COPENHAGEN.- Nordea Danmark-fonden is supporting Statens Museum for Kunst with 22 million kroner for the development of The Digital SMK. This is a comprehensive, visionary and 100% digital art museum which will really put Statens Museum for Kunst on the map.

The contribution from Nordea Danmark-fonden is the largest of its kind in the history of Statens Museum for Kunst. It also marks a specific intensification of digital dissemination of art, which will give the museum a leading international position as to both development and use of the new media.

A dynamic museum of art
The Digital SMK will be an integrated and innovational platform which will make access to art simple and motivating for a wide range of users, and will create synergy between the physical and the digital use of Statens Museum for Kunst. The Digital SMK is based on a completely new web-site, which includes a whole range of digital possibilities; 700 years of art will be opened up for the public in a dedicated way – 24 hours a day. Web-TV, interactive art histories and user-generated content – as well as a living presentation of the collections and exhibitions of the museum – will all be accessible on home computers, cell phones, iPods, and also on digital platforms in the museum itself.

All-embracing presentation
Users of The Digital SMK will be able to plan their visits or do afterwork on them, create their own personal guided tour, immerse themselves in the research and the 700 years of art in the museum’s collections, or make their own personalised art collection. The Digital SMK is available to users on all levels and will match the contemporary wide-spread interest in exploring various media for gathering knowledge. Web-based art education in museums all around the world often employs rigid structures which just imitate the ordinary use of the physical museum. The Digital SMK will use all the possibilities for the dissemination of knowledge that are latent in the digital universe and which cannot be realised in the exhibition rooms of the museum. For example, the user of The Digital SMK will be able to move from art work to art work with the greatest of ease, go below the surface of works of art using x-ray techniques, acquire considerable knowledge based on research and gain new insights on the works of art through interviews with artists and web-TV. And all of it in one comprehensive process.

Gateway to knowledge and total experience
“It is absolutely fantastic that Nordea Danmark-fonden is fulfilling our wishes in such a handsome way. It means that we can create a completely unique and up-to-date access to the invaluable treasure chest and enormous knowledge we possess at the museum. Not only will an important part of our common cultural heritage be open to all Danes in a challenging and revolutionary way, but as a gateway to knowledge and total experience, The Digital SMK will also provide a striking platform for making Danish art and research open to everyone in the international arena,” says Karsten Ohrt, director of Statens Museum for Kunst.

“The Digital SMK is a pioneering educational project which actively involves the users. It will really reach out and give great art experiences to people and other museums both at home and abroad. That is why we have chosen to support the project,” says Torben Klein, director of the Nordea Danmark-fonden, which supports activities that promote the good life in the Danish society.

Follow the process
The first stage of The Digital SMK will open as soon as 2009, and all the digital platforms will be fully implemented in 2013. If you are interested, you can follow the development of The Digital SMK and comment on it already on the web blog www.smk.dk/digital . For further information contact: