Testimonials from Our Partners and Colleagues

Professionals from the Netherlands and abroad have expressed their strong support for LI-MA

In light of the challenges LI-MA is currently facing regarding structural funding, we have been deeply moved by the outpouring of support from our partners and affiliated institutions. Their powerful words highlight LI-MA’s vital role in the preservation and distribution of digital art, both within the Netherlands and on a global scale.

We are proud to share some of these testimonials with our community, emphasizing the importance of LI-MA’s work in safeguarding the future of digital art.

Sabine Himmelsbach

Director HEK (House of Electronic Arts), Basel

“I would like to emphasize how important the work accomplished by LI-MA over the past decades is and that it is imperative that it continues in order to help preserve the digital heritage of the past decades. Especially in a time of rapid technological change, it is important to have institutions that were involved at an early stage and can also provide historical context.”

Sandra Kisters

Directeur Collectie en onderzoek Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam:

“De conservering van media- en digitale kunst kan niet zonder een instelling als LI-MA.”

Josephine Bosma

Curator, critic and theorist:

“Help support the Amsterdam based media art organization LI-MA - Living Media Art, which rose from the ashes of the Dutch media art institute NIMk after the horrible, narrow minded art funding cuts in 2011. LI-MA - Living Media Art now faces the same ordeal. They are very important in the development of preservation methods for digital art, and add heaps to media art discourse in the Netherlands.” their knowledge and dedication is immensely valuable. Let's support LI-MA!”

de Appel, Amsterdam:

“LI-MA heeft uw steun nodig om hun vitale werk voort te zetten. Tot nu toe heeft LI-MA jaarlijks geïnvesteerd in haar infrastructuur en taken door het verkrijgen van projectfinanciering. In Nederland ontbreekt het de erfgoedsector aan specifieke regelingen of categorieën voor collectieontwikkeling, onderzoek, beheer en behoud van mediakunst en digitale cultuur. Terwijl veel kunstenaars en erfgoedinstellingen profiteren van hun gespecialiseerde expertise en tools om hun interne kennis op te bouwen, komt LI-MA, de toonaangevende instelling op dit gebied, ondanks een positieve beoordeling niet in aanmerking voor financiering, omdat het niet wordt gezien als een presentatie- of ontwikkelingsinstelling.”

William Killbride

Executive Director, The Digital Preservation Coalition:

“Sustainable funding for LI-MA is vital, and for much more than the sake of the digital art in their collections. Here’s why: digital art is at the cutting edge of digital creativity. It pushes boundaries and tries new things. Such free-range experimentation challenges how we imagine and design digital infrastructures across all manner of institutions and agencies, especially those infrastructures that ensure digital resilience. It is the perfect laboratory to test and enhance the preservation, sustainability and reproducibility of the digital estate. In so doing it deals with a central concern of a surprisingly wide range of long-term operational challenges across many sectors, industries and regulators: how can we authenticate the digital content we hold?; how can we re-use it for purposes as yet unimagined? LI-MA has a first-class reputation as a leading practitioner and collaborative partner in this field, working at the cutting edge of a global challenge. It’s concerning that work of such wide and urgent relevance could be left to chance.”

Caroline van Diest

Registrar Kunstcollectie De Nederlandsche Bank:

“Zonder de expertise van LI-MA is het voor De Nederlandsche Bank niet mogelijk haar digitale kunstcollectie professioneel te conserveren en uit te dragen.” Daarbij is LI-MA punctueel en zorgvuldig in de communicatie alsook in het uitbetalen van gelden aan de maker op het moment dat de film ergens wordt vertoond."

Arjon Dunnewind

General Director IMPAKT, Utrecht:

“De wortels van de nieuwste kunstvormen - mediakunst, performancekunst, interactieve installatie, digitale kunst - liggen in de door LI-MA beheerde collectie en archief. Voor een vooruitstrevend en toekomstgericht cultuurbeleid is het noodzakelijk dat de jonge geschiedenis van deze kunstvormen goed beheerd en actief ingezet kan worden in nieuwe programma's. Daarom moet LI-MA blijven voortbestaan, met landelijke steun.”

Patricia Falcão

Time-based Media Conservator at Tate, London:

“I came into the media conservation profession in the early 2000's, and at the time LI-MA's predecessors created most of the few resources available in the field, since then, and over the last 20+ years LI-MA has always been at the heart of the field of media art conservation, researching new technologies, tools and approaches; developing resources; putting in place events that support artists and conservation practitioners. It is hard to believe that they are at risk, and the loss of their expertise and networks would be a big blow to media art conservation in Europe and worldwide.”

