[spectre] (fwd) The Netherlands Media Art Institute (NIMK, ex-MonteVideo) closes

[Andreas Broeckmann]

The Netherlands Media Art Institute closes

The activities of the Netherlands Media Art Institute will cease as of 
31 December, 2012. The closure of the NIMk became unavoidable after the 
announcement by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science that it 
would no longer support the Institute after 2012, because subsidies for 
so-called Supporting Institutions in the National Basic Cultural 
Infrastructure are being halted. The City of Amsterdam followed suit. 
Without this basis, it is not possible to allow the NIMk to continue to 
function in a responsible way, and the organization therefore decided to 
shut its doors.

During the past year the NIMk has expended every effort to at least 
preserve the knowledge and expertise it has generated, and the materials 
it has collected, for the future, but we could not succeed in preserving 
the Institute itself. This knowledge about the interaction between art 
and technology was amassed since 1978, when Monte Video was founded, 
through Monte Video's 1993 fusion with Time Based Arts, after which the 
two worked together further under the name Netherlands Media Art 
Institute, Montevideo/Time Based Arts.

We find this terribly sad. But we are enormously proud of what the NIMk 
has done, shown and achieved over the past decades. Throughout the years 
we have worked to present a very  interesting field in art, which is now 
more vital and relevant than ever. Media art is now omnipresent around 
us, but attention for the development and presentation of the latest 
forms of art and technological experimentation, on the one hand, and for 
the preservation of this art form as a legacy for the future, on the 
other, still remains thin on the ground. Much will be lost, and 
awareness of the situation is only awakening slowly.

What is left for us is a sense of gratitude.
Our thanks go out to the artists for all the beautiful things and 
experiences on which we have been able to work together over the years. 
We thank our regular funders, the Ministry of Education, Science and 
Culture, and the City of Amsterdam, and all the other sources of support 
which made our existence possible over the last decades.
Very deep thanks goes out to our Board of Supervisors, and particularly 
to all the staff, interns and volunteers at the NIMk over these decades 
– too many to list, but you know who you are. We must express our 
deepest appreciation to the many museums, artists and collectors who 
entrusted their collections and work to us, and to all those with whom 
we realized such wonderful projects, exhibitions and events, and who 
added such memorable moments to art history. And to all with whom we 
have written on the links between art and technology.

But of course we cannot forget to thank the most wonderful of all: you, 
our audience. We did it all for you. We thank all of you for all of 
this, from the bottom of our hearts. Farewell, in hope that we will see 
one another again!

For further information and the latest updates, see our website
If you have questions, you can contact us over the coming months at 
info at nimk.nl