Krannert Art Museum Curator, Allyson Purpura, had an exciting and historic opportunity: renovate the museum’s African Gallery, and provide patrons with a deeper understanding of the cultural and historical context of this important collection. Pupura decided early on to “use technology in ways that enhance the art, rather than compete with it.” Several months later, the completed gallery renovation includes many upgrades, including artist videos and a new interactive application displayed on iPad kiosks.
Purpura began by consulting with the Emerging Technologies group of CITES Academic Technology Services about the possibility of incorporating tablet technology in the African Gallery renovation plans. In addition to providing general iPad skills and knowledge to the project, one of the team members, Amy Hovious, worked closely with Night Kitchen Interactive on the development of a mobile web application that serves as the centerpiece of the iPad kiosks. Since the mobile application of the virtual map relies on a steady Internet connection, CITES and the IT Professionals of the College of Fine and Applied Arts worked together to test and ensure connectivity of the kiosks.
When the show opened on Thursday October 11th, (see News-Gazette article covering the Opening) the African Gallery featured 5 iPad kiosks strategically placed to provide information relevant to specific works of art. Each iPad kiosk application features a screen saver showing contextual images of the art objects. When a patron activates the touch screen, the menu provides a variety of object-related videos, along with a link to an interactive map illustrating the objects’ geographic origin and location in the gallery. This is a sample of the African Gallery tablet application.
As Purpura and the Krannert Art Museum design staff worked through the African Gallery remodeling process, their main objective was to situate the artwork in an environment that offers more than the traditional text-based information of most museum exhibits. The new iPad kiosks offer patrons a variety of content in several interactive formats, including artist interviews and information, clips of African masquerade performances, narrative vignettes, and commentary. In addition to providing additional media, the tablets help patrons visualize the tremendous geographic breadth and diversity of the African continent, as well as the global context of these works of art.
This collaborative project between CITES Academic Technology Services and the Krannert Art Museum staff highlights the success of maintaining the centrality of the artwork, while using technology in a rich supporting role. For more information about iPad usage, or to schedule a consultation with someone from the Emerging Technologies area of CITES Academic Technology Services, contact: consult@illinois.edu.
