Google Cultural Institute is an online project from the IT giant that started in 2011 and aims to digitally preserve and make publicly available cultural material goods from museums and other institutions around the world. Its sister project, Google Art Project also aims to make great works of art available in hi res to anyone with an internet connection. The projects have incredible value and potential for spreading different aspects of culture to places and people that would normally never get a chance to see them live.
Last week, Zagreb’s Museum of Arts and Crafts had become the city’s first institution you can fully check out on GCI. It offers a tour of the museum and its permanent exhibition in a street view manner.
‘The permanent display of the Museum of Arts and Crafts extends over three floors at more than 2000 m² of museum space and includes about 3000 exhibits. The displayed objects illustrate the shift of stylistic periods from Gothic to graphic and product design of the period from 1950s. The objects are part of museum’s diverse collections of ceramics, clocks and watches, glass, graphic design, ivory, furniture, metal, musical instruments, painted leather, paintings, photography, bookbinding, product design, sculptures, textiles, fashion accessories and varia’, describes the introductory text on the museum’s new page. You can check out what the Museum of Arts and Crafts has to offer on this link.
Even though we adore the idea of cultural preservation in this way, love and use the service, we do recommend everyone who has a chance visits the museum (any museum for that matter) in person, and use GCI as a teaser. The experiences are always more visceral and tangible that way.
