Capturing the moment at New York City’s 2017 pop-up museum, ‘The Egg House’.

There are lots of Instagramable moments at LA’s ‘Museum of Selfies’.

Visitors enjoyed taking colorful selfies at Germany’s ‘Supercandy!’ pop-up museum in 2018.

Pop-up museums are a hot topic in the museum world. Keeping the next generation’s attention is a challenging task. Many millennials do not want to miss an opportunity to experience something unique, take a photo, and share that experience with an online community. The Museum of Ice Cream was created by a bored millennial who thought that museums were stuck in the past. Pop-up museums craft an experience that lasts for a limited time and is picture-perfect. This seems like the ideal solution to appeal to the millennial generation. However, looking to the future, does this solution destroy traditional museums?

1. Temporary or permanent? Pop-up museums are growing at a massive rate to accommodate the next generation. Pop-up museums are intended to be temporary experiences to take advantage of FOMO (fear of missing out). The experience is here and then it is gone. With this being the reason for the popularity and the draw from generations younger than Baby Boomers, is this trend changing how people experience museums? Could a temporary experience be the future of the museum experience?

2. What topics are relevant? An emphasis on the visual rather than the informational unites popup museums, but within that realm there is great variety. Pop-museums range from the irreverent and food-based (candy) to the philosophical (dreams) to the political (gender inequality). All of these experiences feature colorful and beautiful exhibits that invite moments to be captured on camera and shared with the world. Traditional museums educate and inform through artifacts and graphic panels. The history or story is being told to educate the visitor. Are the facts becoming less important? Is being a part of something more attractive than learning about a historic event?

3. Is it a trend or a fad? It is hard to tell at the moment if there is a trend going on with pop-up museums or if they will be a passing fad. Some articles on the latest pop-up museums have a sarcastic tone as they describe yet another “must-see, once-in-a-lifetime” experience. I can almost hear the writer’s eyes rolling as they talk about the next pop-up opening. Will people get annoyed with the constant “next new thing” marketing in the museum world?

4. What about the next generation? Millennials have changed the way many businesses operate and generation Z is bound to have their own ideas. Will generation Z accept the pop-up museum model?

A few articles for consideration:

• HOW GEN Z PRESENTS A CHALLENGE TO TRADITIONAL ARTS ORGANIZATIONS

• Is Instagram killing our museum culture or reinventing it?

• LA Is Getting A Pop-Up Museum About Eggs. This Is Just The World We Live In Now.

Please share your thoughts and opinions. I am eager to spark the conversation and explore the evolution of the museum.