TikTok takes users on virtual tours for International Museum Day
Museums and TikTok are not two things you would normally see in the same sentence but the popular social media app is taking users on virtual tours for International Museum Day.
NSW
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TikTok will take its 689 million users on a virtual global culture romp on International Museum Day today, as more galleries and museums are urged to join up to the social media platform to access the sought-after 13 to 21 year old age group.
TikTok’s #MuseumMoment LIVE event is an exclusive tour where 23 museums across 12 countries offer users the chance to see Rembrandt’s The Night Watch (the Rijksmuseum in The Netherlands) or to come alive as Queen Marie Antoinette as they stroll through the Palace of Versailles.
Mary McGillivray, 25, is an Australian art history graduate who joined TikTok in August last year and made entertaining art posts that earned her 336,000 followers, 6.8 million views in the last 60 days, and 6.2 million total likes.
McGillivray believes more of the Australian culture sector should sign up to TikTok, following the lead of some international museums.
But it’s early days. Follower figures show even the top international museums on TikTok are just building their new market. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has just 13,400 followers on TikTok, the Musee d’Orsay in Paris has just 5000, and the Mori Art Museum in Japan has 69.
Others are already better established. The Prado in Madrid has 245,000 followers, the Rijksmuseum has 83,000, and the Uffizi (highly recommended by McGillivray) has 78,000.
In Australia, few museums are yet to sign up, although McGillivray said Mornington Peninsular Regional Art Gallery is already kicking goals in the TikTok space.
“In general, young people don’t always participate in the arts area,” McGillivray said.
Tapping into the TikTok generation could help museums and galleries widen their appeal, she said.
McGillivray’s TikTok site is called Iconoclass and goes under the banner that “art history is just old memes”. McGillivray’s art history 101 posts include one where she helps followers recognise famous artists.
“If it looks like the chaos after a blackout where everyone is stumbling around in the dark under one solitary emergency light, it’s a Caravaggio,” she says in the post. “If it’s got more flesh than a nudist beach, it’s a Rubens.”
McGillivray joined TikTok during Covid lockdown in Melbourne when she was waiting to start her Masters.
“I decided to put my knowledge to good use and start communicating to the public,” she said.
“It’s been completely game-changing, not just in terms of reaching people but in terms of my academic career and the museum community. Everyone’s super excited about it.”
McGillivray has been invited to participate in a public art debate at Queensland Art Gallery|Gallery of Modern Art next month for the blockbuster exhibition, European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, that opens on June 12.
Tik Tok’s #MuseumMoment will start at 5pm today (May 18) Sydney time, with the National Gallery, Singapore as host. The baton will be handed successively to other galleries such as the Prado, the Uffizi, the Museu do Amanha in Brazil, the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, the Black Country Living Museum in the UK, The Met in New York, and finally the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico. The event will end at 11am Wednesday Sydney time.
“As an entertainment platform that inspires creativity and brings joy, TikTok also creates and celebrates culture that transcends borders, unlocking experiences for art enthusiasts all over the world,” TikTok said.
International Museum Day is run by the International Council of Museums to raise awareness of museums as locations of “mutual understanding, co-operation and peace”.
TikTokers can follow TikTok for Good to take part in #MuseumMoment and see a world of art in one day.
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