It starts as a quiet unease, an almost imperceptible shift in the fabric of daily life. The high street vanishes into a sequence of empty storefronts and fulfilment warehouses. Your books, once dog-eared companions, become digital files that can be deleted or revoked without warning. Even art—once a definitive human endeavour—slips into the uncanny hands of algorithms. The physical world, in all its reassuring weight and permanence, is becoming vaporous.
“nothing actually exists anymore,” someone laments online. “like so many physical stores are closing and you can’t have a house and everything is a subscription or an app u can’t play games without the internet and u can’t even guarantee that art and writing is even made by people like everything is vapour.”
It’s a sentiment that resonates. The world is dematerialising at an alarming rate, and with it, something ineffable but vital is being lost. The tangibility of experience—its weight, its texture, its irrefutable realness—feels increasingly rare. But there is one institution, one cultural bastion, that could be ripe to push back against this tide of ephemerality: the museum.
The Real as Resistance
Museums, in their very essence, are places of material reality. They are repositories of objects, evidence of lives lived and histories shaped. While much of the world migrates towards the intangible—streaming, cloud storage, AI-generated content—museums remain grounded. A Rembrandt self-portrait cannot be deactivated by a licensing agreement. An ancient Egyptian amulet does not buffer. A Viking sword does not vanish if the Wi-Fi goes down.
This matters now more than ever. In an era where digital culture is increasingly ephemeral, museums offer something radical: the real. The act of standing before an artefact, knowing that it was held, used, or created centuries ago, provides an anchor in time. It counters the fleeting nature of the online world, offering proof of continuity, of presence, of human touch.
Beyond the Glass Case: A Multi-Sensory Revival
But museums must go further than simply existing as storage for reality. If they are to serve as an antidote to the growing detachment of modern life, they must embrace the full sensory experience that only the physical world can provide. Too often, museum objects are positioned behind glass, mere visual stimuli rather than tactile, immersive experiences. But there is a growing movement that seeks to change this.
Innovative museums are experimenting with ways to enhance the ‘realness’ of their collections. Some are integrating touch-friendly artefacts—replicas designed to be held and felt. Others incorporate scent, temperature, and sound to bring historical environments to life. Living history experiences, where visitors interact with costumed interpreters or handle historically accurate reproductions, are on the rise. The goal? To lean into the one thing digital culture cannot replicate: the depth of physical engagement.
The Democratisation of the Tangible
It’s easy to assume that the hunger for authenticity is a niche concern—a privilege of those weary of their screens. But the appeal of the real is broad and universal. In fact, museums that emphasise material culture can reach audiences across generational and socioeconomic divides.
For younger generations, who have grown up in an era where even friendships are mediated through screens, the physicality of museum experiences can be revelatory. The resurgence of vinyl records, film photography, and independent bookstores suggests a deep-seated longing for material connection. Museums are perfectly poised to cater to this impulse, providing a space where history isn’t just read about—it is encountered in its full, tangible form.
For older generations, there is comfort in continuity. The world may be shifting rapidly, but museums hold firm as spaces where objects—and the memories attached to them—endure. Museums are places where grandparents can share stories of their past with grandchildren, and where artefacts serve as tangible touchstones between generations.
The Future of Museums in a Dematerialised World
If the world is indeed turning to vapour, museums must position themselves as the counterbalance. They must actively champion their status as refuges of the real, places where history is not just seen but felt. This means moving beyond static displays and embracing multisensory engagement. It means pushing against the temptation to digitise and virtualise everything, and instead, leaning into what makes museums unique.
The challenge, of course, is that museums also exist in a world increasingly dictated by digital trends. There is pressure to keep pace, to integrate virtual reality, to offer online experiences that extend beyond their walls. These efforts have value, particularly in terms of accessibility, but they must not come at the expense of the core promise of museums: the promise of the real.
In a world where even art and writing can be generated by non-human intelligence, where physical spaces are shrinking, and where experience is often mediated through screens, museums can—and must—stand apart. They must be the places where reality is not optional, where objects retain their presence, and where history remains something you can touch.
Because if everything else turns to vapour, where else will we go to remember what it meant to be real?