Dating in Museums

PhD Project (2023–2026)

Dating in Museums is a multi-stage empirical investigation of the emotional potential of museums. The project aims are to 1) identify the different uses of the art museum as a romantic space, 2) categorize exhibits emotionally and 3) analyse the social role of art as a third agent when visiting the museum together. The project thus approaches the larger research question “How are emotions traded in the art museum of the 21st century?” by focussing on the specific case of museum dates via four studies: 

A. Museum Dates

The first study consists of an online survey to quantitatively assess the variety of attitudes towards dating in museums. 1000 answers to the survey are mainly collected on the street in different Viennese districts to engage in open discussions about the topic. The aim is to achieve the broadest possible contextualisation, including various museum types (from art to technology to natural history museums) and a wide range of participants (from non-visitors to dedicated museum lovers). 

B. Speed Dates

The second study is a series of speed dating events taking place in a selected Viennese art museum (mumok). Participants get to know each other in a rotation process through conversations in front of selected works of art in the museum.  100 answers are collected via observation and a short questionnaire. The aim is to investigate the different bonding patterns with the artwork as well as with the dating partners. 

C. First Dates

On top of the one-off nature of the speed dating events, the third study examines museum visits over a longer period of time in the context of first dates. Volunteers recruited via the online survey independently arrange first dates with people from their personal environment in an art museum selected worldwide. Participants write a structured diary entry about the date from their own perspective, which serves as the basis for an open interview with the study leader. 

D. Repeated Dates

In addition to and in contrast to the first dates, the fourth study investigates museum visits over a longer period of time in the context of repeated dates by long-term couples. The volunteer participants recruited in the online survey arrange to meet their respective partners and the study leader at a Viennese art museum. Both participants are equipped with mobile eye-trackers and visit the exhibition in pairs. After the exhibition visit, an open interview with the study leader takes place in the museum and uses the eye-tracking recordings as a stimulated recall.

Project Members

• PhD Candidate: Carola Korhummel
• Thesis Advisory Committee: Luise Reitstätter, Dirk vom Lehn
• Supervisor: Raphael Rosenberg
• Cooperation Partners: Hannah Imhoff, Marie-Therese Hochwartner, mumok
• Internships: Svitlana Babych, Yamila Dannenberg, Sofie Engelhart, Klára Finta, Lina Mannherz, Kalina Piskorska, Lea Lamprecht, Sofia Rasheva, Aurelia Rieger, Laura Rist, Margo Ryabenkova, Lynn Süthoff, Renato Trotta, Lara Wieser