Museums and Covid-19

Adaptation of content and practice in the Trilj Regional Museum

Abstract

The COVID-19 disease pandemic has significantly affected the established museum practices and initiated numerous changes in the functioning of the museum, primarily in communication with the museum audience. The Museum Documentation Centre researched the influence of the pandemic in Croatian museums in 2020, which was primarily related to the problem of attendance and adjustment to the new working conditions. The research showed that most Croatian museums recorded a high percentage of decrease in attendance and the loss of incomes, but, at the same time, the museums noted an increase in communication with the audience via digital channels and social networks (Rihtar-Jurić, 2020). Lockdown and travel restrictions in Croatia and the whole of Europe have left extremely negative consequences on cultural tourism, but most museums have successfully adapted to the new situation and became active in creating new digital content (Kocijan, 2020). With the desire of keeping the Trilj Regional Museum a vital part of the local and museum community in the “new normal”, changes were made to the existing practices in interaction with the users and visitors, the content was adjusted, and new activities were implemented in the online environment