HEK (House of Electronic Arts) in Basel is dedicated to digital culture and the new art forms of the Information Age. Since 2011, the institution has been central to the creative and critical discourse on the aesthetic, socio-political and economic effects of media technologies. As a platform for contemporary art that explores and employs new technologies, HEK promotes aesthetic practices related to information technologies. This not only enables a better comprehension of the changing world we live in, but also serves to actively engage with these processes and confront pressing questions of 21st century culture, while actively contributing to their mediation.
As an interdisciplinary museum, HEK is a turntable for current artistic events in the visual arts, music, theatre, dance, performance and design, offering the public insights into art production at the interface of art, media and technologies. The institution’s diverse programme of exhibitions, performances, concerts, smaller festival formats, educational and online activities address current social issues and questions.
Besides this abundance of events and exhibitions, HEK is concerned with the methodology of collecting digital art Tand is distinguished by its unique collection, which focuses on “born-digital” art, i.e. art created and located in the digital medium, often lacking any physical manifestation. The focus is on software and net-based works that rarely find their way into public collections, as their preservation requires innovative strategies and a network of experts – from conservators to programmers.
With these tasks the museum takes on a unique position and pioneering role in Switzerland. HEK initiates and values close collaboration with artists, researchers and institutions from Switzerland and abroad in its efforts to map, document and promote current trends in media art. In recent years, HEK has established itself as a centre of competence for media art in Switzerland through its agency in global discourse.
HEK Exterior, Christoph Oeschger, Animation, 2023, Konrad Renner