Selfie Museum

The "selfie" is now so popular that the term has even been added to the dictionary, and there are tools available to improve your "selfie game," such as the selfie stick. Many museums and tourist attractions worldwide have banned selfie sticks in order to protect paintings, individual privacy and overall visitor experience (for example, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Palace of Versailles, the Colosseum in Rome, the Smithsonian Museums and many more). 

One museum in Manila, Philippines, is approaching the selfie stick differently. Art in Island lets visitors interact with the art by touching it and taking as many pictures as they want. As its Facebook page says, "Whenever you visit an art museum, you are always expected to just look around quietly.  You are not allowed to touch anything nor take pictures. You don't even have a single proof of being there. Art in Island allows visitors to interact and have fun with the art pieces. You can take as much pictures and videos you want! Here in Art in Island, we want you to BE PART OF THE ART." As this museum is the first of its kind, it is being called the "world's first selfie museum."

Here are some examples of the visitors' pictures.

Photo by: Art in Island

Photo by: Art in Island

Photo by: Art in Island

Photo by: Art in Island 

Ancient statues fall victim to selfie trend

Living in a time of technology and social media, the selfie craze is nearly impossible to escape. From young to old, anyone with access to a front-facing camera has dabbled in the art of selfies —including art itself.

At least it would appear that way after Reddit user Jazus_ur_lookin_well took four pictures of statues at Ireland’s Crawford Art Gallery at some particularly interesting angles.

The clever Reddit user strategically placed the camera to look as if the statues were taking selfies, and the expressions on the faces of the statues only add more humor. 

The statue selfie became so beloved, other Reddit users hit the museum to take similar shots, and an entire subreddit dedicated to the trend was born. 

Now, the original user has launched a website and a crowd-funding campaign to raise money to travel, visit more museums and create more selfie masterpieces. The cheeky pictures have successfully brought ancient artifacts into the modern age, and the trend has encouraged hundreds of people to visit museums and take a closer look — at some unique angles — at art.