The Video History Project

The Video History Project is an on-going research initiative documenting the early historical development of video art and community television, with particular focus on upstate New York during the period 1968-1980. The project has been conceived and executed by the Experimental Television Center. The project involves an interrelated set of activities combining research, the collection of oral histories, a World Wide Web site, and Video History: Making Connections, a conference concerning the links between the early history and contemporary practice, and held at Syracuse University in the Fall 1998. The project goals are to identify and make accessible information which describes and locates resources concerning independently created media; to facilitate partnerships for preservation of the works; to encourage the exhibition and study of these materials among curators, educators, and scholars; and to increase public awareness of and appreciation for media history throughout the State and nationally.

New York State has played a unique role in the historical development of the field. Some of the earliest video art and community television media activity in the nation occurred here. The preservation area on the Media Alliance  website provides descriptions of a few of these important groups. Media Alliance provided the media arts field with comprehensive information and technical assistance on all aspects of preservation, and is nationally recognized for its collaborative projects, including a Regional Cataloging Project coordinated by cataloger Jim Hubbard, and a series of preservation surveys conducted by conservator Paul Messier. Media Alliance also published Video Preservation: Securing the Future of the Past, by Deirdre Boyle, and the Magnetic Media Preservation Sourcebook, edited by Mona Jimenez and Liss Platt.