Online Limburgs Museum: A treasure trove of stories

Our Limburgs Museum in brief

In the online museum, heritage institutions from Limburg bring together stories from residents and Limburg collections.

A fascinating process preceded this, says director Bert Mennings. "In our new positioning, identity, transformation, and Limburg's place within the European Union are central. This includes questions such as: what is Limburg? Who is the Limburger? What developments are taking place in this province? And what is Limburg's position in a European context?"

Online and offline museum

The museum tries to answer these questions in various places: not only in the building in Venlo but also at locations throughout the province and in the online museum. For the Limburgs Museum, this is a way to reach as many people as possible, even if they cannot or do not want to physically visit the museum.

Exclusive content

However, that does not mean you will find the same thing at all locations. On the contrary: the art lies precisely in the exclusive content per location, explains Mennings. "This way, they become places you want to visit individually but also serve as promotion for visiting the other locations."

The online museum is worth a visit, emphasizes the director. "It is not a traditional visitor website; on the contrary: it is an interactive multimedia storytelling platform filled with stories. We tested the idea during the coronavirus crisis. We had organized an exhibition, but due to the closure, no visitor would ever see it. So, we created a 360-degree recording. It attracted 28,000 unique visitors. Our strategy was tested and successful. We decided to continue with it."

Participation and collaboration

More and more museums are closely connected with their visitors: they are curious about their experiences and ask them to contribute to the collection and programming. Online, this participation is still lacking, Mennings believes. "We hope to spark a relay of stories: we ask citizens and organizations to share their stories, hoping they become so enthusiastic that they inspire others."

The Limburgs Museum does not do this alone. "Together with more than sixty partners, we bring together Limburg's stories, both from the past and the present. We want to create a linked open data structure, where all organizations can upload their content. In the future, we also want to build a customer data platform, allowing us to personalize each visitor's feed without putting them in their own bubble."

Finding stories

Encouraging Limburgers to share their stories remains a challenge. "At the moment, we are receiving stories sporadically, but what we do receive proves to be very valuable. This fits into our quest for impact: it's not always about quantity but also about quality. Additionally, we are trying to lower the online participation threshold."

A solution could be to be present where stories emerge. For example, this summer, a series of performances will be held about the high water that flooded Limburg in 1993. There is a good chance that impressive memories of citizens about that event will surface. The museum is considering how to collect those stories and make them a sustainable part of Limburg's memory.

This is just the beginning

For Mennings, this is just the beginning of the experiment. "Who knows what new forms we can add and which target groups we can still reach, even beyond the province's borders. In the pilot, we mainly focus on culture enthusiasts and socially engaged people from the region, but it can be broader. Our Limburgs Museum has our full attention: we will continue to develop it continuously."

Mennings sees Our Limburgs Museum as a pilot for the rest of the cultural sector. "How wonderful would it be if we had an online National Historical Museum? We could also connect more cultural institutions, such as performing arts, to this platform. And we are exploring collaboration with German, Belgian, and Luxembourg partners to potentially scale up regionally within the EU. In the Netherlands, we are at the forefront of the world of digital transformation; we should let the rest of the world learn something from us."