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ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of the Prespes Agreement between Greece and the Republic of North Macedonia on visitors to three Macedonian museums located in Greece. Additional evidence derived from social media and online visitors’ reactions is also scrutinized. The evidence indicates that the Prespes Agreement seems to influence the flow of visitors while the museums’ social media activity registers as a significant predictor of visitation. The findings indicate that the three museums diverge from one another in terms of managing identity related content that interacts with other factors influencing the museums’ visitors.

ABSTRACT Defining architectural space comes with multiple and diverse aspects. Our theoretical reflection aims at establishing the base for a new definition, in the sense that theoretical topology, like geometry, is an effective means to define the form of architectural spatiality based on the notion of ambiences. Topological definitions already developed by several renowned architects allow us to build a better understanding of route and sequence and thereby help the development of our analytical model. This research is focused on the museum, which is a public-facing architectural construction. According to the approach, thirty European museums were examined. The data collected for these museums were statistically analysed. Based, on the ambience discontinuities, the sequential analysis allowed us to create ambient topologies by transforming them into ambient events that are linked to the displacement of the user in connection with ambiance change. We endeavor to develop a micro study to reflect on the interaction between different environmental sources as a means to comprehend the influence on the future spatial-energetic behavior. This study lays the groundwork for a novel approach of defining architectural space based on differences in users’ perceptions and the environment of a given space.

ABSTRACT This article engages with current approaches to collecting born-digital objects in museums of art and design and reflects on the analysis of two case studies concerned with the respective acquisitions of a virtual reality artwork and a mobile app. The authors point to their non-standard preservation requirements and their unconventional objecthood to advocate for the value of adopting an experimental attitude to collecting. The case studies invite us to reconsider experimentation within the context of sensitive dialogic processes with creators and users who are unfamiliar with the conventions of museum collecting. Hence, the boundaries of experimentations are developed in relation to existing policies, organisational structures and practices, and defined by the stakes of multiple actors. To conclude, the authors argue that collecting institutions should prioritise building capacity and understanding needs and requirements for this emergent type of object, and embrace uncertainty over the imperative of long-term preservation in its fullest sense.

ABSTRACT This paper recommends the marketing mix modelling methodology for improving the marketing and exhibition activities at museums and art galleries as it can complement other currently used methods such as surveys or qualitative research. Focus is placed on the Zachęta – National Gallery of Art. Econometric modelling is used to quantify the impact of independent factors (e.g., weather, holidays, events and COVID-19 pandemic) on the popularity of the gallery. The impact of the media and individual exhibition types are analysed in relation to visitor interest. Recommendations for the planning of future activities are made.

ABSTRACT This article examines the affective turn in museums: what does it mean for museum theory and practice? How can we theorize its effects? In order to address these questions, the article develops the concept of ‘affective curatorship’, denoting curatorial approaches specifically aimed to affect visitors emotionally. Drawing on recent museological literature and exhibition projects in Europe and North America, the article exemplifies the qualities of affective curatorship and examines how emotions can be leveraged in curatorial practice in connection with the exhibition theme, activities, design, and the senses. The main finding is that affective curatorship is subtly transforming curatorial practice and, through that, the way we think and feel about museums. As a curatorial, theoretical and analytical perspective, affect offers crucial insights into the new roles that museums can play in increasingly emotionally demanding times.

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many public places, including museums, which have experienced unprecedented situations, such as lockdowns and reopening with physical distancing requirements. Therefore, physical museums’ welcoming experience for visitors warrants greater research attention today. The entrance gate, foyer, and surroundings are areas that people must touch and pass through to enter the museum. To increase museums’ popularity and attract people from the very start of their visit, museum authorities must consider the appearance and the environment of the space where people first arrive when entering the museum. Therefore, this study proposes the arrival space as a new concept to examine how to create a welcoming arrival space in museums. By analyzing the Hintze and Earth Halls in London's Natural History Museum, the design principles of a museum's welcoming experience are described from a space design perspective as a reference for future museum development.

ABSTRACT At a time when museums are expected to address access issues that are the explicit and implicit products of their colonial histories, the Recovering Voices initiative at the Smithsonian Institution has focused on on-site and in-person community-led research. In particular, the Community Research Program (CRP) supports projects designed and implemented by Indigenous communities and according to their values and priorities. Through interviews with previous CRP participants, we explore how this approach employs a model where research is conducted in Indigenous languages and methods, and according to community-driven agendas. As a result, this assessment revealed the value of physically ‘being present’ with and in collections as an unrivaled and integral means for producing, re-producing and re-activating Indigenous knowledge, as well as ‘bearing witness’ to the historic traumas presented by these objects and, therefore, the power and affect they still hold in the present.