transmediale is celebrating its 20th edition with the motto ‘unfinish!’ and is taking both a look back at the evolving relationship of art and media, and a look ahead at the current challenges of the artistic engagement with a world strongly determined by digital technologies. All previous festivals have sought to reflect about the social significance of new technologies, and to present artistic works which articulated that reflection in exemplary ways - whether first with regard to the relation between video culture and film, then in view of the emergence of new structures in television, or later the development of multimedia and digital culture. The critical autonomy and cultural interdependence of art have been crucial throughout the years, a tradition which we are continuing with this year’s festival, and for which we want to open up a certain level of future indeterminacy with the claim to 'unfinish' what has been achieved.
Besides a series of events connected to the ‘tm*20’ focus, we present the ‘history so far' in a comprehensive volume that documents the participants and the projects of the last 20 years and that hopefully fosters both insight and curiosity. Additionally, the programme of transmedlale.07 offers many different artistic responses to the festival theme in an exhibition, the competition, the film and video screenings, as well as the conference and salon programmes.
The fact that transmediale has achieved wide acclaim throughout Europe is, first and foremost, due to the long-term funding by the Berman Federal Cultural Foundation, and due to the continuous cooperation with private and public partners: the Federal Agency for Civic Education makes the realisation of a substantial international conference possible, while the Medienboard Berlin-Branden- burg again supports the development of transmediale in the region, and beyond. The Berman Foreign Office and the Boethe Institute help us to invite many of the international artists from all around the world, while BTL provide the technical equipment, and IN-Berlin keep transmediale online in the age of spam. Several embassies, cultural institutes and foundations enable important parts of the programme and additionally support our partners in the city.
The institution that has been running transmediale since 1997 has grown and has changed its name in 2006; it is now operating as a public cultural service agency under the name Kulturprojekte Berlin BmbH. In cooperation with the Akademie der Kiinste, it continues to form the organisational backbone of the festival.