1The popularity of memes using images of artworks from museum collections is such that internet pages and sites, apps, and even a board game (Frede, 2020) have been dedicated to them. Whether these visuals come from online databases or photographs taken in museums, they testify to their appeal for many memers. A comment on the Reddit community website was thus the source of the neologism “memourism,” which was born out of the contraction of the words “meme” and “tourism”1 and designating the combination of these two activities. Visiting cultural sites can in this way result in a memetic practice, and vice versa: indeed, as I will explore in this article, this practice invites us to (re)consider the usually separate categories of visitor, tourist, internet user, etc., and to blur the distinctions between them.
- 2 Combining the terms “meme” and “museums,” the #MusMeme hashtag is one of the best known in this cat (...)
2However, few museums have engaged with this practice. Of those that have, few have integrated it into their tools for communication and outreach in a sustainable manner, preferring to use it on a more ad-hoc basis tied to a particular event or context2—finding it more rewarding and reassuring to interact with a pre-existing community.
- 3 Museum professionals also reflect on the legal issues associated with this practice in relation to (...)
3The reluctance of most museum professionals vis-à-vis this content can be explained in particular by the fear that it will run counter to museums’ missions of informing and adding value. Indeed, for institutions, having a memetic practice amounts to implicitly authorizing internet users to do the same, and thus accepting that the latter have an alternative outlook on such institutions and their exhibits.3 Nevertheless, the fact that institutions such as the Musée d’Orsay in Paris moved in 2015 from a ban on photographing works to the creation of memes illustrates a relaxation with regard to the productions of “their” audiences and the dissemination of “their” collections (Appiotti, 2022).
4By responding positively to questions about the right of visitors to laugh in museums, thus revealing a form of “personality” (Dornan, 2017), institutions can use memes to reduce their “intimidation factor”4 (Poli et al., 2018). Adopting a humorous tone and revealing a capacity for self-derision could result in a more accessible image of themselves and their collections.
- 5 The memes were compared, classified, and recontextualized in various online and offline spaces, in (...)
- 6 Claire Déglise, head of exhibitions, Musée Gadagne (Lyon); Mathilde Fouillet, deputy head of commun (...)
5Memetic practice thus induces new online and offline behaviours, and reconfigures existing relationships between museums and their publics. To highlight the main issues, this article is based on long-term qualitative research: online observation, collection and analysis of a corpus of 164 memes,5 and 10 interviews with culture professionals working for French or French-speaking Canadian institutions6 (Velley, 2022). From this extensive work, some noteworthy cases were selected and analyzed to tackle the questions raised by museum memetic practices.
6Museums produce memes from exhibits as a way of meeting their goals of raising awareness of and adding value to their collections.
7Indeed, some memes go viral to the extent that they leave their communities of origin7 in order to reach new ones. The images associated with them thus undergo a process of “memeification” with the result that they become almost inseparable from this practice. This is the case, for example, for Joseph Ducreux’s (1735-1802) painting, “Portrait of the Artist with a Mocking Face,” exhibited at the Louvre in Paris and known on the internet as “archaic rap;”8 or a photograph of a sheep, archived at the Museum of English Rural life, UK, which has become an online phenomenon thanks to the meme “Look at this absolute unit.” The latter, created and published directly by the museum, brought international fame to the work, leading to online and physical attendance figures almost doubling. The institution was then able to capitalize on this success when seeking new funding—whether through partnerships or the launch of related merchandise.9
8The posting of memes can also be used to promote museums’ online image banks. Some take the opportunity to redirect internet users to these sites, thanks to the inclusion of internet links in captions or comments. Memetic practice therefore allows institutions to encourage exploitation of their catalogues, since although many museum collections are digitized and freely available on the internet today, this does not necessarily mean that they are being used: “You then have to motivate people, and encourage appropriation and reuse” (Audran et al., 2021).
- 10 That is to say images representing a specific emotion, the physiognomy of the characters being high (...)
9The various humorous readings and reinterpretations generated by these productions raises the profile of museum collections. The most popular visuals are often figurative—pictorial or sculpture—works which illustrate emotions and correspond to the category of “reaction images.”10 Their popularity can be explained by their relative accessibility. Indeed, the comic effect is based on a widely shared ability to decipher a facial expression. These memes are easy to understand and less likely to exclude internet users.
10The textual content of these memes is often just as accessible. Comments on aspects of everyday life or related to common experiences are favoured over references requiring particular knowledge.11 For museum teams, reminding visitors of commonalities they share aims to humanize and demystify the image of their institutions.12
11Finally, since these texts usually have a contemporary dimension, either in terms of their construction or their content, their anachronistic association with an older work allows museums to claim the timeless nature of their collections.
