New connections

E-cultuur in the artistic sense covers an area that unites existing art disciplines through the use of new technology. It makes new forms of collaboration between artists and between art institutions possible. In the art world it is a matter of course that non-hierarchical and changeable –often-international – partnerships are formed. And thanks to e-culture, this way of working has become more simple and effective and is spreading into every discipline of the arts: visual arts, design, architecture, dance, music, theatre, film etc. To complete the picture of the huge variety of e-culture: the result of the work in this sector could be almost anything – a work of art, an exhibition, a publication, a symposium, an instrument, software or a communications process.

But e-culture in the art sector is also about the connection between art and the world outside, society, the business sector and science. Thanks to such organisations as Doors of Perception, V2, Steim, NIMK, Waag Society, Submarine, Mediamatic and De Balie, e-culture in the Netherlands has become above all an example of a successful intervention of art in the ‘real world’. This has become possible because likeminded artists, researchers and theorists with an interest in new media and technology have been able to find each other within organisations such as these. They realised early on that new media and digitisation would have great consequences and they were motivated to further develop social and artistic strategies for innovation. This is in keeping with two major characteristics of ‘Dutch art’: all art disciplines in the Netherlands have consistently shown a great curiosity towards new media – a ‘first user’ mentality – added to which, Dutch artists have always been interested in the larger world (some say this dates back to the Golden Age of the Netherlands) and this is revealed in a fundamental attitude of inquisitiveness and reflection.