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History
PACKED vzw was founded in 2005 by argos – centre for art and media, the Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen (M HKA / Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp), the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K / Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art - Ghent) and the Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens (MDD), as a knowledge platform for the archiving and preservation of audiovisual arts. Partly because digitisation is a key aspect in this archiving and preservation process, PACKED vzw has increasingly focussed over the years on the challenges that arise for digital cultural heritage in general. Since January 1st, 2010, PACKED vzw has been acknowledged by the Ministry of the Flemish Community as a centre of expertise for digital cultural heritage.
Previous history: the PACKED partners
Since1998, argos has launched a series of preservation projects for video art from the 1970s and 1980s. The project Rewind ran from 1998 until 2000 and concerned the preservation of about 100 film and video works from the 1970s. argos researched different collections in order to retrieve the best version of the works that was still available, and to then transfer these versions to Digital Betacam. The actual digitisation and restoration were contracted out. Another project concerned the preservation of video works by Lili Dujourie from the period 1972-1982. With the support of the Cera Foundation these videos were digitised and restored image by image, For some years now argos also cooperates with VRT (Flemish Radio and Television) on the preservation and disclosure of the television works by Jef Cornelis.
S.M.A.K. went through three different phases to construct an inventory of art works and documents on art on electronic and digital carriers in public collections in Flanders. The project Preservation of video material from public collections (2002) was realised in collaboration with the ModeMuseum (Fashion Museum / MoMu). The project included the creation of an inventory, and the actual preservation of the collection. The preservation of the autonomous art works was contracted out, but for the transfer of the documentary material (on art) an investment was made in equipment to be used and stored by S.M.A.K.. 400 hours of video from S.M.A.K. and MoMu were digitised during this project.
In the Follow-up project preservation of video material from public collections (2003) the digitisation of the video collections of S.M.A.K. and MoMu was continued and the scope of the project extended to other institutions. M HKA (collection ICC – International Cultural Centre) and PMMK became involved as project partners. Within this follow-up project the Video Inventaris Vlaanderen (Flanders Video Inventory) was developed; an online tool for the creation of an inventory of video material. In 2004, S.M.A.K. and M HKA consequentially started a research project on the digital disclosure of their archive: the pilot project Archive management in the field of contemporary visual art. Within this project they were looking at which systems and structures were (inter)nationally available, how the archive of a museum of contemporary art could be described (bearing in mind the different new media in their own collections), the extent to which an archive could be made optimally accessible to the public and how the data management of one single institution could fit into a larger whole.
Previous history: research by interface centres IAK and IBK
In 2003 Ine Vos conducted the study Preservation and archiving of artistic audiovisual creations on electronic and digital carriers in Flanders (2003) for the interface centres IAK (Initiative Audiovisual Arts) and IBK (Initiative Visual Arts). In this study an overview was given of the above mentioned projects. It concluded by stating that a lot of knowledge in various fields was already present in Flanders but that a long term policy for the archiving and preservation of artistic audiovisual creations was still missing. The study suggested an additional investigation into the situation, including a more detailed mapping of institutions' needs while at the same time providing practical solutions.
Collaboration platform
The results of the IAK/IBK study were discussed with the different governments and active actors in the field of audiovisual arts. As a result argos, M HKA and S.M.A.K. signed a collaboration agreement and founded a platform. This platform, named Platform for the Archiving and Preservation of Artistic Creations on Electronic and Digital Carriers (PACKED), acted initially as a commissioner of additional research. Since the inclusion of heritage in subsidy frameworks per discipline, and thanks to the creation of the cultural heritage decree, policy frameworks have become available in which the conservation of video art – and on a wider scale: audiovisual and multimedia art and documentation of art on electronic and digital carriers – can be financially supported. Another study was conducted. It aimed at proposing a structural, long term and step-by-step solution for the preservation problem of audiovisual and multimedia art and documentation on art, without losing sight of the broader field of cultural heritage. This resulted in the report Sustainable instability: the preservation of audiovisual media art in a changing landscape (2004-2005) by Stoffel Debuysere.
Cooperative umbrella organisation with national relevant expertise
In January 2005 argos, M HKA and S.M.A.K., in cooperation with Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, founded vzw PACKED. In December 2004 PACKED was acknowledged as a cooperative umbrella organisation with a national relevant expertise by the Ministry of the Flemish Government, and received a yearly working grant for the period 2006-2010.
In the period until the end of 2008 PACKED organised the following public events o.a.: Media Matters (2007, co-production with argos), Media, Memory & The Archive (2007, co-production with argos), Document formats Audiovisual Heritage (2007, in co-production with Digital Heritage Netherlands), Author’s rights in the cultural field, from wanting to obstacle? (2008) and At least preservable until…? (2008).
A lot of attention has also gone into the construction of an international network. A cross-border collaboration seems urgent because of the characteristic problems related to the archiving and conservation of audiovisual arts, the still relatively recent local expertise, the need of feedback from colleagues, the limited financial resources in the sector and the small scale of Flanders. The extension of this international network forms part of the basis of the participation of PACKED in the European project ATHENA (2008-2011) and of a close collaboration with the Netherlands Media Arts Insitute (Nederlands Instituut voor Mediakunst / NIMk).
Since 2009, PACKED has still been intent on extending its international network, but the priority has shifted towards the delivery of tangible results that can be shared with the art world and cultural heritage. To accomplish this, a series of new projects has been launched in cooperation with national and international partners; a more user-friendly website has been developed; and an online preservation manual published. PACKED will also initiate a dialogue with Expertisecentrum DAVID (eDAVID) in order to achieve the harmonisation of both organisations' activities. eDAVID becomes a member of PACKED in August 2009. A representative of the organisation becomes member of the managing bodies of PACKED.
National expertise centre for cultural heritage
The collaboration with eDAVID has led to a commission from the Agency for Arts and Heritage of the Flemish Community to create a publication of standards for digital cultural heritage.In 2010 the commission set up the projet CEST (Cultural Heritage Standard Toolbox), and in the second half of 2010 eDAVID and PACKED vzw also started preparations for a course called ‘Digitalisation of Audiovisual Objects (Moving Image and Sound)’, as a commission for the Archipel consortium.
Due to the approval of the new cultural heritage decree in 2008, PACKED vzw can no longer be supported as a cooperative umbrella organisation as of 2011. In April 2010 PACKED vzw applied for acknowledgement by the Flemish Government as a national centre of expertise for cultural heritage. This acknowledgment is granted for a one-year period only. In April 2011 PACKED vzw needs to re-apply for a new acknowledgement over the period 2012-2016.
