The State of AR(t): The Augmented Museum

In her keynote presentation, Margriet Schavemaker will show how the museum world is taking a leading position in the development of and experimentation with  augmented reality on mobile devices.  The museum collections and the stories that surround them appear to be a rich source for this new medium. Drawing upon the first experiences of the Stedelijk Museum’s AR project (ARtours), Schavemaker will answer the question: What possibilities and challenges do mobile AR offer  the museum, both inside and outside the building?

Margriet Schavemaker is art historian, philosopher and media specialist. After a career as assistant professor at the art history and media studies departments at the University of Amsterdam, she currently holds the position of head of collections and research at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Schavemaker has written extensively on contemporary art and theory, (co)edited/authored several edited volumes (for example Now is the Time: Art and Theory in the 21^st Century (2009), Vincent Everywhere: Van Gogh’s (Inter) National Identities (2010) and Monumentalism: History and National Identity in Contemporary Art (2010)) and is an acclaimed curator of discursive events and public programs. The past years new media have been high on Schavemakers agenda resulting in a.o. the ARtours project; the creation of an augmented reality platform for smartphones which can be used by museums to present their collection in innovative and interactive ways both inside and outside the museum.