The 5 Most Unmissable Online Exhibitions

Feeling like you want to experience something new? You’re not the only one. We all need novelty in our lives, but it can be tough to find. When things are far away from you or you don’t have the time to go to them, it can be a real pain in the neck. It’s important to have convenient, accessible ways to experience art and culture. 

If you feel like you could do with more culture in your life, there’s opportunities popping up all over the internet to do just that. Online exhibitions are more popular than ever. We’ve dug through the internet to find the best ones for you. Here’s five online museum exhibits you do not want to miss.

1. 1. “Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation”

If you’re interested in hip-hop or art history, this is the online exhibition for you. Jean-Michel Basquiat, who transformed the art of 1980s New York, is brought to vivid life in this interactive online exhibition. The Boston Museum of Fine Art looks at the community of artists and musicians who supported him throughout his artistic career. The online art exhibition includes detailed essays, multimedia displays of New York art and interview clips with Basquiat himself. The art being displayed here is hugely varied as well – there’s painting, sculpture, drawing, video, music, and fashion. No matter what your tastes are, you’re bound to find something you’ll like here. If you’re interested in modern art, this is an exhibition not to be missed. 

1. 1. “Making the Met, 1870–2020”

This online art exhibition looks at the history of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art in a whole new light. Begun in the late 1800s with a marble sarcophagus from Ancient Rome, this museum has exploded into a wide range of artefacts and art that spans artistic movements, history and the globe. As it recently celebrated a century and a half of it being open, it’s created a whole host of online museum exhibits. What’s on offer includes an hour-long audio tour of the main exhibition, an interactive online exhibition and a virtual walkthrough of the museum. Not only that, but the museum are exclusively showing a silent documentary made in 1928. Behind the Scenes: The Working Side of the Museum offers a unique insight into how janitors and other workers made the museum possible.

1. 1. “The Museum of the World”

Across the pond, the British Museum is no less ambitious with its online exhibition. If you have a desktop computer, this is not to be missed. Instead of a more traditional display, this interactive online exhibition lets the user make their own links across the ages. Move from learning about the Jin Dynasty of ancient China to exploring the artefacts of Mayan kings, and quickly and easily find out about the similarities between cultures across the world from each other. Its website looks sophisticated, yet is easy and intuitive to use, and is immediately appealing no matter how much or how little you know about history. Best of all, the British Museum has a wealth of online resources if you want to go deeper into what you’ve learned. All 6 million items displayed there are catalogued and photographed on their website. Their podcast, blog and YouTube channel offer tons of ways to learn about their items. Best of all, Google Street View allows anyone to take a virtual tour of its galleries. If you want a sweeping education on global art and history, you’ll love this online exhibition.

1. 1. “The Night Watch”

Meanwhile in the Netherlands, the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum has taken a more zoomed-in approach to online art exhibitions. Instead of sweeping across all its art, it’s taking a close look at a single painting. Rembrandt’s The Night Watch recently underwent extensive restoration, and the museum has scanned every last inch of it for digital consumption. Users of this interactive online exhibition can zoom in closely on specific aspects of the painting, while atmospheric soundscapes play – galloping hooves will be heard when they zoom in on horses, a bell sound will play when zooming in on the bell, and so on. Over 528 scans went into creating this digital version of the painting, and it really shows. Every last paint splatter and secrets of the painting’s creation is laid bare in this exhibition.

1. “Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925–1945”

The Whitney Museum of American Art has created a truly unique spectacle with this online art exhibition. After the Mexican Revolution in the 1920s, artists such as José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros created huge murals that reflected every aspect of life in Mexico. Now, in this online exhibition, these murals and artworks are laid bare to the public eye. Users of this online exhibition can access the murals themselves as well as short documentaries, audio guides and essays in both English and Spanish. If you want a brand-new look at American art, this is the interactive online exhibition for you.

We all need to soak up some culture from time to time. If you want to learn more about art, history and culture, these online museum exhibits are ideal for you. They’ll take you on trips back in time and around the globe. They’ll open your mind to tons of possibilities. Best of all, they can all be accessed from the comfort of your home. 

References

1. “Writing the Future: Basquiat and the Hip-Hop Generation”, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, accessed 16th February 2021, https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/writing-the-future.
2. “How to explore the British Museum from home”, The British Museum, accessed 16th February 2021, https://blog.britishmuseum.org/how-to-explore-the-british-museum-from-home/.
3. “Making The Met, 1870–2020”, The Met Museum, accessed 16th February 2021, https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2020/making-the-met-1870-to-2020.
4. “The Top Ten Online Exhibitions of 2020”, Smithsonian Magazine, accessed 16th February 2021, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/top-ten-online-exhibitions-2020-180976655/.