The National Museum of Scotland has become the first museum or gallery in Scotland available for exploration online via Google Arts & Culture’s Museum View experience. The Museum’s galleries have been captured digitally in partnership with Google Arts & Culture, which works with institutions around the world to make cultural and historical material accessible online.
The Museum joins the Taj Mahal, the Uffizi and the Palace of Versailles, among others, in offering people the opportunity to explore its interior virtually. Users can move through its permanent galleries at the click of a button, viewing around 20,000 objects on display.
In addition to making its galleries accessible for everyone to explore online, over 1,000 objects from National Museums Scotland’s collections have been added to the Google Arts & Culture online collection. Users can find out more about individual objects or can explore themes including Scotland’s early silver and the archive of the fashion designer Jean Muir.
The online technology will assist with planning a visit, act as a resource for teachers in their classrooms and allow people from around the world to visit the Museum without leaving home.
Rob Cawston, Head of Digital Media at National Museums Scotland said:
“We’re constantly looking at how we can make our collections more accessible and open them up to new audiences. Digital technology is offering us unparalleled opportunities to do just that, and our partnership with Google Arts & Culture gives people from around the world a novel new way to explore the Museum and discover its world-class collections.”
Suhair Khan of Google Arts & Culture said:
"We are thrilled to bring the collections of National Museums Scotland to a global audience. The Google Arts & Culture platform is now showcasing the stories of this incredibly important museum's collections and its building, as well as displaying gigapixel resolution imagery of masterpieces - all of which can be experienced by visitors around the world."
For further information and images contact Alice Wyllie, Press Office, National Museums Scotland, 0131 247 4288, a.wyllie@nms.ac.uk.
Notes to Editors
- National Museums Scotland is one of the leading museum groups in the UK and Europe and it looks after collections of national and international importance. The organisation provides loans, partnerships, research and training in Scotland and internationally. Our individual museums are the National Museum of Scotland, the National Museum of Flight, the National Museum of Rural Life and the National War Museum. The National Museums Collection Centre in Edinburgh houses conservation and research facilities as well as collections not currently on display.
- Twitter: @NtlMuseumsScot
- Facebook: facebook.com/NationalMuseumsScotland
- Instagram: @NationalMuseumsScotland
- The National Museum of Scotland is the most popular museum in the country outside of London (source: Association of Leading Visitor Attractions). The National Museum of Scotland was awarded ‘Gold’ Level Green Tourism Visitor Attraction status in 2016.
- Google Arts & Culture is an innovation partner for cultural institutions. The team provides technologies that help preserve and share culture and allow curators to create engaging exhibitions online and offline, in museums. The Google Arts & Culture app is free and available on the web, on iOS and Android, allowing users to explore exhibitions from over a thousand museums.
- Bheireadh Oifis nam Meadhanan eadar-theangachadh Gàidhlig den bhrath-naidheachd seachad do bhuidhinn mheadhanan bharantaichte. Cuiribh fios do dh'Oifis nam Meadhanan airson bruidhinn air cinn-latha freagarrach.