V2_East/Documentation Meeting Sept.96

[abroeck@v2.nl (Andreas Broeckmann)]

*** International Meeting on the Documentation of Media Art ***
*******in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe********


* Date

Due to coincide with DEAF/ISEA 96 in Rotterdam, 16 - 22 September 1996
(exact date of the meeting is yet to be fixed)


* Theme and objective

V2_East, the initiative of V2_Organisation Rotterdam that is directed at
developing and improving cooperation between media art institutions in East
and West Europe, is planning a meeting about archives and the documentation
of media art in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe.

The history of media art in that region is yet to written. There have been
independent developments of media art in Eastern Europe which make it
necessary to treat these traditions not as an appendices to Western media
art, but to examine their particular dynamic and strategies and to place
them in the historical and cultural context from which they emerged. The
notion of media art employed here encompasses, broadly speaking, art using
electronic media (video, computers, electronic networks, etc., as well as
some precursors). Although there is a host of material relating to the
media art projects and events of the last 20 to 25 years, researchers and
curators today frequently face the problem of locating and accessing such
material for historical studies and exhibitions, and thus to show and
understand its specificities.

The meeting wants to make a first step in the direction of mapping the
historical material available in different places. It will bring together
an international group of researchers, curators, artists and archivists who
will exchange information about existing archives and documentation
sources, about storage media and about the functionality of archives.

The objective of the meeting will be to draw up an inventory of such
sources, and to discuss ways of making the existing material more easily
accessible. We want to create a publication (on floppy disk) and an online
data base (on the World Wide Web) which will contain the information
currently available, and which can be extended in the future.


* Structure of the meeting

The meeting will consist of two half-day sessions:

(1) Public session with presentations about the history, documentation, and
archival situation relating to media art in Central, Eastern and South
Eastern Europe. This session will aim to provide an overview over the
development of media art in the past 25 years, it will outline the themes
covered by existing research, and will try to pinpoint areas which deserve
the attention of art and media historians. The session will provide
researchers with an historical framework, and will serve to offer an
interested public with a rare opportunity to get insights into this largely
unknown field of European art.

(2) Specialised workshop session in which researchers, curators and
archivists will talk and exchange information about the bibliography,
collections, archives, data bases, etc., relating to media art in Central,
Eastern and South Eastern Europe. The workshop will seek to draw up an
inventory of existing sources and will tackle problems of access,
publication, and the compatibility of different research tools.


* Call for contributions

This proposal by Inke Arns and Andreas Broeckmann is the first publication
of the planned meeting. It is an invitation for those interested in the
topic to contribute to what could become a unique opportunity to meet and
share our knowledge. In order for the meeting to be successful, we should
in a joint effort use the coming six months to begin collecting the
information which many of us have and which can form the basis of our
discussions in September. As much of this information as possible will be
made available prior to the meeting.

We therefore request the submission of information relating to:

- existing published and online information sources;
- contributions to a complete and commented bibliography of media art in
Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe;
- archive contacts and information;
- names and addresses of researchers and institutions we should get in
touch with.

We also invite the submission of proposals for contributions to the
September meeting and suggestions for the themes that the meeting should
cover. As indicated above, these should especially relate to the history
and historiography of media art in different parts of Central, Eastern and
South Eastern Europe, to particular traditions, and to the general problems
of documentation in the field.


* Funding sources

We will try to attract funding for organisation and research before the
meeting, for the publication and documentation of the results, and for
travel and accommodation for some of the invited researchers, from Dutch
and other sources.
Travel and accommodation costs should if possible be covered by the
institutions of the participants, and other interested parties, like
universities, academies, research centres, etc. We might devise a special
fee for guests from such institutions which could cover (parts of) the
costs for one invited guest. Suggestions for funding opportunities for what
is as yet a no-budget project are welcome.


* Contact

For suggestions and further information, please contact:

Inke Arns <inke@is.in-berlin.de>
Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@v2.nl>


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V2_Organisatie * Andreas Broeckmann * abroeck@v2.nl
Eendrachtsstr.10 * NL-3012XL Rotterdam * t.+31.10.4046427 * fx.4128562
<http://www.v2.nl> <http://www.v2.nl/east> <http://www.dds.nl/n5m> Next 5
Minutes

online in Berlin from February - April 1996.
Wildenbruchstr.4, D-12045 Berlin, t/f.+49-30-6884834/-6884558