Eleni Gioti

Co-Director Light Cone, Paris:

“Light Cone is deeply concerned about the news concerning the funding of LI-MA, a structure whose importance in the Dutch and European media arts landscape is indisputable. It is vital to support organisations that ensure the preservation and promotion of the media arts in Europe. In this sense, LI-MA deserves all the support so that it can continue its long-standing work in this field.”

Bregtje van der Haak

Director Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam:

“LI-MA is een onmisbare partner van Eye Filmmuseum op het gebied van distributie, conservering en digitalisering van audiovisuele kunst. Zonder LI-MA dreigt er een schat aan kennis en cultureel erfgoed verloren te gaan.”

Kurt d'Haeseleer

Director and Co-Founder of WERKTANK:

“Ik ken geen enkele organisatie in Europa die op zo’n verfrissende wijze de geschiedenis van mediakunst verbindt met de actuele innovatieve kunst. LI-MA maakt archivering niet alleen aantrekkelijk (een haast onmogelijk ogende opdracht), maar speelt bovendien ook vlotjes in op wat leeft in de huidige (kunst)wereld.”

William Kilbride

Executive Director, The Digital Preservation Coalition:

Lidewij de Koekkoek

Director Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem

“LI-MA is een onmisbaar instituut en partner op het gebied van het beheer en behoud van mediakunst. Dankzij de expertise op het gebied van conservering kunnen komende generaties ook nog genieten van videokunst, installaties, performances en digitale kunst. Het is ontzettend belangrijk dat deze kennis en ervaring niet verloren gaan binnen het culturele landschap. Als partner van het Frans Hals Museum draagt LI-MA zorg voor onze videokunstcollectie en is LI-MA een essentiële partij om mee samen te werken wanneer onze time based werken gepresenteerd worden. Daarnaast leent het Frans Hals Museum regelmatig werken uit de distributie collectie van LIMA, zoals onlangs voor de tentoonstelling van PINK de Thierry.”

Katja Kwastek

Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam:

“Since the 1980s, the Netherlands have had a pivotal role in the international development of Media Art. Media Art has a key role in helping current and future generations to understand our contemporary digital society. LI-MA is the number one institution to take care of this important cultural heritage. Their knowledge and expertise on the preservation of new media art is crucial to keep this heritage alive and accessible.”

Arnaud Obermann

Restaurator für Medienkunst [Time-Based Media Conservator], Staatsgalerie Stuttgart:

"I benefited from LI-MA's expertise while I was still a student. After 14 years in this professional field, nothing has changed. LI-MA is still a vibrant, visionary player in this game, brimming with expertise. Please stay with us so that highly topical and historical, controversial and critical art continues to be preserved in the future. Please support LI-MA!"

Anna Olszewska

Curator at Re:Senster Lab, AGH University in Krakow:

“LI-MA's unique expertise has contributed to the reactivation of SENSTER a pioneering cybernetic piece installed in 1970s Philips' Evoluon an important legacy of Dutch digital culture.”

ROZENSTRAAT – a rose is a rose is a rose:

“Niet alleen kunstenaars(nalatenschappen) zijn afhankelijk van de expertise van LI-MA, ook presentatie instellingen zoals wij. In de afgelopen jaren hebben we dankzij de grote toewijding van LI-MA prachtige tentoonstellingen kunnen maken met het werk van onder meer Lydia Schouten, Pola Weiss, Michel Cardena, Claudio Goulart en Flavio Pons. In de komende periode staan nog véél meer samenwerkingen gepland waarvoor de conservering en distributie van mediakunst door LI-MA essentieel is! Dat deze instelling nu in haar voortbestaan wordt bedreigd is onbegrijpelijk en uiterst zorgwekkend. Laat LI-MA niet ten onder gaan!”

Ellen Smit

Curator of Collections, Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam:

“Het onderzoek en de kennisdeling van LI-MA is van essentieel belang voor het behoud en toegankelijk houden van digitaal erfgoed. Nieuwe Instituut heeft met de digital born collectie op het gebied van architectuur en stedenbouw een kennisinstituut als LI-MA nodig om deze collectie te kunnen beheren en behouden.”

Angelique Spaninks

Director and Curator of MU Hybrid Art House, Eindhoven:

“To all who live online and/or hybrid lives - and aren’t we all - let’s keep LI-MA alive for they are a crucial link in the chain of digital culture in the present, preserving the past and preparing for the future.” If we loose LI-MA, we will loose an important connection to our public, and also an important connection to our own art, as if we would become amnesiac…"

Maartje Stubbe

Director FOMU, Antwerp:

“FOMU steunt de oproep voor het voortbestaan en de subsidiëring van LI-MA. FOMU heeft de afgelopen jaren nauwlettend de waardevolle bijdrage van LI-MA aan de cultuursector gevolgd en ervaren. De diepgaande kennis en ervaring die LI-MA biedt, zijn van onschatbare waarde en uniek binnen België en Nederland. LI-MA vervult een rol die door geen enkele andere instelling in onze regio kan worden overgenomen.”

