A changing sector

The seven development institutions work partly via Virtueel Platform to provide initiative, advice and support to a large group of smaller art institutions in the Netherlands who use new technology, as well as to work on the innovation of new products, forms and services. The Issue Crawler revealed that there were precisely 253 of these in 2009. There are a great many Dutch institutions that deserve the designation ‘e-culture institution’. Some of these are true pioneers, particularly in their work as organisers of festivals, labs or ‘virtual gatherings’. The most well-known of these are STRP festival, Incubate, TodaysArt and Sonic Acts. Some organisations also operate in other sectors, including reputable institutions such as De Kunsthal, Paradiso and the Melkweg. Sometimes they may be artists’ initiatives taking on a new lease of life, such as Smart Project Space, or video platforms that promote the quality of video art worldwide, such as The One Minutes. The list is endless, as is the variety of motivation. Taken all together it presents a lively picture of a changing sector. But the most important characteristic has remained the same throughout the decades: ‘openness’, and the key word is still ‘connecting’. It is obvious that today’s e-culture is still dominated by a strong spirit of pioneering. And that is the particular strength of Dutch e-culture.