Media Center+ The Generali Foundation’s Film and Video Collection

Since its founding, the Generali Foundation has assembled one of the most important collections of international media art since the 1960s, with a focus on experimental and media-reflective film and video art, political film, and feminist and performance-based video works. The holdings include complete sets of films and videos by artists such as Gottfried Bechtold, VALIE EXPORT, Dan Graham, Harun Farocki, Elke Krystufek, Gordon Matta-Clark, Martha Rosler, and Heimo Zobernig. The great majority of these films and videos are accessible to scholars and all interested visitors in the Media Center at the Generali Foundation Study Center, where they can be watched at any time. Also available are recordings of major events held at the Generali Foundation since the 1990s, including lectures, symposia, conversations with artists, and performances.

The presentation extends the Media Center into the exhibition gallery in order to highlight the film and video collection’s full range and illustrate essential developments in the film and video art of the past decades. It also underscores the importance of unrestricted access to film and video archives as an integral part of the cultural memory of the more recent past.