Museums Must Rethink Their Role for Post-COVID Audiences

In a reflective essay, exhibition designer Lorenzo Greppi argues that the COVID-19 pandemic forces museums to fundamentally rethink their purpose and audience engagement. With lockdowns closing physical venues, museums have turned to digital content, but Greppi warns that post-pandemic realities—reduced travel, economic contraction, and health fears—will split audiences into two distinct groups: a global virtual public accessing museums online, and a local, physical public visiting in person. He emphasizes that museums must develop integrated strategies serving both, while prioritizing the often-neglected local audience. Greppi calls for museums to become community anchors, fostering identity and dialogue through personalized, durable relationships. He challenges the notion that digital experiences can replace physical visits, noting that online offerings are cleaner and free but lack the irreplaceable qualities of real encounters. The designer advocates for innovative, immersive exhibitions that leverage reduced visitor numbers and spacing to enhance the in-person experience, positioning museums as essential spaces for socialization, shared truth, and emotional journeys. Greppi envisions a museum that is both domestic and public, a place of complexity, knowledge, and emotion—inevitable and irreplaceable.