Sharing Culture: Interview with Wouter Van Der Horst

What do Snapchat and Youtube have in common with national museums and grand masterpieces? The answer is the thought-leader and digital innovator in culture, Wouter Van Der Horst.

Van Der Horst connects the dots from the artifact case to the phone screen. Known for his previous digital content work at the Rijksmuseum and his current venture We Share Culture, Van Der Horst has a lineage of combining his passion for digital technology with his love of art and history.

In this period of coronavirus and various lockdowns, he shares his insights on the changing scene in arts and how this pandemic’s legacy will change the shape of cultural institutions forever.

Wouter, you have started your work at the museum from the security guard desk all the way up to leading digital technology in the Rijksmuseum. Can you share a bit about this path?

I started as a security guard, but I fell in love with the building, the people, the collections, and the museum. I wanted to do more.

I reached out to the education department and got involved from there. From the moment I stepped in, we were faced with the discussion of onsite versus online education. At the time, there was no clear plan, so I was asked to explore the field. I did, and within a couple of years, I was translating the missions of the Rikjismuseum to the digital world.

This was at the same time as my master's degree, which focused on media and digital, and at the museum, I was able to launch some really cool things like the Youtube channels.

Last year, I decided to start my own company, We Share Culture, which also translates missions of museums and learning institutes into the digital sphere.

You transformed how the museum reached people. The Youtube Channel is super popular and engaging, as someone who has watched it myself! How has that platform affected their outreach and engagement?

The purpose was to create unique online experiences for people who may never actually visit the Rijksmuseum. We wanted to build this distinct experience that cannot be had in the museum itself and distinct to the [digital] platform.

We looked at the educational goals and the audiences we wanted to reach…and that is where we came up with Youtube. The channel, at its core, was really a translation of an educational purpose to a digital platform without the idea that people needed to come in and visit.

It was successful, and we still had 17,000 subscribers in a year grown organically, which was really nice.

(If you want to learn from Wouter himself, he has a course for museums about Youtube strategies with Museum Next.)

You also helped shape the tech and digital media within the museum. Can you touch on that?

We really wanted to transform the digital. We did not want to fill the museum with media and technology but really focus on the tech that audiences had in their pockets, which is the mobile phone. We looked into what our audiences were doing with the tech at hand, and that helped shape the basis of building the online and media strategy.

The strategy I had was connecting the visual culture of young audiences to the visual culture of the museum using technology.

Technology is more important now than ever due to the pandemic. Let’s look at the stats. Wired reported “that the cultural sector is projected to lose about £74 billion in revenue due to the coronavirus crisis.” The sector is facing new obstacles that were next felt before.

Wouter, what must museums do to overcome these challenges?

So, I think it goes back to the purpose of the museum. What is a museum? A museum to me is an entity that facilitates meaningful interaction between their collections and narratives to the rest of humanity.

The physical collection is important; it has authenticity, and nothing replaces seeing an artwork face to face. But how many people will have the opportunity to visit that museum?

Think of the Louvre, one of the biggest museums. How many people in the world will be able to see that museum?

But, every museum has the obligation to educate and to inspire. That is at the core of what a museum is.

So, if you look at it, the purpose of the museum will not only be reached if you focus on the physical museum but also digitally.

So you think digital will be here to stay?

Museums are used to making money within the walls of their museums. They have given guided tours, workshops, etc. But now we must expand on the digital.

Boundaries online and offline have faded. Museums can reach to all people without having to visit the museum. Digital is here to stay. Institutions who don’t understand that will lose their value and be narrowed down to elitist buildings.

How do you think that will affect revenue models?

It takes time to ask, “What parts of the museum can be monetized online?”

Think about knowledge and expertise in this matter. The National Gallery has created incredible online courses that are a great value for money. This is an example of how to monetize their expertise. Also, one must look at e-commerce, which could be untapped for a museum. Museums are high-value brands already, so they do not have to fight to find their place. They already have that trust-worthy element.

Now, it takes a bit of change from institution reframing their perspectives on their offerings. Literal translations of the museum most often do not translate as fluidly online. For example, VR tours. Why do you think VR tours are not enough to engage people, especially youth audiences?

I think it is a great point. This is what you really saw as a response during the lockdown. People were panicking as they had to close the physical museum, and they thought what do we do now. One response was let’s copy the physical experience to the digital world with the technology that does it best, 360 video and VR.

But the problem with that is that it is still really looking from the perspective that all the museum is, is a building. That is just not true; this was done instead of looking at the educational value of technology like AR/VR or the opportunities that these platforms offer to how we can link it to the purpose of the museum — to educate and to inspire.

We need to look at the unique properties that digital solutions offer.

We are both entrepreneurs. Do you think the pandemic will impact the way museums partner with SMEs and startups?

It is time for museums to partner out. You have been on the forefront of VR education and have the knowledge and expertise that may take museums years to come up with themselves. It is a great time for museums to come out of their bubble to partner with like-minded talented companies.

Most entrepreneurs in this sector have a higher goal — it’s not about the money.

Lastly, touching on innovation, entrepreneurship, and the arts, you will be on the panel at Culture Reimagined with the Director of Digital from The National Gallery Chris Michaels.

What are you most looking forward to?

I am really looking forward to the conference and part of the conversation. It will be great to have an in-depth talk with Chris Michaels from The National Gallery. I am a big fan of what they are doing with monetizing their courses and their 5-Minute Mediations. It will be really nice to have a discussion about the future of museums.

Want to hear more from Wouter Van Der Horst?

Check out Wouter Van Der Horst in conversation with National Gallery’s Director of Digital, Communications and Technology Chris Michaels at Musemio and Immerse UK’s Culture Reimagined Summit on 24 November 2020. Register today!

For more about Musemio, please visit: www.musemio.com