Media art database – The collection of data begins
The basis of the MEHI project is a database on the history of Finland’s media art, its different genres and time periods from the mid-20th century to the 2020s. The database will consist of approximately 2,500 records – information about artworks, events and artists – including descriptions and metadata of the works and events. The trilingual database will be available in Finnish, Swedish and English.
The database is created as a collaboration between 20 media art organizations, festivals, production companies, and information scientist Sandra Lindblom working for the MEHI project. Data on events and artworks are collected in a uniform format in tables, from where the data are exported to the MuseumPlus system.
Finally, the contents of the database will be published in several channels, making the history of media art accessible to millions of users in Finland and internationally:
- Finnish National Gallery Archive Collections: all material collected in the database, as well as other MEHI material, will be stored by the Finnish National Gallery, making the material available to researchers.
- Finna: information on artworks will be published in the Finna.fi service and supplemented with thematic articles on the MEHI project’s own Finna homepage.
- Europeana: Information on works of art will be available online as part of the common European cultural heritage.
- Wikidata: The database will be opened in Wikidata where it will be enriched as part of the activities of the international community on information production.
MEHI is a history project and the selection of the database’s artworks and events is important from the perspective of history writing. The aim is to create a set that represents the diversity of media art in terms of content, aesthetics and technology, as well as the phases and characteristics of Finnish media art. In addition to the classics, the database includes the lesser-known history of media art: new practices and hidden gems.
The choice of material included in the database is done in cooperation with the 20 partner organizations and the MEHI expert group. In addition, there will be a call for proposals where the MEHI project collects suggestions for works that should be included in the database.
The compilation of the database is starting in February 2022 and the results will be published in 2023.
For more information, please contact information scientist Sandra Lindblom or producer Tuuli Penttinen-Lampisuo by email:
firstname @ media-art-finland.fi