Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art: Encountering Religion in Asian Art Website
Overview
The Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, interested in telling the story of religion in Asian Art, engaged Interactive Knowledge to build a section of their website focused on this topic. Titled Encountering Religion in Asian Art, visitors find a range of resources, from object guides and activity modules with lesson plans to an interactive timeline map and videos, helping them to explore the geographical and chronological story of how religion impacted the arts in Asia.
Challenge
The Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art (NMAA) offers a wealth of free educational resources developed by experts in Asian art and culture; the institutional goals are to make its resources and expertise available to the general public, particularly educators in public schools. To help students engage with the content and help busy educators access helpful resources quickly, NMAA needed a content delivery site that is easy to navigate, clearly organized, interactive, and visually interesting. They wanted to convert complex historic data into interactive digital experiences that are both educational and delightful. Encountering Religion in Asian Art is a subsection of the larger NMAA website’s Educator Resources, and needed to maintain the overall look and feel of the newly redesigned website.
Approach
Interactive Knowledge worked with NMAA to identify user needs and expectations on how to organize the site content. The site provides users with a curated list of important objects, access to lesson modules, video interviews, and glossary information to help less familiar users navigate new terms. One of the more innovative features is the map and timeline, which combine geographic and chronological data to tell a rich story about art and religion as they evolve over time and across locations. Users can filter data by religion type (Buddhism, Islam, or Hinduism), time period, and objects, giving them a more complete and visual understanding of a complicated topic.
Key Features
- Interactive Timeline Map: A Mapbox interface that allows users to explore time, location, religion, and objects.
- Innovative Design matches the broader site’s design system:
- Scrollable Feature Navigation: Visual layout encouraging users to review all of the site's offerings.
- Scalable Architecture: Built using Drupal with embedded assets like Google Slides and YouTube videos, it allows for future content expansion.
Results
Encountering Religion in Asian Art provides the National Museum of Asian Art visitors with an engaging and informative content portal that shares curated objects, lesson plans, glossary information, videos, and an interactive timeline map using a striking visual design that both adheres to NMAA’s style guide while offering innovative approaches to specific content needs. Designed to expand as content needs evolve, the site offers a comprehensive range of resources that are easy to navigate and use.