12Thus, for the Musée de Cluny in Paris and the Palais des beaux-arts de Lille which frequently use them, memes represent a way to establish links between the past and the present, and to combat certain prejudices about the museums and their collections. In addition to making its own memes and sharing those of its internet users, the Palais des beaux-arts de Lille encourages the practice of the latter via posts entitled “Meme this work!” which have offered a new image to meme every Saturday since October 7, 202313 [fig. 1 & 2].
Figure 1
Instagram post by the Palais des beaux-arts de Lille account representing a detail from the painting La Résurrection du fils de la veuve de Naïm (Resurrection of the Son of the Widow of Naïm) by Jean-Baptiste Wicar subtitled with the instruction/challenge “meme this work.”
Photograph of artwork: Rmn-GP. Source: First image from December 9, 2023 post; Instagram account @pbalille; https://www.instagram.com/pbalille/p/C0n7L6kMxr2/?img_index=1.
Figure 2
Instagram post by the Palais des beaux-arts de Lille account representing a detail from the painting La Résurrection du fils de la veuve de Naïm (Resurrection of the Son of the Widow of Naïm) by Jean-Baptiste Wicar subtitled with their proposed challenge “meme this work”: “When the whole class is wondering if the answer is 13 or 13.5 and you got ‘Canada’.”
Photograph of artwork: Rmn-GP. Source: Second image from December 9, 2023 post; Instagram account @pbalille; https://www.instagram.com/pbalille/p/C0n7L6kMxr2/?img_index=1.
13The Royal Tyrrell Museum in Canada (Alberta) offers a different approach from those highlighting images in digitized collections. It uses photographs showing its collections in situ, or its teams at work, to reveal its spaces and their scenography—including places and moments which are usually inaccessible to the public, such as storage depositories or the installation of an exhibition [fig. 3]. The museum uses this content to create parallels between the passion and enthusiasm of its visitors and of its teams [fig.4].14 By including internet users in the daily life of the institution, these posts seek to promote its appropriation and the establishment of a privileged relationship that combines proximity and complicity (Magro, 2015).15
Figure 3
Post by the Instagram account of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology depicting the installation of two 3D reproductions of dinosaurs whose legs are wrapped in plastic, with the text: “When you’re obsessed with keeping the floors clean.”
Source: Instagram account @royaltyrrell, posted September 13, 2021; https://www.instagram.com/p/CTw_kBULyEd/?igsh=MXIxOHFlYnl3YTN5cw%3D%3D.
Figure 4
Post by the Instagram account of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology depicting a photograph taken outside the museum of a 3D reproduction of a dinosaur and the sign: “Do note climb on the dinosaurs”; the photograph is captioned: “When your plans for the day are ruined.”
Source: @Royaltyrrell Instagram account, posted July 25, 2022; https://www.instagram.com/p/CgcF9CvBEHa/?igsh=aXRhYXExYThkbjdk.
14Some other museums use images from known pre-existing templates, which often refer to elements from British and American pop culture. Already associated with internet culture, these visuals have several advantages for institutions. They signal to the public that the institution understands and shares these references, and that it is interested in cultural objects that are sometimes far removed from its collections. By demonstrating their ability to assimilate these codes linked to digital culture, museums also display a relaxed, less “institutional” practice. They sometimes allow themselves to sacrifice the visual quality of their memes to borrow from the aesthetics of “internet ugly,” favoring content over form (Douglas, 2014) and speed over sustainability.
15Some choose to create memes that use in-jokes reserved for a few insiders since they require specific knowledge. While such private jokes are generally greatly appreciated by memers, they promote a form of elitism that can result in exclusion (Knobel & Lankshear, 2007; Lamphere, 2018; Poli et al., 2018).
16At the crossroads of communication and marketing, these images are sometimes a way for museums to spark the interest of internet users by, for example, praising the qualities of one of their exhibitions or the popularity of a work without revealing its content.
17Finally, they offer a solution for institutions whose collections are not free of rights, or for which use in a humorous context could be tricky.
18If we refer to the missions conferred on museums by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), memes are one of the ways in which these institutions “offer varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing.”16 In addition to their content, memes have the advantage of being able to host textual information alongside thanks to their means of circulation on digital social networks or community websites. Captions and comments allow museums to supplement the memetic hook with information, and modulate the tone if, for example, they do not wish to remain solely in a humorous register.
