Designing 3D mapping projections for art museums based on ‘re-contextualization’: a case study of <i>The Night of Museum</i>

Curating museum exhibitions involves redefining the spatial and contextual relationships of artworks within a given environment. Traditionally confined within museum walls, exhibition spaces can now be extended into external environments through 3D mapping technology, offering new possibilities for re-contextualization in museum curation. This study examines the potential of 3D mapping architectural projections in museum curation, focusing on The Night of Museum (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rarRMC6US-4&t=1s), an architectural projection featured in the inaugural exhibition of Tsinghua University Art Museum (TAM). Using participatory observation and in-depth interviews, this research investigates the creative process, re-contextualization strategies employed by the creative team, and audience perceptions of the projection. The findings reveal that the creative team aimed to balance the academic nature of the museum exhibition with the artistic expression of architectural projection, establishing three interconnected spatial layers to integrate the exhibition space and projection space into a cohesive ‘overall museum exhibition space’. This study provides practical insights for museums integrating digital media into exhibition planning, offering new approaches to enhancing audience engagement and spatial storytelling.