The Role of Museums in Times of Pandemic—Museu da Misericórdia do Porto Case Study

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had and still has an unprecedented impact on the museum sector, which did not escape the dramatic social and economic effects of the pandemic. By 2020, major museums lost 77% of their visitors. And the effect was felt all over the world, including Portugal. Despite many weaknesses and structural shortcomings in the sector, there have been several attempts to overcome the constraints of the COVID-19 crisis, such as the dissemination of content on the Internet and in social networks. In this article, the main objective is to investigate the digital transformation, resulting from the technological innovation implemented in the offer of Museu Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Porto. Through an exploratory-descriptive investigation with a qualitative approach based on an interview with the Director of the Museu da Santa Casa da Misericórdia in Porto, our aim was to assess the response given by the museum in times of pandemic.