No Longer Boring, Here's a New Way for Museums to Capture the Attention of the Young Generation

JAKARTA - In the midst of changes in the way people consume information, museums are no longer just silent spaces filled with historical objects. Now, history, art, and culture are closer through the screen of a mobile phone.

From reviving classic art with a modern style to presenting a virtual tour of world-class museums through live broadcasts, digital platforms are slowly changing the way the public understands culture.

This momentum is felt even more during the International Museum Day on May 18. In various parts of the world, museums are beginning to adopt new approaches to remain relevant to the younger generation, namely by providing more interactive, personal, and accessible experiences.

Over the past year, a number of world museums have used digital formats to reach a wider audience. In New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents a three-day LIVE tour guided by creators and curators.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, the Grand Egyptian Museum broadcast the opening ceremony live to the global public. Both sessions even reached nearly five million viewers worldwide.

This phenomenon shows a significant change, namely that museums are now not only a place to store artifacts, but also a cultural dialogue space that can be enjoyed by anyone, from anywhere.

In Indonesia, the change is beginning to be felt through the increasing interest of the younger generation in history and culture. One example is seen from the visit of creators and media to the Jakarta Textile Museum in the context of International Museum Day. This museum, which stores the history of textile in Nusantara, is a learning space that brings the past together with the current digital generation.

Together with two cultural education creators Alma Al Farisi and Asep Roman Muhtar, the museum experience is presented with a closer approach, namely storytelling, discussion, and trying to make batik directly.

According to Alma Al Farisi, a museum is actually not an exclusive or boring space. The most important thing is curiosity to start coming and enjoying the experience.

"There is no need to immediately feel that you have to understand everything. Just come first, look around, have fun first. The museum is a space to learn and try to understand the story behind the collection," said Alma Al Farisi, when met at Amanaia Satrio, Setiabudi, South Jakarta on Thursday, May 21, 2026.

Alma sees history and culture as being more easily accepted when it is linked to everyday life. In many of her content, she tries to connect the history of textiles and clothing with a wider social context, so that it feels relevant to the current generation.

"Fashion history or textile history actually records what happened in a certain era. From clothes, we can see how people think, economic conditions, to cultural identity at that time," he explained.

In the midst of this change, digital platforms are beginning to play an important role as a cultural bridge. TikTok is taking advantage of the momentum of International Museum Day through various global educational programs. Through the new TikTok LIVE program titled Comes Alive, users have access to educational content throughout the year, including virtual museum tours from various countries.

The opening program titled Museums Come Alive presents an exclusive virtual tour with world cultural institutions, ranging from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the National Museum of Kazakhstan, to the Pokémon Fossil Museum in Chicago. In Indonesia itself, TikTok LIVE has previously also presented a tour of the "NYOTA in the Land of the Country" exhibition at the National Museum of Indonesia.

According to Karen Kang, TikTok's Culture and Education Partnerships Lead, digital spaces allow museums to find new audiences that were previously difficult to reach.

"Cultural institutions have always had the power to spark curiosity, and now have the opportunity to reach people who have that curiosity. The growth of #MuseumTok proves that when museums are present in digital spaces where people are already actively interacting, new audiences are also connected," said Karen Kang.

For Asep Roman Muhtar, this development opens up a great opportunity for museums to no longer be seen as 'too serious' or only for certain circles. He believes that a digital approach can actually pique the public's curiosity.

"I never force people to immediately understand history or culture. Usually it's enough to start from curiosity, what is this? From there people will slowly find out more," said Asep Roman Muhtar.

Asep assessed that creator content also plays an important role in providing a context that is sometimes not fully obtained when seeing the museum collection directly.

"Sometimes when we see works in museums, we don't necessarily know the story behind them. Content that provides context can help people understand why something is important, so that the experience of seeing a museum is more meaningful," he added.

The Museum Insights Report 2026 report launched by TikTok shows an interesting trend, namely museums with unique themes such as extreme food to music have their own fan communities. Even in Indonesia, more than one in three TikTok users are said to be interested in museums, while more than half are interested in history.

The findings show that pop culture, humor, and the creators' speech styles can be effective gateways to introducing history to new audiences.

Cultural experiences still require direct involvement. Technology may be able to bring museums to the mobile screen, but the experience of seeing the collection in person still has a different impression.

Therefore, both Alma and Asep agreed that the first step to get to know the museum does not have to be complicated.

"Just come first. You don't have to understand everything right away. Sometimes curiosity arises only after seeing it directly," said Alma.

"Museums can be a way of seeing how people in the past lived, thought, and shaped the culture that we still feel today." concluded Asep.

In the digital age, museums are no longer just a storage space for the past. With the support of technology and creativity, museums are slowly turning into living learning spaces. This makes history feel closer, more inclusive, and relevant for today's generation.