In the UK, museum attendance is in decline – with the exception of London’s Design Museum, which saw a 500% increase in visitors after opening its new location. But as the proportion of paying visitors to the museum fell, how will museums incentivise the modern art viewer to cough up?

What would a painting by a celebrated artist smell, sound or taste like? For too long, museums were strictly ‘look and don’t touch’, but curators are now putting visitors’ senses and emotions at the heart of their exhibitions – all while providing a slick backdrop for an Instagram update.

After a decade of declining visitor numbers, the UK’s cultural institutions are turning things around by scrapping the conventional ‘look-don’t-touch’ mantra and making use of experiential tech. The British Museum has done just that with its first VR weekend to promote its Bronze Age exhibit.

While public funding bodies often invest more into London’s cultural landscape than the rest of the country’s, the Yorkshire-based Hepworth Wakefield gallery is proving that regional areas are just as worthy. Having drawn 210,000 visitors in 2016, it’s helping to democratise the arts in the UK.