19The minimum data transmitted by institutions using images from their collections includes the legend of the work and its photographic credits. Conversely, museums do not generally give any information relating to visuals which come from elsewhere.
- 17 More in-depth analysis of these productions, which would go beyond the scope of this article, could (...)
20In addition to the information written by museum teams, there is also that shared by internet users in different forms. These practices of community writing and interaction can generate detailed commentary, rich in anecdotes or explanations. By replying to each other and providing further information, internet users complement the work provided by the institutions, occasionally standing in for them.17
21By encouraging internet users to share their expertise and build their knowledge via the confrontation of interpretations, these posts may fall under both a form of the Socratic method and of dialectics. Thus, visitors do not hesitate to confirm the informative value of memes when they allow them, for example, to acquire new knowledge or (re)discover the details of a work.
22Finally, these publications can trigger a desire among the public to discover museums and their collections in the flesh. By having a prescriptive effect, memes help to set up a virtuous circle, with some users then sharing their encounter with the original works on digital social media or community websites. This idea of creating an emotional bond between an object and a person in order to provoke the desire for information thus brings memes closer to a form of mediation that Freeman Tilden calls “heritage interpretation” (1957).
23The Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, UK, uses memes for one purpose: to deconstruct a tenacious legend about the ship that is exhibited there. Some visitors wrongly believe that it sank during its inaugural voyage. The museum’s posts use original and diverse methods of re-establishing the truth. The use of humor has a double benefit: the repetition of the subject seems less boring—both for the public and for the museum team—and allows the latter to gently make fun of the situation.
24Among the most popular posts is a meme used as part of #MusMeme and accompanied by a reference to an article about the boat.18 The different images arranged in the form of a dialog convey a certain amount of information while employing humor linked to the discrepancy between the scale of the dispute and its content, illustrating the passion that museum employees can feel.
25The interactions generated by this tweet (607 reposts, 51 quotes, and 3,281 likes) and the exchanges between internet users and the museum team show the extent of the role played by this post in terms of outreach. Many comments indicate that their authors were unaware of the misconception, and are keen to rectify it, with some expressing a desire to learn more. Some people recall the operation of the ship’s recovery on October 11, 1982, with others saying they already knew this story. Finally, most show that they like the meme, and many congratulate the team for their online work and for the overall quality of the museum.
26Despite this success, very few memes appear in the Mary Rose Museum’s communications; those which do are employed to spark conversations around questions such as: “Which myths about the Tudor era make you angry?”; or “What’s your favorite historical joke?” Although the institution sometimes responds to comments, the majority of exchanges are between internet users, thus encouraging the formation of a community around the productions.
27Beyond museums’ notions of education, reflection, and knowledge sharing, ICOM also refers to the notion of enjoyment. The latter is obviously also part of memetic practice, and this is true both on the side of internet users and of museum teams. The enthusiasm of the former is expressed both quantitatively (museum memes can generate up to three times more interactions than other posts, as I was able to observe by studying the accounts of the institutions during my survey) and qualitatively, given the numerous comments revealing affection for this practice and for the institutions who dare to make use of it. The museum professionals interviewed during the survey confirm in any case that they enjoy working with this content and rediscovering works through the eyes of visitors.
28To take just one example, Héloïse Kermarrec (Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec), participating in the “J’aime les mots” [I like words] program discussed below, says that she is delighted to be able to take part in this activity, both professionally and personally. Being a meme consumer and very interested in internet culture, she loves working upstream on the project, especially on the selection of images, and is curious each time to discover how users have appropriated them. Memes also allow her to rediscover certain works that she knows well, while giving her insight into feelings about certain current topics. She feels that in such interactions that lead to the online appropriation of museum collections it is as though the museum is saying: “These works are not sacred, they are first and foremost yours. We’re just the custodians. So have fun!”
29The relaxation in relations between museums and their audiences is reflected in these institutions’ approach to their communications and outreach work. Thus, some of them use this practice to transmit practical information in alternative ways, or to make mundane or negative messages more appealing, such as those dealing with opening times and periods, rules to follow on site, the need to book a ticket, and so on.19
30In the hope of engaging a younger audience, some museum institutions in France and abroad are also beginning to explore the pedagogical potential of memes. I will give some illustrations of this.
31In Canada, the “J’aime les mots” [I love words] initiative serves as model on account of its success, scale, and longevity. Created in 2018 by the Quebec organization Culture pour tous, it is part of the schools program within the annual Journées de la culture [Culture Days] event. The idea came about through imagining a workshop around digital technology and social topics that was fun, easily adaptable, and required minimal technical resources. Memetic practice was chosen and a partnership with Quebec museum institutions was created so as to make the most of the richness and diversity of Canadian culture. From three in 2020, there are now twelve museums participating in the project and making a selection of works from their collections available to students.
