VISITING MUSEUMS: A HABIT SOCIALLY BUILT AND UNKNOWN TO TOURISTS

Abstract

This research is anchored in the hypothesis that French museums, facilities incorporated in touristic and cultural itineraries, produce temporary exhibitions, which, in general, do not attract the attention of mass tourists as much as they do to local residents and French tourists, who seek to appreciate and get to know, at once, a set of works. The purpose of this article is to understand how this visitation dynamic in temporary exhibitions in museums is socially constructed. For this, it looks at the Parisian reality (one of the most relevant in the world in terms of museum activities) and seeks to identify the majoritarian profile of the public in the temporary exhibitions held in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The study used the qualitative descriptive research method, using systematic/participant observation as a technique, in order to identify age group, nationality, gender, explicit interest in the works, participation in mediated visits and use of audio guides, by the visiting public of these exhibitions. As a theoretical basis, we sought support from authors who discuss, mainly, the presence of audiences in museums, the typology of audiences and the museum attendance habits. It was found that the visitor of the temporary exhibitions, interested in getting to know more about art and history, is the French citizen himself, Parisian or not, and above all, over the age of 60 years.