Monday, March 14, 2011

Time travel through objects

World history told through 100 objects is a real journey in time in cross-media synergy achieved by combining radio, web and physical exhibits on site, but also represents a sublime example of public service. BBC Radio (supported by Canon) and the British Museum (through state funding) in 2010 have in fact created a huge cultural project "ambitious but by the incredible success of public: History of the World in 100 Objects.

The heart of the project was the BBC Radio 4 with the creation of a hundred 15-minute programs, each focusing on an object in the collection of the British Museum, written and narrated by Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum. The programs tell a story about two million years of humanity through the objects we have done, from the first objects in the museum collection.

With the broadcast was posted on the site, with node function to study the various digital episodes, view individual pieces in detail, download and organize various events such privately listening to the narration with the vision of objects. It was also created a blog to discuss the various episodes, comment and share ideas and tips.

In addition to radio and the Web has joined a strong "natural": the 100 objects on display are narrated in broadcasting at the British Museum (until 2012) not in a "festival" dedicated, but highlighted by a special graphics within individual permanent collections. For many of the items you requested a certain degree of intervention to improve visibility within the collections.

The relationship between radio, web and has worked collections at best, but the most intriguing is the network and the opportunity it offers in giving greater scope to the projects. The site in fact has become the platform for extending the project to other actors, including such items submitted by museums around the United Kingdom, as well as by users, while the participation has been encouraged through blogs and Facebook page of the project.

Obviously, with regard to the call to action (the request to act) of the public, have been created specific guidelines to follow when loading images: the objects must have a narrative content similar to that evoked by the content from museums. A December 2010 were 1,500 items uploaded to the site from 551 museums and historical institutions in the United Kingdom, while the total number of objects loaded by the public during the course of the project was approximately 4,000.

Throughout 2010, the digital experience is supported cartel activities on the ground spread with about 120 events showing the subjects involved in this initiative. Returning to the experience online, do not miss the wonderful interactive time line that allows graphical objects, and dive in history.

History of the World in 100 Objects is a wonderful project with several merits addition to the creation and dissemination of culture and knowledge: - The use of radio (a medium that is often forgotten) to tell our story - a synergy between the media that only adds More specific to the individual websites and radio - a concrete bridge between online, offline and live radio - The widespread nature of the project - Giving new luster to the objects of the collections - a tangible and concrete involvement of the users.

The project will compete with many others, the next edition of the Museums and the Web conference in Philadelphia.

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