A Digital Revolution in Art: how technology has reinterpreted the museum space at the National Centre RUSSIA

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On July 24, the National Centre RUSSIA hosted an event of the educational project "Development": an open discussion "From Brush to Code: how technology is changing the perception of art." The meeting brought together leading experts of the museum industry and art connoisseurs to discuss the digital transformation of the cultural space. The guests and the speakers talked about the interaction of technology and the art world, and touched upon a question how augmented and virtual reality are transforming traditional displays. The question whether technology can replace humans in art has become one of the main issues of the agenda.

The experts paid special attention to the prospects of development of museums in the digital age. Thus, the guests of the National Centre RUSSIA learned how technology is used to build the interaction of the audience  with works of art, and how a high degree of interactivity affects the perception of artistic intent. 

According to Elena Davydova, executive director of the M'ARS Centre of Contemporary Art, museum and display spaces are still relevant today, but they are looking for a way to stay in balance with progress.

"If the concept of "interactivity" has existed for quite a long time, the concept of "immersiveness" is just entering the everyday life of the professional community. Immersive expositions are growing in number. All these techniques help to hear, see and feel the author's intention more deeply," said Elena Davydova. 

The speaker added that, despite the global digitalization, in the future art will not be able to remain without the author’s human hand. Daria Parfenenko, Deputy  Director General for Display Activities at the State Tretyakov Gallery, expressed her agreement with the speaker. The Tretyakov Gallery's case of putting to work an AR guide at the exposition of Boris Kustodiev, presented at the meeting, aroused the special interest of the public. Its use increased the attendance of the exposition space among young people by 40%.

"Our interactive guides make information more accessible and easier for visitors. In addition, with the help of artificial intelligence technologies, our visitors can get inside the works: in the process, an image is generated, where the guest becomes one of the characters. At the residency, artists create works inspired by both the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery and new technologies that now allow to generate very interesting projects. I think that technology will penetrate deeper into our daily lives," Daria Parfenenko shared. 

The key conclusion of the discussion "From Brush to Code: how technology is changing the perception of art" at the National Centre RUSSIA was a hypothesis that in the digital age art will not lose its value, but will acquire new forms of expression and interaction with the audience. The guests of the programme also took part in the interactive quiz "Is this art or not?": they analyzed works created in collaboration with neural networks.

Information about future events of the educational project "Development" is available on the website of the National Centre RUSSIA in the "Events" section.