Rushed by People and Time, Unable to See the 'Mona Lisa' for Even 5 Minutes... What If You Could Watch It Live from Home?

Success with about 40,000 visitors in 3 hours
Louvre says "Not for promotion but to expand communication"

The masterpiece 'Mona Lisa' at the Louvre Museum in France, which visitors often get less than five minutes to see due to crowds, became a hot topic last weekend evening by appearing in an online streaming. This was through a live broadcast program called 'Night at the Museum,' conducted on-site by French online content creator Etoiles.

On the 14th (local time), the French daily Le Figaro reported that the Louvre episode, which provided subtitles in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, attracted about 40,000 cumulative viewers over a little more than three hours. The Louvre Museum opened its doors to online content creators not for promotional purposes but to expand online communication.

The masterpiece "Mona Lisa" at the Louvre Museum in France, which visitors can barely see for even five minutes due to the crowd, became a hot topic last weekend evening by appearing in an online streaming. This was through a live broadcast program called "Night at the Museum," conducted on-site by French online content creator Etoiles.
[Photo by Musee du Louvre]

The Louvre Museum's social network team said about this program planning, "It is part of expanding online communication accelerated after COVID-19, for those who cannot visit the museum," adding, "It is a way to approach the audience and invite them into a world closer to culture." Indeed, among the netizens who rewatched this program on Etoiles' YouTube channel, some left welcoming comments such as, "Living in the countryside, I rarely have the chance to visit large art museums." After this Louvre episode aired, the museum's Instagram account gained 4,000 followers, and Twitter increased by 1,500 followers.

Meticulous preparation was required for this live streaming. In the case of the Louvre Museum, the timing had to be coordinated with content creators on Saturday evenings when the museum is closed, and the route inside the maze-like museum had to be planned as efficiently as possible. Above all, since the building is old, there were technical difficulties ensuring internet connectivity to prevent streaming interruptions.

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The Louvre Museum has limited the number of daily visitors to 30,000 since the second half of 2021 to manage the overwhelming number of visitors. Additionally, the French daily newspaper Le Monde recently reported that the Louvre Museum will raise the admission fee to around 30,000 won starting from the 15th, which is expected to increase the burden on foreign tourists.
[Photo by AFP·Yonhap News]

The Louvre is not the only museum that opened its doors to streamers and creators. Before the Louvre, the Orsay Museum and the Pompidou Center were introduced in Etoiles' 'Night at the Museum.' The Palace of Versailles collaborated with a creator specializing in ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) to produce an introduction video about the Petit Trianon, one of the palace's smaller residences.

Tara Benveniste, the SNS manager of the Pompidou Center, said, "For us, content creators are not for advertising but a way to breathe new perspectives into artworks and programs."

Meanwhile, to control the overwhelming number of visitors, the Louvre Museum has limited daily visitors to 30,000 since the second half of 2021. Additionally, the French daily Le Monde recently reported that the Louvre Museum plans to raise admission fees to around 30,000 KRW starting from the 15th, which is expected to increase the burden on foreign tourists. Currently, Louvre admission fees are 15 euros for online purchase and 17 euros for on-site purchase, approximately 21,000 to 24,000 KRW.

When the museum announced plans to raise the admission fee by more than 30% to 22 euros (about 32,000 KRW) starting from the 15th, complaints arose that it was excessively expensive. Especially given that over 90% of visitors are foreign tourists, concerns were raised about the increased burden on tourists. However, the museum stated that the admission fee increase is unavoidable. A museum official explained, "Due to rising prices, reduced government subsidies and private sponsorships, and aging facilities, it cannot be helped."