MUŻA and beyond : exploring innovation in Malta's museum sector

Abstract

This dissertation investigates innovation at MUŻA, Malta’s national art museum, which opened its doors to the public in the capital city of Valletta in December 2018. By focusing on MUŻA’s business model, product or service offerings, and visitor experience, this study analyses the types of innovation the museum has already implemented or is planning to implement in the future. The starting point of this dissertation was MUŻA’s own mission statement which stipulates its aim to be a 'national-community art museum, the first of its kind'. The research question asks whether the business model, product or service offerings and visitor experience at MUŻA satisfy this innovation-driven aspect of its mission statement: MUŻA aims to be a 'national-community art museum, the first of its kind'. How is this aim reflected in innovation applied to the museum’s business model, product and user experience? Innovation at MUŻA was explored through the thematic analysis of data generated from fifteen semi-structured interviews with participants from both MUŻA and the broader museum sector in Malta. The findings showed that the community-focused vision driving MUŻA forward is significantly innovative when compared to the rest of the museum sector in the Malta, and this is evident in the museum’s business model, product or service offerings and visitor experience. While some shortcomings were noted in relation to the implementation of these different types of innovation, this could be a consequence of MUŻA having only been open to the public for around six months by the time this study was concluded.