Digital and media art are some of the most fragile art forms today. While a painting might last for centuries, media artworks rely on software, hardware and digital systems that quickly become outdated. This makes managing and preserving media art a real challenge for Dutch museums. Artists also face the risk of losing parts of their oeuvre. Without expert knowledge and support, a vital piece of Dutch cultural heritage could disappear.

For over a decade, we at LI-MA have taken on part of that work as a public task. We support artists, we manage and conserve media art for museums and collections, and we develop new methods through research. It places us as a key link in the Dutch infrastructure for digital and media art, alongside the museums, networks and artists who sustain it with us.

Museums now rely more than ever on specialised expertise to manage and preserve media and digital art. At present, most of this work is funded by the museums themselves, but there simply are not enough structural resources. There is also a lack of ongoing funding to support artists with distribution and presentation. As a result, we at LI-MA cannot yet fully seize the opportunities to keep the work of artists in the Netherlands accessible, visible and in circulation.

To keep fulfilling this public task for the long term, we are working towards inclusion in the Cultural Basic Infrastructure (BIS). Together with the Foundation for the Conservation of Contemporary Art (SBHK), we are in talks with the Council for Culture, and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). Although BIS inclusion can only take effect from 2029, the need for specialised knowledge and services is already urgent.

LI-MA’s expertise is recognised both nationally and internationally as essential to the future of digital art. Organisations such as Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, SBHK, Tate, Centre Pompidou, Rhizome (New York) and the Digital Preservation Coalition endorse LI-MA's unique expertise in conservation, knowledge development and international collaboration.

Research and Innovation for the Future

As an organisation, we never remain static. Motivated by an eagerness to keep up to date with the latest developments and to keep innovating, we carry out research projects with partners in the Netherlands and internationally. These projects help us expand our expertise and knowledge base, but they cannot replace the need for ongoing funding for conservation services and artist support.

This spring, for example, LI-MA hosted the first meeting of EMBARK, a new pan-European network dedicated to the preservation of media art. Within the network, museums, researchers and technology partners work together to develop new methods for preservation and sustainable access to digital art.

As part of the European research project ECHOLOT, LI-MA is working with international partners to develop new technologies that improve the way heritage data is connected and made accessible. In doing so, the organisation contributes to the development of international standards for digital collections.

LI-MA also plays a leading role in the European CUSP project. Together with five international partners, the organisation is developing new knowledge and approaches for the preservation of media art. Through artist residencies, practice-based research and international knowledge exchange, CUSP connects conservation with artistic development. The project also contributes to more sustainable approaches to media art preservation and to safeguarding media art collections in regions where cultural heritage is under threat, such as Ukraine.

Alongside collection management, conservation and research, we also apply our knowledge to new forms of presentation. For example, together with ICK Dans Amsterdam, we are developing new models for documenting and transferring interactive, performative artworks. With Nxt Museum, we are launching the first pilot in a series of exhibitions based on the MonteVideo archive, bringing the pioneers of media art back into the spotlight and connecting them to today's digital art.

Without structural support, museums cannot continue to provide the specialised care their media art collections need. Artists risk losing parts of their oeuvre, and we cannot continue to develop new knowledge and methods. Embedding our work within the Cultural Basic Infrastructure is essential to preserve and build on the expertise and infrastructure we have created for digital and media art.

Header: Workshop: Analysis of net art, project Infrastructure for Sustainable Accessibility of Digital Art. Photography: LNDWStudio