Last week, the Louvre Museum announced an unanticipated collaboration with social media platform Pinterest.
Titled A Look at the Louvre, the series transports viewers to some of the lesser-known nooks and crannies of the esteemed museum; from collections, courtyards, and even little-known staircases. The mobile-friendly vertical videos will be available in English and French and cross-posted to Pinterest’s Daily Inspiration page in France, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK, and the US, as well as on the Louvre’s official Pinterest account. Videos already released on the Louvre’s Pinterest page include “So Cliché” — a tour of the museum through the eyes of photographers — and “The Lonely Visitor,” an exploration of the museum’s most private spots.
What’s Happening
The Louvre was one of the first museums to adopt Pinterest. It started its official account a decade ago and currently reaches an average of 230,000 views each month, with 40,000 followers. This new series of 10 videos, each 90 seconds long, aims to highlight some of the museum’s more unusual aspects.
In other words, the Mona Lisa is out and the Marly Marbles are in.
This is Pinterest’s first collaboration with a museum, although it has previously worked with creators like French artist Alain Godon, Pinterest continues to develop new partnerships in order to foster an “ecosystem of creators, enrich content production and accelerate livestreaming.”
Last year, Pinterest launched Idea Pins, allowing users to post and edit short-form videos. Image: Pinterest
Why It Matters
Pinterest is trying to rebrand itself as a discovery platform with a focus on shopping. Meanwhile, the Louvre wants people to stop taking selfies in front of the Mona Lisa. It’s a match made in heaven.
Pinterest is looking to become the next TikTok — to be fair, every platform is trying to become the next TikTok. Recently, Pinterest has begun billing itself as a visual discovery platform as a means to reconcile its user base boom (pandemic) and bust (post-pandemic). Last year, Pinterest launched Idea Pins, allowing users to post and edit short-form videos and introduced a watch tab, mimicking TikTok. Pinterest’s recent campaign Don’t don’t yourself also seeks to put potential creators in the spotlight, encouraging simple acts of doing.
In recent years, the Louvre has never been shy about its willingness to explore new forms of content. In 2012, The Louvre collaborated with Nintendo to release a museum audio guide. As well as being an early Pinterest adoptee, since 2010 the Louvre has been active on Instagram, where it has nearly 5 million followers. As museums grapple with re-engaging their audiences — and apparently food-throwing climate activists — post-pandemic, social media collaborations that potential visitors can experience from their homes seem promising.
What They Said
“Those who make the detour to the Louvre often remain marked by this place of endless wonder […] This series will provide new perspectives and further engage everyone’s creativity.”
— Sophie Grange, Deputy Director of Communications at the Louvre Museum.
“Our original production strategy aims to partner with the most inspiring creators and partners for our audience in search of new experiences. Art being one of the most popular categories on Pinterest, our collaboration with this museum which fascinates the whole world was therefore a no-brainer. Our original series offers a new experience presenting the Louvre, not only as an inexhaustible source of inspiration, but also as a place of life to explore: we hope that it will make as many people as possible want to push its doors.”
— Johan Gipch, Content & Creator Partnerships, Southern Europe at Pinterest.
