Museum digital strategies during the pandemic: Prado National Museum and Reina Sofia National Art Center Museum

ABSTRACT

The global pandemic derived from Covid-19 affected cultural institutions since 2020 implied an adaptation by museums to the new social reality. The context favored fostering digital interactions to connect with the public and digital communication prospered towards dialogue with society during the confinement and the Spanish state of alarm. This article analyzes the digital strategies carried out by two Spanish museum the Museo Nacional del Prado and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in order to understand how the four essential functions outlined by UNESCO (research, preservation, education and communication) were implemented during the pandemic. The results indicated that the communicative actions were the most used together with the educational ones. Digital technologies focused on education had as their epicenter social networks and numerous initiatives that helped educommunicate Spanish heritage during the health crisis.