Mediaartbase.de

Archiving media art has become increasingly important in the international art world. Although a large number of aesthetically valuable works have been produced in the last three decades, only few have been incorporated into existing archives. It is essential for archives to safeguard and conserve these works for the future, as video tapes, films, analogue carrier materials, CDs and DVDs have a limited lifespan.
The ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe collaborated on a ground-breaking project with the European Media Art Festival, the documenta Archive in Kassel and the Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival. This joint KUR project aimed to electronically process a selection of media art from these unique collections and to make it available to the public.
An important aspect of the project involved developing a model database, archival and presentation structures that enable smaller archives and other institutions to “dock on” and process their own collections. “Mediaartbase.de” made use of open-source software as much as possible in order to create an inexpensive, decentralized database and enable links between new content and existing data.

Project administrator:
ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe

Cooperative partners:
European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück
documenta Archive Kassel and the Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival