For 20 years, medienwerk.nrw has been a network for media art actors in North Rhine-Westphalia. Institutions and initiatives come together here to give media art a stronger weight in the North Rhine-Westphalian cultural landscape.

I have been working for the Office medienwerk.nrw since 2015. It sees itself as an interface between art institutions, media artists, and funding institutions, as well as a hinge to the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MKW). It is the coordinating unit of the medienwerk.nrw network, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2020. On this occasion, the fundamental question came up: When does a network begin to function? How do individual points become nodes? How does something loose become solid?

The question of the origin of a network seems, if not trivial, at least possible on a technical level. At a definable point in time, several computers were connected to each other and an exchange of data began. Pre-forms of the Internet, such as ARPANET in the USA and Cybersyn in Chile, are well-known examples. This moment of implementation was preceded by thoughts, discussions and planning, such as the idea of the Intergalactic Computer Network pursued by J. C. R. Licklider in the 1960s. The emergence of such computer networks owes itself in the concrete case to the already existing telephone line network, but also to the discursive interconnections in science and the military, as well as to the professional and private contacts of the people involved. However, to assign an origin to this network of contacts is impossible or at least differs in each individual case.

The question of the origin of the first connections of the network for media art and digital culture in North Rhine-Westphalia, the medienwerk.nrw, is equally difficult to answer. It was initially an informal association – with no official founding date and no entry in the register of associations or commercial register. To this day, the cooperation of the network partners is structured on the basis of information exchange and initiative. Cultural actors, from small non-profit associations to large museums, art societies, theaters and production houses, festivals, archives and universities, exchange information about current events and come together on an ad hoc basis to launch initiatives. In the founding period, as today, representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia played just as important a role as committed artistic directors and heads of various cultural institutions. The common goal was and is the sustainable further development of existing structures in the field of media art and the profiling of North Rhine-Westphalia as a media art location. At the turn of the millennium in particular, the aim was to help media art gain recognition in cultural policy. In order to make these efforts visible and to give them a name, medienwerk.nrw was created.

Within concrete projects, through personal contacts and the founding of new institutions, the network expanded and formed new nodes. If the interests of the actors and the composition of the persons acting there change, nodes become mute, no longer react and therefore do not forward information packages. In this way, the network changes in spurts, at different speeds, and according to events. The cultural sector in particular is characterized by change. New cultural practices are constantly emerging, acting personal is changing, and funding priorities are being shifted. Thus, it is a great particularity that the medienwerk.nrw has become a stable network over 20 years.

A stabilizing factor was and is the HMKV – Hartware MedienKunstVerein in Dortmund, which has been part of the network since its founding. The association took on organizational tasks early on and was instrumental in setting up the medienwerk.nrw office, which was newly created in 2013. With the office as an interface, the organizational structure of the network has changed, as it bundles information, forwards it in a targeted manner and regularly activates the network. However, the active cooperation of the nodes remains decisive, without which any work would come to nothing.

The value of networking lies in the fact that a juxtaposition of network partners becomes a togetherness. Together, but also individually, they develop programs and projects at various locations in NRW that are dedicated, for example, to exploring our technologized present: through thematic art projects, exhibitions, conferences, workshops, festivals, as well as in artistic training, research, teaching and archival work – equally in the field of visual arts, film as well as performing arts, music and other disciplines. Their work creates occasions for reflection on the relationship between art, technology, and society, and shapes collaborative futures. The network that makes this possible is stable – and will remain so.

Especially today, in the time of a pandemic that means great uncertainties for many artists*, networking is of particular value. Since the beginning of the year, the Office medienwerk.nrw has been in charge of the new funding programs for media art and digital culture projects MEDIENKUNSTFONDS and MEDIENKUNSTFELLOWS. The Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia is providing a total of 940,000 euros for these programs. The Call for Projects is running, applications are possible again at the end of the year!