« Writing the History of the Future », the ZKM collection Morgane Stricot

The 30th anniversary of the ZKM | Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe is the occasion to present the master pieces of the largest collection of media and digital art in the world. With more than 500 objects, the exhibition “Writing the History of the Future” is a real chance for the public to see early media and digital artworks, with part of them in their legacy hardware and software environment. This was made possible through the commitment of ZKM’s technical and restoration teams who preserve the collection with the strong believe that perhaps the museum has become the last place where we can still experience past media in action. With such a collection, the ZKM became a unique pit for experimentation in preservation and media archaeology. Whether shown within their historical materiality, updated or even reconstructed with different technologies, each artwork successfully exhibited become a way to preserve not only this artwork but also its embedded knowledge.