Non-visitors and museums – a practice approach

Abstract

While visitor research in cultural institutions is becoming more and more commonplace and systematic, interest in non-visitor research is currently increasing. However, the few existing approaches to investigating non-visitors appear to be only partially suitable for productive institutional use, as we demonstrate in this article on the basis of three current studies. However, in view of the large number of non-visitors, who are mainly found in sections of society that are either not culturally aware or live in Germany due to migration, non-visitor research has great potential. The challenges of reaching these groups are obvious, but there is a lack of coherent implementation strategies. Against this background, a participation-oriented non-visitor study that we conducted for the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden is used to present a possible approach and explain how a cultural institution can approach non-visitors. This case study shows how non-visitor research can function as part of a change process.