There’s a lot of talk about the challenges that digital publishing poses to print, and vice versa; less, that I have found, about how they might complement each other. Apollo has a long history and a well-deserved reputation for astute, in-depth writing about the arts. From today, its website will become a space to respond to that writing rather than to reproduce it; somewhere to take up the issues and ideas that the magazine raises monthly, and to discuss, revisit, and digress.
The Muse Room will post a daily selection of news stories, opinion pieces, edited series and reviews. Like Apollo itself, its scope will be international and its interests diverse – something which I hope will be reflected in its visitors. Because a website is so often the first port of call for interested newcomers, The Muse Room will aim to provide accessible introductions to the worlds of art, design, and collecting; but it will also ask questions of them, and offer the regular reader new perspectives on the debates and events that shape them. A new Agenda section, soon to be released alongside the blog, will provide comprehensive listings of exhibitions, auctions, art fairs and events across the world.
Debate thrives online, and I hope that this will quickly become a place that fosters it, anchored of course by the weight of Apollo’s monthly scholarship. We will hear from people across and outside the art world – from curators and academics, to dealers, collectors, artists, invigilators and office workers – and cover a range of institutions from the National Gallery to the far-flung studio museum. We’ll ask what people are saying about art and culture and, just as importantly, what might have been drowned out in the clamour of the day’s news. Most importantly, we invite your response and comment in a way which is uniquely possible online.
One of the pleasures of the internet is that it is constantly changing, and this website like any other will inevitably evolve and update itself over time. I hope that Apollo’s readers will play an active part in that process, and use the new website as a way to engage directly with the magazine. Together, Apollo and The Muse Room will endeavour to provide two distinct yet complementary perspectives on the art world; different rhythms perhaps, but to the same tune.