Marije Verduijn

Collection Management, Centraal Museum, Utrecht:

“We kunnen niet zonder LI-MA voor het behoud van mediakunst. Verlies van kennis dreigt.”

Miriam Windhausen

Adviseur Kunstenaarsnalatenschappen:

“LI-MA is van onschatbaar belang voor verleden, heden en toekomst van mediakunst. LI-MA is de enige plek in Nederland waar kennis, behoud en ontwikkeling van mediakunst samenkomen. Mediakunst is intrinsiek kwetsbaar en complex, een expertisecentrum als LI-MA kan niet worden gemist. Kwetsbare kunst dreigt verloren te gaan. Een enorme hoeveelheid kennis en ervaring dreigt verloren te gaan. LI-MA is voor het hele kunstenveld van belang! LI-MA moet blijven!”

ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe:

“LI-MA’s invaluable work in the conservation, archiving, and distribution of media art is crucial for preserving a vital cultural heritage that is at risk due to rapid technological advancements. Not supporting LI-MA threatens to undermine years of expertise and collaboration, jeopardizing the future of a globally significant institution that continues to inspire our community of artists, curators, and conservators.”

Dietmar Schwärzler

Managing Director sixpackfilm:

We have just learned that the continued existence of LI-MA is in jeopardy, which shocks us deeply. LI-MA is one of the leading international organizations for the preservation and distribution of media art, which has done pioneering work in this cultural field on a national and international level. The destruction of these important structures is significant in a right-wing cultural policy that sees no sense in the preservation of progressive cultural heritage. We would like to show our full solidarity with LI-MA and hope that these undesirable developments can be stopped and that funding can be secured.

Charlotte Procter

Collection & Archive Director LUX:

LI-MA plays an essential role within the global community of media artists, distributors, exhibitors, and audiences. They have been at the forefront of addressing the complex challenges associated with the preservation of media art, both in the Netherlands and internationally. Their commitment to this field is demonstrated through the invaluable services they provide to leading art institutions while diligently safeguarding their own unique collection. The work undertaken by LI-MA is indispensable for the research, distribution, and exhibition of media art. It is vital that this important initiative is protected and sustained, ensuring that future generations can continue to benefit from and engage with this significant cultural heritage.

Mark Williams

Director CIRCUIT Artist Moving Image:

My name is Mark Williams and I am the Director of CIRCUIT Artist Moving Image. We are New Zealand’s largest distributor of artists' films. Our collection spans the past 50 years, includes over 1000 works from 1974-2024 and we support over 250 artists. Our activities are supported by Creative New Zealand, the arts council of New Zealand. I am writing in support of LI-MA. Over the past 15 years I have worked with several of their staff as part of the artists film network DINAMO. As a group of professionals, we meet regularly, often at international film festivals in Europe, where LI-MA has showcased the remarkable historical and contemporary practice that is Netherlands artist’s video and media. Without the advocacy, knowledge and work of LI-MA staff, neither myself nor many other audiences would have had the privilege to encounter and absorb the rich catalogue of work by Dutch artists working in screen-based media. The threat to LI-MA’s funding is a grave error. It would undo decades of artist support, audience development and institutional knowledge. On behalf of all those who have benefited from LI-MA’s work over the past years, I ask you to reverse course and restore funding to this essential cultural resource for the Netherlands and the world.

Angelika Ramlow

Distribution, Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art:

To understand the present we need to know our cultural heritage and therefore should be dedicated to preserving, rediscovering, and revitalizing not only archival films but also digital archives– as well as giving visibility to current visual artists worldwide. LI-MA is playing a very important role in this field – for artists, researchers, curators, conservators, the audience and everyone who understands the importance of cultural heritage. LI-MA’s expertise and therefore importance in the Dutch and European media art landscape is not questionable. Arsenal distribution (Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art) strongly believes that LI-MA deserves all the support to continue this important work.

Header image: Panel discussion at LI-MA’s Transformation Digital Art Symposium, 2023, photo by Pieter Kers | Beeld.nu

Footer: LI-MA’s Transformation Digital Art Symposium, 2024, photo by Pieter Kers | Beeld.nu

An Urgent Appeal to Support Media Art

LI-MA’s Future Is in Danger