The aim of the new project of the C3 Foundation is the complete compilation, preservation, cataloguing, archiving, transfer to modern digital formats, the rendering of accessibility and the creation of conditions for distribution (both on- and off-line) of Hungarian video artworks.
Leaving aside sporadic antecedents, active video artwork in Hungary may be considered from the mid-1980's. As is commonly known, analogue magnetic tapes retain their recorded information at best for 12-15 years, and as there is no institution nationwide concerned with the collection of video art, the most significant works of past eras are threatened with extinction. Meanwhile, in the course of the shift to communications technologies in the 1990's, video was squeezed to the periphery, and it disappeared from artistic discourse even before it could become a truly substantial part.
In line with the profile of C3: Center for Culture & Communication Foundation, proceeding from our commitment to the research and support of media art, as well as the recognition of conscious responsibility for the preservation of an important part of national culture, we have undertaken the resolution of this task.
On these webpages, alongside the brief history of Hungarian video, presentation of the artists and the renewed dispatch of documentation, we have made accessible some existing international databases, as well. The development and expansion of these pages is ongoing, and the C3 staff is pleased to accept the contributions of all who may assist toward the project's success.