Emma McFarland and Lawrence Chiles, the National Gallery
With its imposing presence on Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery may not seem a place of openness to some even though it is open to anyone who chooses to walk through the door. But what does openness mean in the context of today's Gallery?
We are on a journey to create a new Innovation Lab, a physical and virtual space to help the organisation adapt and respond to the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly changing world. And the word 'openness' is a recurring theme as we strive to work with new technologies, find new methods of interpretation and reach new audiences. This short talk will explore some of the questions it has prompted and our learning along the way, including:
How do we spark greater internal openness, breaking down the silos between team and hierarchies which support 'production pipelines', but which perhaps create barriers to doing things differently?
How do we bring the audience inside - opening up our creative processes and decision-making? What does 'user voice' mean when our 'users' come from 100 different countries across the world?