Media, mediatisation and museums: a new ensemble

Museums have always communicated with the world around them through various means, such as signage, leaflets, photos and materials for learning. Over the years, museum communication has been marked by the uptake of media technologies that were new at the time, such as film and audio guides. In recent years, the options of mediated communication have been catalysed by a range of media technologies that are born digital (computers, mobiles) or can be turned into digital formats (e.g. print, film, photos). The Internet has widened these options through rapid and nearly global reach, thus turning museums’ mediated communication into both a physical and a virtual affair. Museums are in many ways unique spaces because they can bring the whole media ensemble into a particular place and space that exists within a set of complex mediated communication environments.