’s human nature to value what is far, what is exotic and what is lesser known to us. Relationship expert Esther Perel often talks about the contradiction of contemporary relationships: we look for opposite things in a partner: both the comfort of someone who knows us well and the mystery that comes with meeting somebody new. Museums have the same relationship with their permanent collections. Reserves are jam packed with fabulous acquisitions, carefully wrapped, tagged and identified, lying peacefully in the dark.

If travelling exhibitions are going to be put on pause for the upcoming months, perhaps years, now is the time to go back to finding treasures in permanent collections. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) in the past years has been doing great work by inviting local artists to create personal works inspired by its collections. A great example is ‘La BD s‘expose au musée’, an exhibition where 15 graphic novelists were invited to create a short graphic story inspired by a piece of art found in the museum. This initiative, developed in collaboration Montreal’s publisher La Pastèque, brought new audiences to the museum and also sent out an important message: the museum is not only about fine arts, but celebrates all forms of artistic expression.

Boosting the local talent pool. We are all reading the same numbers, tourism is down, and will be down for quite a while. Museums that depend on out of town visitation to bring in revenue will have to seriously delve into the interests and aspirations of the audiences living nearby. It’s time to try on new hats, create local partnerships and boost local artists and creatives.

When the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts adapted the Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac ‘From Africa to the Americas: Face-to-face Picasso, past and present’ exhibition, it added a local response to the exhibition by inviting artists to bring a post-colonial narrative to the conversation. The MMFA commissioned the young Montreal collective The Woman Power to create a counterpoint to Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, in a video challenging the representation of women in Picasso’s work. Not only was the dialogue between old and new work stunning, it also invited many Montrealers to discover an independent local artistic practice.

Celebrating the one-on-one experience. Many of us who love museum dearly have stopped going to overcrowded blockbusters because the experience is not anymore about the art, but rather about negotiating views among bustling and crowds. Re-opening museums with lesser visitor density can be a window of opportunity for much sought-after one-on-one experiences, where one could have the museum space to yourself, for a short period of time. Is there potential for packaging premium experiences that will cater to city-bound dwellers who will actively be searching for air-conditioned activities to do this summer as their travel plans melt away?

Last year, Airbnb and the Louvre Museum made the whole world dream when they launched their viral stunt, inviting a couple to dine and spend a night at the Louvre, with the privilege of having the planet’s most famous museum all to themselves. Contrary to live shows where the action is condensed into a short amount of time, museums could extend visitation hours, accommodating lesser visitor-dense experiences, creating opportunities for perhaps some of the most memorable museum visits ever.

Bringing stories out of doors. Museums with outdoor spaces have the advantage of creating opportunities for open air exhibitions and installations, where visitors can flow at an adequate distance from one another. Nearby parks and streets closed-off to encourage pedestrian circulation could also be used for temporary pop-up exhibitions and installations, bringing much-needed cultural stimulation to audiences that cannot attend festivals and other cancelled events this summer.

In the past years, museums have been making the most of their exterior spaces for nightly projections. The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia has been closing off a small portion of their street and projecting on their exterior walls Hidden Lives Illuminated, a series of short films telling the stories of American inmates. In Abu Dhabi, Warehouse 421 has been doing amazing public outreach by projecting films and hosting talks in the public space just outside their building during the winter months when the weather allows one to bear being out of doors. Outdoor activities are a great way to bring in new audiences and to offer much-needed cultural stimulation when many other cultural offering are off limits.

Knocking on new doors. If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain. With many visitors reticent to rush back into cultural spaces, why not explore how the museum can reach out and meet them in their own space?

While certainly an immediate response to COVID-19, It has been inspiring to see Montreal’s Phi Center offer a new service: VR TO GO, where VR headsets featuring a collection of recent prize-winning films are delivered directly to family homes, using green modes of transportation such as bikes and electric vehicles. It will be interesting to see how such an initiative will survive in the long term. Perhaps ordering pizza and a VR headset on Friday evenings will become the new date?

Changing gears, but still telling relevant stories. Reacting and adjusting in times of crisis requires a good dose of “good enough’ thinking. New initiatives will not be perfect. Online videos will be shaky and sound will fail. Social media posts will not always hit the mark. New initiatives will not necessarily break attendance numbers. But they are opportunities to try on new things and embrace zones that feel uncomfortable at first. Some say that’s where the magic happens. Or where the light shines in. For me, simply seeing humans out there trying their best to bring meaning to this whole mess, is already enough.