Your Passport to Video Art Around the World

As the appreciation for Video Art as a genre rises, venues, festivals and programs around the world have formed in an effort to push its visibility and celebrate the art form in both the art world and public realm.
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Jay Scheib, The Disinherited at AMC Empire 25. Photograph by Clint Spaulding for Times Square Arts.

As the appreciation for Video Art as a genre rises, venues, festivals and programs around the world have formed in an effort to push its visibility and celebrate the art form in both the art world and public realm. The Video Art community is now international, with support between artists and organizations helping to boost the genre into the spotlight. From New York to Moscow, we've collected some of the world's best programs bringing exciting video art to venues around the world, and all open to the public.

Midnight Moment, Times Square, (New York, NY)


Midnight Moment: Brian Dailey, Jikai. Courtesy Times Square Arts.

Every night, the electronic billboards in Times Square art taken over by cutting edge visual arts for three minutes for Times Square Arts' Midnight Moment. Visible throughout the iconic New York center, the screens forgo their constant advertisements, albeit briefly, and surrender to art. Each month a new artists' piece is chosen, and participants have included Tracey Emin, Brian Dailey, JR, Bjork, Ryan McGinley, Isaac Julien, Marilyn Minter and more.

Video Art and Experimental Film Festival, (New York, NY)


Lauren Edward, I Send You This Place. Courtesy Video Art and Experimental Film Festival.

Sponsored by Vimeo and Tribeca Cinemas, the Video Art & Experimental Film Festival (VAEFF) gathers cutting edge video art from around the world and presents them to a New York audience. In addition to screenings, VAEFF also showcases panels of filmmakers, artists and curators to create a dialogue and awareness of the power of video art. This year's festival will take place at the TriBeCa Cinemas from October 2-4, 2014.

Vanity Projects (New York, NY)


Inside Vanity Projects, New York City. Courtesy Vanity Projects.

Vanity Projects is a unique hybrid combining extreme nail art with a carefully curated video art program, meant to engage and introduce patrons to video art in a relaxed and interactive environment. Headed by independent curator Rita de Alencar Pinto, the program invites video artists and curators from around the world, juxtaposing video art into the more relaxed environment of a nail salon carving out a unique niche among more traditional galleries on the Lower East Side.

Hothouse Video (Washington, DC)


Jacolby Satterwhite, The Matriarch's Rhapsody. Courtesy Washington Project of the Arts.

Non-profit Washington Project of the Arts newly launched Hothouse Video series debuted this week with an exhibition by performance and video artist Jacolby Satterwhite. The program extends the WPA's Experimental Media Series, and presents new video art in the hotel lobby of the Capitol Skyline Hotel, which is accessible by visitors and locals of the Washington D.C. community. Each chosen artists' program will run for six weeks. In addition to Jacolby, artists Jonathan Monaghan, Brandon Morse and Saya Woolfalk are on the roster for the future.

The Screening Room (Miami, FL)


ART TALK with Aziz + Cucher. Courtesy The Screening Room.

Known for its street art murals, Miami's Wynwood Art District is now the home to a new media exhibition and project space called The Screening Room. Founded by Rhonda Mitrani, a video artist herself, The Screening Room has taken over a cavernous building that was once her family's clothing factory. Each exhibition of video artists is paired with events and art talks to give video artists an opportunity to discuss their work with the local community.

Dallas VideoFest (Dallas, TX)


Opening Gala. Courtesy Dallas Video Fest.

Run by the Video Association of Dallas (VAD), VideoFest is the oldest and largest festival celebrating video art in the United States. This year marks the organization's 27th festival, which caters toward the work of rare, independent and alternative video artists, and also features workshops and symposiums. The next festival will take place from October 9-19, 2014.

Loop Fair (Barcelona, Spain)


Inside the fair at Hotel Catalonia Ramblas. Courtesy Loop Fair.

Loop Fair was the first art fair devoted exclusively to the moving image and video artists. Since 2003, the fair has presented innovative video art alongside cultural events and round table discussions, transforming the guest rooms at the Hotel Catalonia Ramblas into a series of screening rooms. The experience is intimate, allowing guests to engage with each exhibitor's work in the space of a hotel room, rather than the distraction of the hustle and bustle of a big art fair. This year's Loop Fair is June 5-7, 2014.

Souvenirs From Earth (France/Germany)


Still from Souvenirs from Earth trailer. Courtesy Souvenirs from Earth.

Souvenirs From Earth brings an eclectic and informative collection of video art programming virtually to anyone with cable television in France and Germany, 24 hours a day. Bringing Video Art to the people, the channel gives the genre a new form of distribution, pushing outside of the art world public and into the public domain that is often reserved for commercialization. The program structure is ever changing, and features emerging and established artists, as well as guest curators, and specially commissioned pieces, that together turn every person's television into a work of art, right at home.

Video Art at Midnight (Berlin, Germany)


Curators Olaf Stüber and Ivo Wessel. Curators Video Art at Midnight.

Curated by artists Olaf Stüber and Ivo Wessel, the program shows innovative video art one Friday a month at Midnight at the Babylon Film Theatre in Mitte. The program showcases Berlin's video artists, often including a Q&A after the screening, and is free and open to the public.

Athens Video Art Festival (Athens, Greece)


Inside a screening room. Courtesy Athens Video Art Festival.

Started in 2005, the festival brings together international Video and New Media artists to present them to a Greek audience. The festival has expanded to include eight categories for new media including Video Art, Animation, Installations, Applications, Performances, Music, Web Art and Digital Imagery. The festival also educates visitors on iconic and seminal video artists, having organized special tributes in the past to Bill viola, Nam June Paik, and Bill Vorn. This year's festival will take place in May of 2014.

Now & After International Video Art Festival (Moscow, Russia)


Selections from the 2013 Program. Courtesy the Now & After International Video Art Festival.

Moscow's Now & After Festival brings video art to the city's museum venues, with this year's rendition taking over The State Museum of GULAG History. Since 2011, the festival has invited emerging and established video artists to submit entries based on a curated theme. The festival this year will feature works based on underlying themes of memory, allowing participating artists to explore personal, cultural, and collective memory with their work. The festival will take place from April 2-30, 2014.

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