On Friday, March 22, LIMA launched the Dutch canon of digital art. The presentation, by Sanneke Huisman and Jan Robert Leegte, took place in front of an international audience during the annual Transformation Digital Art symposium.

The art-historical canon has been under fire for several decades. The idea of a canon, independent of time and place and based on universal characteristics of quality, is increasingly refuted. But a new form of canon formation has led to a renewed interest in this field. In the 'new canon', forgotten histories, disciplines and works of art receive deserved attention. The contemporary approach to canonization is subjective and open to discussion. LIMA opens up the discussion on the canon of digital art in the Netherlands.

The research project Digital Canon?! Digital Art 1960–2000 is a project of LIMA in collaboration with Josephine Bosma, Martijn van Boven, Annet Dekker, Sandra Fauconnier and Jan Robert Leegte and various external advisers from the field. With the project, the possibility and necessity of a canon for digital art will be discussed and attention will be given to twenty groundbreaking works of art made on Dutch soil. These are works that are not (yet) all equally known in contemporary art and culture, but have contributed to both. The rich history of digital art is brought to the foreground and opened to a large audience. In addition, canon formation and the selection procedure are critically reviewed. The title of the conversation between Josephine Bosma, Martijn van Boven, Annet Dekker, Sandra Fauconnier, Jan Robert Leegte and Gaby Wijers is telling from this point of view: 'Canonization as an Activist Act'. The traditional form of canonization is used to open a conversation. The first follow-up steps are already being taken. In addition to the website, an exhibition concept will be developed and in future projects the field will be mapped out (until 2020) and put on the map.

Realised in collaboration with experts, Digital Canon?! Digital Art 1960–2000 encourages debate, specifically concerning the selection process and its future impact, and brings the rich and specific history of digital art to a large audience. The digital canon offers new perspectives on an ever-changing art canon.

This project is realised in collaboration with Josephine Bosma, Martijn van Boven, Annet Dekker, Sandra Fauconnier, Jan Robert Leegte, Gaby Wijers and Sanneke Huisman.

www.digitalcanon.nl

Photo's by Jose Miguel Biscaya.