With 90-minute videos entering testing, Instagram is making room for more ambitious storytelling. Here’s what galleries, museums and art fairs need to know about the platform’s latest evolution.

How do you edit a century of art history in 30 seconds? An entire exhibition in a 15-second walkthrough? A curator explaining a masterpiece before the viewer's thumb moves on?

Instagram now appears to be reconsidering the limits of that approach. A welcome development for an industry with more to offer than a fleeting scroll. On October 26, the platform announced tests of horizontal videos lasting up to 90 minutes, alongside new features connecting short-form clips to longer programming. The experiment began with selected creators in Brazil and is expanding to a limited group in the United States.

Now, this is all very interesting from a technological point of view, but what does it mean for the art world?

From Scrolling to Screening

Instagram's latest experiment, known as Features, signals an ambition to compete more directly with YouTube and streaming platforms. As many creators have stated “Instagram is declaring war on long-format platforms”.

The company is testing a system that allows creators to connect up to eight short clips to a longer video. It is also expanding its episodic Series functionality. However, what the general public might have missed is the development that began months earlier, and on a much bigger screen.

In June, Instagram expanded Instagram for TV to Samsung Smart TVs in the US, joining Amazon Fire TV and Google TV. At the time, it was already experimenting with horizontal video and exploring longer programmes, episodic series and live broadcasts for television. With this in mind, October's announcement looks less like a sudden change of heart and more like the next step in a plan that's been taking shape all summer.

The ambition goes beyond keeping us scrolling for longer. Instagram wants us watching from the sofa, too. For galleries, museums and artists already producing exhibition films, studio documentaries and curator-led conversations, that could open up an interesting new audience. A Reel can catch someone's attention on the train; yet the full story could eventually find its way onto their television. Imagine your exhibition’s content taking over at-home movie dates. Whether viewers will embrace that habit remains to be seen, but Instagram is clearly making room for it.

For cultural organisations, the opportunity lies in connecting discovery with deeper engagement. Imagine a 30-second Reel introducing an exhibition, leading directly to a 25-minute curator-led tour. Or a short interview with an artist directing interested viewers towards a complete studio conversation.

However, 90-minute videos are not becoming universally available Reels overnight. This is a limited long-form test, and there is no guarantee that extended videos will receive the same recommendation treatment as short-form content.

Which brings us to the algorithm (if all roads once led to Rome they now all lead to algorithm analysis.)

What the Algorithm Actually Rewards

Instagram does not operate through one universal ranking system. Feed, Stories, Explore and Reels use different recommendation systems, responding to how people engage with content.

According to Instagram head honcho Adam Mosseri, three particularly important ranking signals are:

Watch time: How long audiences actually stay with your content.

• Likes per reach: An indication of how positively existing audiences respond.

• Sends per reach: How frequently people share content privately, particularly relevant for reaching new audiences.

Meta says Reels are reshared more than 4.5 billion times a day across its platforms. For the art world, that final signal could be the key to your success. Whilst a visitor might appreciate a beautifully photographed painting, a video can reveal an unusual restoration discovery, a surprising detail in an artwork or an artist's creative process: a story worth sharing.

The algorithm (unfortunately or fortunately) cannot measure cultural significance. It can, however, observe whether people find your content compelling enough to watch and share.

Which means that longer content ≠ automatically better content. Under Instagram's existing Reels guidance, videos exceeding three minutes face restrictions on recommendations to non-followers. The new 90-minute experiment should therefore be treated as an additional storytelling opportunity, not a replacement for short-form discovery.

What This Means for the Art World

For galleries: make the artist the story.

Collectors increasingly encounter artists online before visiting their exhibitions. According to the Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2026, 72% of surveyed high-net-worth collectors conduct moderate or significant research before buying art. Studio visits, conversations about process and short documentary series can establish familiarity with an artist's practice.

A practical format: publish a 30–45-second extract from an artist interview, then offer the complete conversation through an available longer-form channel. Measure how many viewers move from the clip to the full interview or exhibition information.

For museums: turn institutional expertise into accessible programming.

Museums already produce lectures, conservation documentaries and curatorial discussions. These resources can be repackaged into a connected editorial series.

Consider Behind the Collection: a weekly short video introducing a question about an artwork, followed by a longer curator-led explanation. The objective is to make scholarship accessible without sacrificing its substance.

For art fairs: extend the experience beyond the opening weekend.

Art fairs generate an extraordinary amount of content within a few days, much of which disappears from public attention almost immediately.

Rather than publishing endless booth walkthroughs, organisers could develop short interviews with participating galleries, thematic collecting guides and conversations with curators. These can continue attracting audiences after the fair closes.

For smaller fairs especially, an editorial archive offers a way to build recognition beyond the event itself.

For artists: turn your practice into a story.

An artist's Instagram can offer audiences a glimpse into the thinking, experimentation and occasional frustrations behind its creation. A rare encounter with your creative process.

Instead of relying exclusively on images of completed works, artists can document the evolution of a project, discuss their influences or share the decisions that shaped a particular piece.

A practical format: publish a 30–45-second clip introducing a work in progress, followed by a longer studio diary or conversation exploring its development. This gives audiences a reason to follow the journey and return to see the finished result.