This unit was authored by Emilie Sitzia with the assistance of Yannis Prosalentis and Stephanie Ochiel.

This Unit focuses on museum and storytelling. What is different with storytelling in museums? What opportunities does digital storytelling affords for museums?

In the first part we will explore the changing notions of museum narrative, audiences, and storytelling. We will ask ourselves ‘what is a museum for?’ and we will identify storytelling as one of the museums' core function. How have museums shifted terms of authority over time? How has the notion of museum audience evolved through the centuries? How has the shift in audiences lead to a shift in museum narrative? These are a few of the questions we will explore in this first part. 

The second part of the unit is about spaces of engagement. We will ask ourselves ‘Where is the storytelling?’ in a traditional exhibition space? We will investigate various spaces of engagement and the place of digital storytelling this context. The concept of the ‘phygital’ will be introduced as a possible tool for reflecting on the digital in museums and an expert interview will help us think about the actual and potential use of digital tools in the museum. 

The final part focuses on analysing how storytelling works in museum space, both physical and digital. A lecture ‘analysing space, discourse and storytelling in the museum’ will present various analysis tools one can use to analyse storytelling in museums. Two hands-on exercises will help you apply these tools in different contexts. 

In the final assignment of this unit you will put all your newly acquired knowledge and skills to create a story board or wire framing of a digital/audio narrative for an existing (online) exhibition.