The New Media Center exidted between 2004 to 2011. The Center was deeply committed to presenting developments in technology-based art, and to examining their sociocultural aspects. The New Media Center's exhibition series addresses a range of heterogeneous trends in contemporary video art and digital media.
The Center's unique focus was research and documentation concerning the evolution of video art. This mission has been given expression in "Videostoria" - the first exhibition series to systematically present the history of projected images in Israeli art in the context of international artmaking. The series is concerned with mapping the various contexts in which this medium has developed: it points to the origins of recent technological developments in the late 19th century, and addresses cultural shifts related to television, with which video art shares a common technological basis. Videostoria has also pointed to the range of affinities between early video art and avant-garde cinema, and between the first video art works, performance art and conceptual actions. In addition, this project has involved the conservation and digitization of the old formats in which the early works were created.
The examination of this medium's history is performed in conjunction with the exhibition of contemporary video and Internet art in the Emergency Exit exhibition space, which is located in the Museum mezzanine.
In 2006, Ilana Tenenbaum - Director of the Museum's New Media Center - received the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport's Curator Prize in recognition of her curatorial work and research, and of her contribution to the history of Israeli art in the context of the Videostoria series.
