5 virtual museum tours you’ll love
Stuck at home, but want to experience some of the world’s best museums? These virtual tours will make you feel like you’re really there.
The quarantine resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak had some surprisingly positive aspects. One of them was a new focus on virtual “travel.” This new way of “seeing” the world has abolished geographical borders. Though the District is known for its own amazing array of museums, residents have been able to literally visit any museum in the world. D.C. resident Tommy Caldwell loves these new options. “I love museums! I love exploring the little and big things in museums. That’s what makes each museum special in it’s own way. I also like that it’s a wonderful time killer, [where]you gain a lot of knowledge while visiting!”
We’ve compiled some of our favorite tours. But the choice is yours.
The Bata Shoe Museum: Love shoes? Well, this museum is located in Toronto, Canada regularly displays over a thousand pairs of shoes and related artifacts, chosen from a collection of over 13,000 objects, in architect Raymond Moriyama’s iconic, award-winning building. “The BSM celebrates the style, development and function of footwear across four impressive galleries, with displays ranging from Chinese bound-foot shoes and ancient Egyptian sandals to chestnut-crushing clogs and glamorous platforms.” http://batashoemuseum.ca
Enter a new world in Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room. Courtesy photo.
The Broad, Los Angeles: Though temporarily closed, the Broad museum in downtown LA, allows you to visit its Broad from Home virtual exhibitions including Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room—The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away set to a spacey soundtrack. There is also a series called Interplay: Poetry and Art, in which poets respond to specific pieces in the museum’s collection, like Sholeh Wolpé’s commentary on Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Gold Griot. https://www.thebroad.org/broadfromhome
The Natural History Museum, London: The world renown museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 80 million items. It has everything from botany to butterflies, from giant crystals to specimens in the jar. Many of the collections have great historical as well as scientific value, such as specimens collected by Charles Darwin. It is particularly famous for its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons. This favorite of both Londoners and tourists is big enough to get lost in! https://www.nhm.ac.uk
The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra: One of the country’s largest museums, it houses a splendid collection of aboriginal arts, including those belonging to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have existed on the continent of Australia for tens of thousands of years and whose art and traditions are among the oldest and richest in human history.There is also a good selection of international artists such as Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Roy Liechtenstein and Gorges Seurat amongst others. https://nga.gov.au
The Walters Art Museum: Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum is one of only a few museums in the world to present a panorama of art from the third millennium B.C. to the early 20th century. This is a public art museum that was founded and opened in 1934. Its virtual tour takes you through manuscripts including 14th century prayer books from Ethiopia as well as everyday objects, art and jewelry from Ancient Egypt and Nubia amongst others. https://thewalters.org
