The Museo Egizio in Turin and MAMA create the (digital) future of cultural institutions together

Like many other economic sectors, the cultural sector is facing new challenges related to digitalization and the use of increasingly sophisticated technologies. Similarly, the prestigious Museo Egizio in Turin is also going through a moment of profound transformation. How will they face it? The idea is to design new spaces, exhibits and projects where physical and digital environments can merge to favor a conceptual transformation of the museum as well. This need led to the collaboration between the museum and MAMA (Master in Arts Management and Administration) of SDA Bocconi.
"The dynamics of digital technologies are developing and renewing at great speed, and simply adopting new technologies or chasing new languages is not enough, especially in the Arts and Culture sector. We need to equip ourselves with a different mindset, structured on the specific characteristics of each cultural institution, which allows us to design starting from the needs and opportunities the present asks us to respond to, but always and necessarily looking to the long term. This is an approach that Museo Egizio and SDA Bocconi share and intend to enhance through this new collaboration, in a very significant exchange of value," says Andrea Quartarone, Master Instructor and Lecturer at Bocconi University.
The project kicked off on February 8 with an event in which Samanta Isaia and Enrico Ferraris, the Museum's Managing Director and Curator, spoke to MAMA students about the main objectives of the partnership: to explore, identify, and propose new solutions to implement the digital dimension of the museum's new exhibits with a special focus on the digital experience of visitors both on-site and online. As Isaia mentioned, "one of the questions underlying the transformation of cultural institutions is what can digital do for a museum and what can a museum do for digital? The exchange is fruitful and not only of an economic nature. It is a synergy that opens up new, innovative and yet unexplored spaces of knowledge and fruition. We have high expectations for the collaboration with MAMA students because of their ability to enrich the life of the museum through a fresh, young and experimental outlook. It is we at the Museum who can learn from them!"
In addition, on February 9, MAMA students were able to visit the Museo Egizio guided by Enrico Ferraris and Maria Elena Colombo, Head of Interpretation, Accessibility and Sharing of the Museum. It was an opportunity to gather more valuable information for the development of proposals by the students. It allowed them to explore further the relationship between content, curatorship and narratives, as well as examine the key dynamics of the digital experience and engagement aimed at improving enjoyment of museum exhibits.
The new collaboration between the Museo Egizio and SDA Bocconi, therefore, promises to be rich in stimuli and opportunities for both organizations. The Museum will have the chance to experiment with a new methodology of analysis, research and reflection on some fundamental digital issues, with the possibility of accepting and integrating some of the proposals formulated by the students. On the other hand, MAMA students will have the opportunity to put what they learned in the Master's program into practice, facing all the challenges related to the implementation of a real museum innovation project. This is one of the most effective ways to train future professionals in the field and boost the activities of one of the most important cultural institutions not only in Italy but across the world.

SDA Bocconi School of Management