32During one month, students from registered schools, working alone or in groups, must select one or more images then create memes from them. To support them, educational tools are made available, including a guide presenting the sponsor of the edition, the project, partner institutions, and the selected works. They are also provided with assistance covering the different stages of the practice, from implementation to publication.
33On the closing day, the Culture pour tous team, along with the sponsor and some of the institutions, comment on the content that has been shared on the event’s Facebook page. In addition to being shared on social media, memes created are sometimes displayed in classrooms, or broadcast via school televisions and newspapers. Others inspire theatrical performances or exhibitions, in schools or at independent galleries.
34According to the organizer, students are very proud to see their creations acknowledged and promoted. Partners are curious to discover the most popular works each year and, conversely, which are the works that don’t get taken up. In this regard, Culture pour tous also works with institutions to identify the memetic potential of their collections, in order to help them in their selections.
35Regarding teachers, the answers to a questionnaire written by Culture pour tous and sent to participants in 2021 show how much the program is appreciated, both from a cultural and educational point of view. “It’s a great way to use heritage!”; “What a pleasure to be able to discover these resources and to have access to these images free of copyright!”; “There are so many partners! This edition was really good!”; “We laughed a lot!!!”; and so on. The educational guide is also very successful, especially on account of the information it provides on the selected works. In response to a request, the 2022 version included a theoretical presentation on memes. The works are also appreciated by the majority of teachers, who find them “original,” “varied,” and “interesting.” However, some note that often only a few images are used by students, according to their popularity. In addition, they note that many students, while managing to meet the challenge, are thrown by having to use images from outside the usual memetic iconography. “The students reacted badly at the time, because they wanted to go and search for images of famous people, for example, but they did a great job with the selected images”; and “the students found it more difficult and constraining to use these images, but many did well despite everything.”
36In France there are also interesting projects, although not on the same scale.
37“Point de fusion 2.0,” organized by the Accès)s( association in partnership with the Musée des beaux-arts de Pau, was attended by about sixty students from the Lycée Louis-Barthou, Pau, during the 2020-2021 school year. It included a virtual tour of an exhibition called “Melting Point*” on the theme of the internet; a two-hour introduction to image editing software; and a two-hour session to learn how to make memes using the collections of the Musée des beaux-arts de Pau.
38At the Musée Gadagne (Lyon), the decision was made, as part of the redesign of its exhibition spaces between 2019 and 2023, to follow a different approach for each of the museum’s four historical strands, defined according to a target audience: young people. A modular scenography, allowing the exhibits to be turned into memes, was chosen to encourage students to forge links with the works exhibited and reflect on their professional future.
39Among institutions’ aims, three occur often: to reach a young audience; to bring works into the classroom—by bringing them to the students and not the other way round; and to promote online collections that are still poorly identified. This activity also happens to increase visitor numbers and interactions on social media (Velley, 2022).
40Given the many perspectives that memetic practice offers museums, particularly in terms of communication and outreach, and its possibilities (regarding image education, for example), it seems surprising that it is not more widespread. Admittedly, memes are not suitable for all museums, exhibitions, or situations, and can lead to the appearance of non-publics; but if done right, they can interest audiences in an alternative way, or even attract new ones.
41It is therefore surprising to note that some institutions have stopped posting memes in recent months. While several reasons may explain such a situation—among them, fatigue after the pandemic, staffing changes, or disillusion regarding categories of visitor actually reached—their content remain excellent “gateways.”20
42However, the future of this practice—among other things—hangs on this last point: by using memes as a medium of exchange, museums can bring about a transformation in their encounters with the public.
43Indeed, memes are also a way for memers to react to current events, to allude to societal issues, or even to denounce an operation or behaviour. Among them are museum employees who offer a critical perspective on aspects of their profession. This is the case, for example, for the denunciation of cultural appropriation or of the methods of constituting museum collections in the colonial period, which has its own entry in the online encyclopedia Know Your Meme,21 through the template entitled “British Museum Stealing Things.”22 While responding to such posts can be tricky, they offer institutions the opportunity to welcome other voices, including those who only have the internet through which to express themselves (Murat, 2020). However, few museum institutions take advantage of this more active dimension to create memes or propose discussions around sensitive topics, some of which are very popular with internet users.
44Beyond the memetic practices of museums, this content can therefore feed our reflections on the role and future of museums in society, especially as “inclusive” and “participatory” places (Eidelman, 2017).