transmediale.07 / info

transmediale is a forum of communication for artists, media workers and a broad public interested in arts. transmediale includes exhibitions, conferences, live performances, artist presentations and a variety of fringe events throughout Berlin. transmediale was founded in 1988 as a video art festival and has taken place annually, in Berlin, ever since.

First conceived in close relation to the Berlinale film festival, the festival changed its name from 'VideoFest' to 'transmediale' in 1997/98, thus reflecting the fact that its programmatic scope had broadened to encompass a wide range of multimedia-related art forms. Since then, digital technologies have become firmly integrated into our everyday lives. 'Digital culture' is no avantgarde terrain any more. transmediale has responded to this development by focusing its programmes not on the latest technical novelties and scientific speculations, but on the actual usage that people are making of such technologies.

As a festival for art and digital culture, transmediale presents advanced artistic positions reflecting on the socio-cultural impact of new technologies. It seeks out artistic practices that not only respond to scientific or technical developments, but that try to shape the way in which we think about and experience these technologies.

transmediale understands media technologies as cultural techniques which need to be embraced in order to comprehend, critique, and shape our contemporary society.