Museum Innovation Incubator

The Capitale-Nationale region’s two main museums, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the Musée de la civilisation, are working together on a major project for the first time and joining forces to create the Museum Innovation Incubator (IIM).

Collaboration between an art museum and a civilization museum has equipped the IIM to explore and experiment. The teams were able to prototype new experiential, sensory, and technological approaches in an effort to craft and offer our visitors a richer, more personal museum experience full of new discoveries. 

The IIM’s projects focus on three aspects linked to our respective missions: 

  • Collection enhancement and exhibition design
  • Outreach and visitor experience
  • The digital world 

These promising projects have been made possible by combining our complementary expertise and sharing our knowledge, developing our talents and expanding our perspectives, and drawing on an extensive network of partners from diverse backgrounds, not to mention the value of co-creating with the community.

We would like to thank the Secrétariat à la Capitale-Nationale; without its invaluable financial support, these exceptional projects would not have been possible! 

Incubateur innovations museales entete

  • Over 80 employees actively involved in projects, training, and co-creation.

  • Nearly 25 projects and prototypes developed in 4 years.

  • Over 15 partners from the technological, cultural, community, academic, and research sectors.
  • The conversational agent interacting with the work L'Orme à Pont Viau by Marc-Aurèle Fortin

    Digital world

    A friendly guide to discovering art. This is the perfect digital tool for encouraging the public to interact with a selection of artwork from the Musée. Ask any question you can think of. Our chatbot will have an answer for you. Visiting the Musée has never been more engaging. Soon, the chatbot will also be able to suggest personalized tours.
  • Man standing in front of an artwork for the Riopelle en arôme project at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.

    Collection enhancement and exhibition design

    An aromatic journey through Jean Paul Riopelle’s masterpiece, Tribute to Rosa Luxemburg. Enjoy a memorable, immersive olfactory experience centred on Jean Paul Riopelle’s masterpiece, Tribute to Rosa Luxemburg. This fragrant journey was developed with internationally renowned sommelier François Chartier and his teams at the Chartier World LAB.
  • Art emotions incubateur innovations museales femme devant sculpture avec ecran

    Collection enhancement and exhibition design | Outreach and visitor experience

    Research project developed in collaboration with Université Laval’s Co-DOT lab

    How does contemplating a work of art make you feel? Can this emotion be measured? The Musée is currently drawing on the results of this research to devise ways of enhancing its visitors’ museum experience based on their emotional state and their reactions to the art. These discoveries have the potential to transform the practices of museums both here and abroad.
  • A group of children taking part in the philosophical approach activity in the Nous exhibition hall at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.

    Outreach and visitor experience

    An innovative approach that places people, contemplation, and dialogue at the centre of museum visits. A philosophical approach had never been used for guided tours in a museum before. It turns philosophy into an outreach tool to make the museum experience more approachable, accessible, and memorable. It elicits questions in visitors, but also sparks curiosity and discussion.
  • Antoine-Sébastien Falardeau, after Geoffrey Schalken, The Young Girl Reading the Letter, 1857. Oil on canvas

    Collection enhancement and exhibition design | Sensitive approach

    A sensory and emotional journey through the night. The Musée’s teams used remarkably creative scenography to immerse the public in the night, with an exhibition space transformed into a nocturnal showcase.
  • Alexander McQueen: Art Meets Fashion exhibition featuring a painting at the center and two mannequins

    Collection enhancement and exhibition design

    A bold presentation for an extraordinary artist. With daring scenography and meticulously orchestrated lighting design, the Musée’s teams were able to create immersive atmospheres. In addition to experimenting with new lighting techniques never before used in our galleries, they also got to learn about video mapping, a projection technique that transforms objects into display surfaces for video projection.
  • Three women gathered around a sculpture for the Perspectives project.

    Collection enhancement and exhibition design

    A sensitive, participatory approach to documenting museum collections. This social innovation project invites people from different backgrounds to share their impressions of objects straight out of our museum reserves. Participants could well provide us with unexpected, culturally valuable insights into the pieces. Their contributions could inspire new ways of presenting our collections, among other things.
  • Children doing crafts during a mediation animation activity as part of Ricochets.

    Outreach and visitor experience

    A space for discovery and dialogue between families and museums. Ricochets is a major social innovation project and citizen initiative helping us reach out to new audiences. Participating families got the chance to discover the collections of the MNBAQ and the MCQ in a fun and unexpected way.

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