CEAD has launched a new project NEW MEDIA MUSEUMS

NEWS | FEBRUARY 2, 2021

The project NEW MEDIA MUSEUMS: Creating Framework for Preserving and Collecting Media Arts in V4 was initiated by the Olomouc Museum of Art as a joint international platform for sharing experience with building and maintaining collections of new media artworks across different types of institutions. It includes organizations from the independent sector focusing on presenting and promoting new media art as well as heritage institutions from Czechia, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary. The initial phase of the project has been launched in January 2021 and is planned for 18 months.

The project responds to the problem of under-representation of media arts and culture in heritage institutions in V4 countries. Historians, curators, artists have long recognised video art, digital art, sound art, internet art, interactive installations, and digital culture artefacts as an important phenomenon of recent era. However, the legacy of these works is largely limited to art professionals. The artefacts are almost absent in museum collections and pioneering works from the 1970s & 80s are largely unknown to general public. The main reason for this is the lack of expertise for their preservation in the V4 instutions and the absence of a methodology for technical and administrative handling of the artworks.

The aim of the project is to find workable methods for heritage institutions to build and maintain collections of media arts, which are necessary for safeguarding this area for the benefit of society. The main intention is to build expertise based on practical experience and to publish a number of case studies on selected new media artworks. Many collaborators from various fields – theorists, curators, conservators, artists and technical experts from partner institutions and beyond – are involved in their creation.

The project is supported by the International Visegrad Fund.