TikTok Connects Audiences with Culture
TikTok and Ayala Foundation bring arts and culture into digital conversations.
Words Art+ Magazine Team
Photos courtesy of Ayala Foundation
July 11, 2026
Museums and cultural institutions are finding new ways to meet people where they already are—online. A new initiative, led by TikTok and Ayala Foundation, is exploring how short-form video can help make arts, culture, and heritage feel more accessible and alive for today’s audiences.
TikTok, together with Ayala Foundation and Ayala Museum (@ayalamuseum), gathered museum professionals, creators, and cultural advocates for TikTok Content Camp: Arts and Culture Advocacy Edition. The program focused on one question: how do you tell cultural stories in a way that actually reaches people today?
On TikTok, the #MuseumTok community has grown into a space where curators, creators, and everyday viewers can post and share short videos about art, history, and cultural heritage, mixing learning with storytelling, humor, and trends.
TikTok’s 2026 Museum Insights Report: Scrolling Through Culture notes that museums are increasingly reaching new audiences through short-form storytelling, often boosted by creators who make history feel more familiar and less distant.
Interest is clearly growing. Two in five TikTok users globally say they’re interested in historical events, while #HistoryTok has more than doubled year over year, crossing 900,000 posts. #Museum content has also passed one million posts, up 67% year over year.
A panel discussion, Culture Discovery Panel, looked at how heritage and the arts can thrive online, and how digital visibility can translate into real-world engagement.
The conversation featured Ivan Anthony Henares, PhD, Secretary-General of the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines and Chairperson of the Heritage Conservation Society; Jorell Legaspi, Senior Director for Arts & Culture at Ayala Foundation; Dennis Marasigan, Vice-President and Artistic Director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines; and Bea Bautista, Communications Lead for the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia at TikTok.
For Marasigan, bringing culture closer to people doesn’t always require a physical space. “The fact that we don’t have that building made us even more aware that there is more opportunity, and perhaps a bigger responsibility, to try to reach as many people as possible, not only in terms of providing them with cultural experiences, but also in presenting the idea that culture is not something you see simply on stage. Culture is all around us.”
Henares pointed to something lasting amid rapid technological change. “Culture is what makes us human. The technology that we have today is going to change, and the apps that we have today might not even be the apps of tomorrow. Things can disappear, but culture carries with it the accumulated wisdom, creativity, and experiences of generations,” said Henares.
Another session, focused on advocacy and education content, featured historian Mona Veluz (@mightymagulang) and journalist Jacque Manabat (@jacquemanabat). They explored how cultural information can be turned into content that feels less like a lecture and more like a story people actually want to watch.
Workshops during the program gave museum teams and cultural groups hands-on experience in creating content for the platform.
“From reimagining classic art through a modern lens, to delivering LIVE tours from the world's most iconic museums, TikTok is transforming how people discover culture, creativity, and learning,” said Yves Gonzalez, Public Policy Head for the Philippines at TikTok. “Through TikTok Content Camp: Arts and Culture Advocacy Edition, TikTok aims to help museums tap into passionate fandom, giving every museum the potential to build a devoted following.”
For Ayala Foundation, the push is about access and connection. “It is important to us that Filipinos of all ages have opportunities to engage with our history, heritage, and culture,” said Antonio “Tony” G. Lambino II, President and Trustee of Ayala Foundation. “We are not simply preserving artifacts or sharing stories. We are helping cultivate a deeper sense of identity, agency, and connection to community, which are essential to building thriving communities.”
Content Camp is TikTok’s learning program for helping different sectors build stronger content skills and understand how storytelling works on the platform. This edition centered on museums and cultural institutions finding new ways to share their work with wider audiences.
