Beyond the Museum Walls: The Pandemic and the Prototypes Exhibit at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers

International audienceThis article looks at the consequences of the health crisis for France's field of culture and its response since the first French lockdown from March to May 2020 and the second one between October 2020 and May 2021. One exhibition that had to close the day after it had just opened was Prototypes: From Experimentation to Innovation. The exhibition's organizers (the museum staff and a network to safeguard national scientific and technical heritage) quickly turned to technological tools to find alternative ways of reaching the public during the crisis: online and traveling exhibitions. Moving the exhibition online was successful; however, a review of the exhibition shows that to truly reach their audience, museum exhibits need to be seen in person