Cultural diplomacy under the “digital lockdown”: pandemic challenges and opportunities in museum diplomacy

Abstract

The article analyzes the case of museum diplomacy during the Covid-19 global outbreak to illustrate two important trends that were reinforced in the condition of the pandemic. First, it argues that digital innovations achieved by cultural institutions in their international communication in the conditions of mass closures and national lockdowns significantly accelerated and even further legitimized digital diplomacy (Bjola et al. in Hague J Dipl 14(1–2):83–101, 2019). During the Covid-19 crisis, for instance, the volume of digital cultural production and its global consumption rate have dramatically increased (UNESCO in Report “Culture & COVID-19: Impact and Response Tracker.” https://bit.ly/3iQLN74 , 2020b), paving more reliable avenues for digital communication and even diplomacy. Second, the pandemics prompted cultural actors to take institutional initiatives and complement official cultural diplomacy exchanges, which due to the travel boundaries either temporarily ceased to exist or considerably slowed down.

The Impact of Emotional Interaction Design on Museum Displays

“…For example, in August 2020, the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum hosted a very successful Chinese livestreaming tour on China's most popular livestreaming platform, which resulted in some interesting interactions. The audience was invited to not only explore the museum's various collections, but also to talk about the traditions, history and culture of the United Kingdom and China (Grincheva, 2022).…”

Museum Diplomacy as a mean of International Public Relations: Research on the case of turkishmuseum.com

“…Bu gibi niteliklerinden dolayı, müzeler artan oranda kamu ve kültürel diplomasinin bir aktörü şeklinde görülmektedir (Priewe, 2021, s. 7). Hatta başlı başına kamu diplomasisi uygulaması olarak müze diplomasisi literatürde kendisine yer bulmaya başlamış durumdadır (Bayly-McCredie, 2016;Wang, 2018;Grincheva, 2020a;Grincheva, 2022;Cai, 2013;Priewe, 2021). Çünkü bir devletin birikimleri, tarihi, jeokültürel mirasları, sanat aracılığıyla kamu diplomasisine hizmet edebileceğinden ötürü (Ünal, 2021, s. 31) müze diplomasisi de bir alt alan olarak ulus tanıtımında, gönülleri fethetmede aracı olarak kullanılabilmektedir.…”

“…Because of these features, museums are used as a source of soft power (Muscat, 2020, p. 1). In addition to being perceived as an actor of cultural diplomacy (Priewe, 2021, p. 7), it has started to become a practice of public diplomacy independently in literature (Bayly-McCredie, 2016;Wang, 2018;Grincheva, 2020a;Grincheva, 2021;Grincheva, 2022;Cai, 2013;Priewe, 2021).…”

«Цифровой Поворот» В Культурной Дипломатии Италии

“…Культурная дипломатия и ее «цифровой поворот» являются актуальными как для научных исследований [Bjola, Cassidy, Manor 2019;Погорлецкий, Сяофэн 2021;Grincheva 2022;Kersaint 2014;Molema 2015], так и для практической реализации министерствами иностранных дел различных государств. В качестве подтверждения тезиса об актуальности и необходимости «возрождения» культурной дипломатии цифровыми технологиями рассмотрим итальянский опыт.…”