Research Networking Scheme: The Digital Soft Power of GLAM institutions in the (post)pandemic Covid-19 global crisis

The impact of Covid-19 global outbreak on the cultural sector has been devastating with many galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM), shutting their doors to onsite visitors and suspending their local and international activities. The global pandemic drastically disrupted the international programs and long-terms strategic plans of many UK GLAM institutions, including their traveling exhibitions, museum objects loans, international art residencies and commissioned work from artists abroad. Moreover, many small and big cultural organisations suffer from a considerable loss of self-generated income, decrease in private funding and cancellation of membership, with devastating consequences for their current budgets and long-term economic and social sustainability.

As the consequences of the pandemic and country lockdowns become more visible, GLAM institutions are forced to face some harsh questions about their plans for the future. How to sustain their important activities in international cultural relations given the abrupt decline in their sources of revenue? How can they retain or recover their global visibility, audiences and communities of stakeholders while they are limited, at least in short term, to the digital realm of communications? To what extent cultural institutions can turn to their digital resources, collections, exhibitions, virtual tours and distant educational programs to compensate for the loss of income and social influence at a time when physical interactions with objects and onsite exhibitions are no longer possible? Are UK GLAM actors well prepared for digital challenges and for facing the dangers of the “dark side” of the online world, including fake news, propaganda, algorithmic censorship, and data surveillance?

The Research Network Project aims to answer these questions by cross-pollinating academic knowledge and professional expertise from three different group of stakeholders, including academics working at the intersection of cultural and digital diplomacy, experts from key GLAM institutions in the UK, including the Science Museum Group and the Digital Library, as well  cultural diplomacy practitioners from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DDCMS) and the British Council.