Hashtags of Arts
National Museum of Fine Arts - Rio de Janeiro
Issue 52 | September 2019
Agency
NBS
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer: Andre´ Lima Creative Directors: Carlos Andre´ Eyer, Marcello Noronha Art Directors: Roberto Ulhooa, Thiago Manha~es Copywriter: Leonardo Konjedic
Production Team
Agency Producers: Andrea Metzker, Fernanda Affonso Production Company: Movie Machie
Other Credits
Account Manager: Alessandra Barana Account Executive: Sabrina Val PR: Camila Coelho
Date
April - May 2019
Background
Only 7.5% of Brazilians are in the habit of going to museums. When they do decide to visit art exhibitions, they usually prefer trendy or foreign artists. So how could The National Museum of Fine Art get people to look at the oldest Brazilian art collection in Rio de Janeiro, which had been on display for 82 years?
Idea
Because Brazilians rank second worldwide in social media usage, an exhibition was created to show that everything people like in the digital world is also in the National Museum of Fine Arts of Rio de Janeiro.
By giving more than 250 hashtags to 40 artworks, an audience that wasn't interested in art started to relate to it.
The hashtags were based on the history and context of the artworks and connected viewers to the museum’s Instagram guides. From here, people were enticed inside the museum itself to see all the hashtags alongside the artworks.
Results
Visitor numbers increased by 78% compared to the same period of the previous year.
By adding hashtags on the walls, the permanent exhibition was made to look fresh again. Some top Instagram influencers shared the idea, helping reach about 6 million people.
Conventional media helped the idea reach almost 21 million in an organic way.
Our Thoughts
Great art is timeless. But try telling that to a teenager who sees only a picture of a posturing toff rather than the portrait of John VI, King of Portugal and of Brazil.
I love the way history has been modernised simply by re-casting it in the language of social media. Not only does it make young Brazilians think a bit more about their shared past, it gets them to think about creativity. A dull old museum becomes a palace of exploration simply by changing the display notices.