ABSTRACT

Introducing the concept of a “mobile museology” to describe how museums are currently set in motion by a confluence of cultural, technological, and museological developments, this chapter traces the connections between mobile media and notions of mobility and mobilization in the museum field. As illustrated by current examples in the chapter, mobile phones have thus provided an opportunity for both augmenting and transcending the museum space, blurring former boundaries between institutions and their environments. At the same time, technological advances and digital culture developments have also required and inspired museums to become organizationally mobile and to mobilize collections, audiences, and institutions in order to fulfill museum missions. In this perspective, mobile media are thus seen as both catalysts and instruments for current museum developments.