Focus: Recent Videos from the Museion Collection

Acquired over the past decade, these videos are being showcased at Museion for the first time, exploring memory through the medium’s experimental techniques, such as loops, overlays, and flickering. As video art remains a vital part of contemporary museums, Museion has actively expanded its collection, embracing this dynamic medium to uncover new meanings through the layering of visual and narrative languages. Currently, the museum holds 167 video works, including 28 installations and 139 single-channel films, which form a crucial part of its 4,450-piece collection. This focus dates back to a pivotal moment in 2007-2008 when Museion acquired 52 video works through the Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) in New York. Since then, video art has remained a key area of growth, serving as a bridge between historical narratives, experimental storytelling, technological innovation, and an intergenerational artistic language. At the heart of this exhibition is an exploration of time and the ghostly presence of the past. The selected videos delve into themes of remembrance and transformation, using archival footage, found materials, and visual distortions to challenge conventional storytelling. Like archaeologists unearthing forgotten histories, the featured artists employ montage, appropriation, and layering to craft narratives that challenge the linearity of time. These latest additions to the Museion collection not only strengthen its role as a contemporary art institution but also hold particular value for the local region. By continuously expanding its video archive, Museion ensures that South Tyrol remains a hub for contemporary artistic discourse, fostering connections between global narratives and local cultural heritage. The exhibition, therefore, serves as a dynamic platform for engaging with the past while reinterpreting it through modern artistic lens. Videos on display: Korakrit Arunanondchai, Untitled (Painting with History in a Room Filled with People with Funny Names 3), 2015 Barbara Gamper, Becoming Otherwise (hot pink triangles and holes, or how to become woman?), 2020 James Richards, Qualities of Life: Living in the Radiant Cold, 2022 Berty Skuber, Epicycles, 2013