THATMuse stands for Treasure Hunt at the Museum. Our mission is to engage hunters on their scout for treasure (the art of the museums), by injecting a bit of adrenaline, interaction and learning into your museum visit. Teams of 2 to 4 people photo themselves in front of as many treasures as possible within the given amount of time. Poof! The very notion of “Museum Legs” disappears. Our goal? To make hunters want to – voluntarily – return to the galleries after their hunt. That’s why we provide excess treasure: it’s inconceivable to find all your treasure within a 90 min to 2 hour hunt, thus the need to strategise. After a 2-hour visit, do your kids typically lead you back into the museum?
WHERE ARE WE?
THATMuse started out as THATLou (au Louvre) in 2012, expanded to create THATd’Or (Musée d’Orsay) in 2013, took a dip outside the museums with THATRue (Latin Quarter and Marais) in 2014 & by 2015 was commissioned by the British Museum to create a hunt for one of their Friday Lates. That’s when we realized we were losing track of all our names & united under THATMuse. We now have more than 25 themes across the V&A, Natural History Museum, British Museum, in addition to our Paris treasure hunts. THATConcept is the same across, all you need are freshly charged batteries in your phone/camera, comfy shoes & a keen sense of curiosity!
WHY ARE WE?
If stretched out to a straight line, the Louvre would measure 8 miles (15 KM). The British Museum has a collection of 8 million pieces. The Musée d’Orsay has the single most important Impressionist collection in the world…Need we point out the crowds and lines and elbows that come with both lines and crowds? Henri Loyrette, former director of the Louvre, said 80% of 35K visitors a day go straight to the Mona Lisa and then leave the museum!
That’s a crime THATMuse looks to solve, focusing you on a theme, whilst expanding interest in quieter corners you might not think to visit on your own. Moreover it’s FUN, inevitably pumping adrenaline in the chase to capture as much treasure within the given time. You can opt for “friendly competition” (if another family surfaces for the same theme and date) for a social element or some families of 4 prefer to break up into two teams, one parent & child against each other.
Talking THATsmack to drum up museum anticipation is key, after all – and the THATMuse blog has posts per theme, making your treasure hunt educationally flexible. Hunters can read about their treasure before even making it to Paris or London (blog print-outs are useful for long plane rides), picking up on bonus answers before the hunt – important points that may just beat their sibling’s team (meanwhile surreptitiously planting an Art History seed!).
Following your hunt we send you a password to access (& join!) the annals of fellow THATHunters on our Gallery Page, where you can upload some team photos, scores, team name, where you’re from, etc. Not only can you compare notes on other teams’ romps, having your kids see other kids’ bonus photos may just reinforce the story of St George of who that Venus de Milo was!
WHO ARE WE?
An American (Daisy de Plume, Founder and Creative Director), an Argentine (Hernan, CEO), a Brit (Annie, head of French Operations), an Aussie (Raelene, Musée d’Orsay consultant) and a Swiss-Australian-Brit (Barbara, Graphics Consultant). Lest we forget Daisy and Hernan’s two culturally-confused, trilingual sprouts, Storsh and Brooksie, who are keen to help create silly bonus questions for our Kid-Friendly themes! You can meet the team here
