The Museum is piloting a digital exploration project with 17 partners in connection with the ENCQOR project
Montreal, February 27, 2020 – 5G technology is coming to the nation soon, but are we ready to exploit its full potential? In connection with CEFRIO’s ENCQOR project, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) and 17 museum network partners are taking the lead by launching an extensive digital project regarding the possibilities of applying this technology in the cultural sphere. The MMFA will have three years to explore this potential, anticipate changes and propose innovations and new tools that will benefit Quebec culture.
5G Technology and the ENCQOR project
5G is the fifth generation of wireless data sharing technology. It will significantly increase our data transfer capacities from 100 megabytes per second to 10,000 megabytes per second. Spearheaded by the Government of Canada and five digital technology giants – Ericsson, Ciena, Thales, IBM and CGI – the ENCQOR project invites industry players and SMEs to use Canada’s first pre-commercial 5G digital infrastructure corridor. Accordingly, the MMFA and its collaborators will have a chance to experiment with this network which is 100 times more powerful.
The project is piloted by PRISM, the MMFA’s Digital Mediation Innovation Laboratory and will enlist the following museum and university partners: the Canadian Centre for Architecture, the Phi Centre, CREO, Culture pour tous, GenieLab, iSCAN, MEM – Centre des mémoires montréalaises, the Musée de la civilisation de Québec, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montreal Museums, the Musée National des beaux-arts du Québec, the Musée POP de Trois-Rivières, the Quartier des spectacles Partnership, the Société des musées du Québec, Synapse C, Concordia University, Université du Québec à Montréal, and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.
Also, PRISM collaborates with Bryn William-Jones, associate professor and director of Bioethics Programmes at the School of Public Health of the University of Montreal, who advises it on ethical questions raised by the projects and the arrival of 5G in the urban environment.
Two projects to help us rethink cultural experiences
PRISM is currently running two pilot projects about the new possibilities afforded by 5G technology, both in terms of museum practices and infrastructure. Following the principles of a living laboratory, two innovation units have been created.
The first unit will focus on storing and sharing museum databases in the cloud. In recent years, several museum institutions have digitized their collections, and this innovation unit will reflect on how we might improve the way that collection data is shared among Quebec and Canadian museums. The amount of data related to museum collection objects and pieces is massive. 5G technology will make it possible for us to explore effective solutions. For instance, it would be possible to create a broad museum database that would contain all of the province’s collections.
The second unit will explore the mediation of museum and cultural content geared towards the public. It will aim to break down the barriers of the museum’s offering by granting access to all of the power and possibilities of 5G technology. For example, it could be used as a tool to bring people together by giving seniors a chance to participate in creativity workshops offered by the MMFA as part of its Thursdays at the Museum activities. Fun multiplayer, geolocation, immersive and collaborative activities could be launched in every single gallery of a given museum. We could increase cultural democracy by making it possible for museums to reach remote audiences. Finally, 5G could be used as a tool to mobilize citizens by making it possible to organize public multi-site creation events in collaboration with organizations that work with marginalized individuals. When it comes to multiplying cultural impact, the possibilities are endless.
Impacting Quebec culture as a whole
As the project draws to a close in 2022, the MMFA and its partners will be forerunners in the application of 5G technology in the cultural sphere, putting them in a position to advise other provincial organizations in this regard. Accordingly, the tools and skills developed will be made available to them and will benefit Quebec society, allowing the province to be at the forefront of 5G technology adoption.
Acknowledgements
Public partner: Innovation ENCQOR
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Press Room: mbam.qc.ca/en/press-room
| Information Maude N. Béland Media Relations Officer | MMFA T. 514-285-1600, ext. 205 C. 514-886-8328 mbeland@mbamtl.org |
Patricia Lachance Media Relations Officer | MMFA T. 514-285-1600, ext. 315 C. 514-235-2044 plachance@mbamtl.org |
About the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Drawing over 1 million visitors annually, the MMFA is one of the most visited museums in Canada and North America. Its highly original temporary exhibitions combine various artistic disciplines – fine arts, music, film, fashion and design – and are exported to the four corners of the world. Its rich encyclopedic collection, displayed in its five pavilions, includes international art, arts of One World, decorative arts and design, and Quebec and Canadian art. The Museum has seen exceptional growth in recent years with the addition of two new pavilions and one new wing: the Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion in 2011, the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion for Peace in 2016, and the Stephan Crétier and Stéphany Maillery Wing for the Arts of One World in 2019. The MMFA complex also includes Bourgie Hall, a 460-seat concert hall, as well as an auditorium and a movie theatre. The MMFA is one of Canada’s leading publishers of art books in French and English, which are distributed internationally. The Museum also houses the Michel de la Chenelière International Atelier for Education and Art Therapy, the largest educational complex in a North American art museum, enabling the MMFA to offer innovative educational, wellness and art therapy programmes. mbam.qc.ca
About PRISM
PRISM is the MMFA’s Digital Mediation Innovation Laboratory. A place for reflection and a catalyst for collaboration, this laboratory brings people together to tackle the challenges of digital mediation and to explore, co-create and imagine new tools or new digital experiences for museums. PRISM initiates research on museum visitors’ digital interactions, facilitates collaborative innovation projects, offers digital explorations to audiences, serves as a catalyst for intersectoral collaboration, and fosters the sharing of expertise and experiences among professionals. Overall, it is positioned as a pillar in the ecosystem of museum-related technological innovation in Montreal and Quebec. The MMFA digital lab is a project funded by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications as part of the implementation of Measure 115 of the Plan culturel numérique du Québec.
About ENCQOR 5G
ENCQOR 5G (Evolution of Networked Services through a Corridor in Quebec and Ontario for Research and Innovation) is a major partnership focused on research, innovation and on the adoption of 5G products and services by end users, in the field of 5G disruptive technologies. ENCQOR provides companies and researchers in the public sector with free infrastructure and a set of cutting-edge technologies and tools to enable them to develop and test technological solutions in the context of a 5G pre-commercial network. ENCQOR is made possible thanks to private and public investments from the governments of Canada, Quebec and Ontario, as well as world leaders in digital technology (Ericsson, Ciena, Thales, IBM Canada and CGI). ENCQOR is coordinated in Quebec by Prompt as well as by OCE in Ontario.