Some museums undertook a study of behavior of their visitors.

More and more museums are hired professionals, watching visitors. Depending on the results of research supervisors can reorganize the display, change the explanatory texts - in short, do everything that the museum has become in the eyes of the visitor more attractive. In addition, sponsors are often interested in what has been spent their money, and surveillance are also not excessive.

MoMA, for example, explores how visitors use maps and pointers to make the scheme movement through the halls clear. Art Gallery of Ontario also pays particular attention to how visitors use a map of the museum. The fact that the card is usually oriented to the north and the main entrance is indicated below. But in this gallery the main entrance is located on the north, ie, indicated on the map above. As a result, many visitors simply looked the map upside down - so convenient.

Other museums are paying attention to individual rooms. National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution (Washington) examines the reaction of visitors to the hall of human origins. AI recently wrote about an experiment in the Florentine Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, in which the reaction of visitors to the Baroque frescoes of Luca Giordano studied using special devices.

But in the Art Institute of Chicago believe that visitors easier to ask about the exhibition, rather than constantly watching them. And then a thing of the curators of the exhibits put up properly. This will greatly save the budget.

history of research in psychology, museum visitors began in 1920 when it was established that the first phase of almost all look the exposure is much closer than the final . Today, many museums spend up to 10 percent of its budget on research in this area, including monitoring visitors and direct survey.

extensively to study the visitors came in Detroit. Development Director of the Art Institute of Detroit, Mr. Sikora is looking at the museum are not on the exhibits, and visitors. Where and how long they stay, they discuss, whether reads the accompanying texts - all he pays attention. "The girl-teenager came with his parents, but on what does not watched. She sat on a bench and left "- such records can be read in his notes. Watching every Mr. Sikora and his colleagues do not have time, because some visitors do not stay long. For example, in one morning, the average time visiting the gallery for six persons was 2 minutes 56 seconds on each.

Institute of Detroit is paying attention to the study of visitors, as their main stream are not tourists, but residents. Therefore the government seeks to organize an exposition of their best galleries. For example, have already rewritten many of the accompanying text. Preliminary studies have shown that the most popular text (between the paintings of Matisse and Picasso) are reading only about 26 percent of visitors. And four other text read only 2 percent. Now texts reduced from 250 to 150 words, divided into sub-items, identified fragments of different colors, etc.

During repairs in 2007, one of the galleries of the Institute converted display china and household goods XVIII century in a new way: instead of boring arranged showcases for exhibits, now you can see a reconstructed room aristocrat, where the ticking clock, and placed on the table, plates are projected images of dishes.

Material prepared by Maria Onuchina, AI

Sources: online.wsj.com , artinvestment.ru