Hartware MedienKunstVerein (HMKV) was founded in Dortmund in 1996 by Iris Dressler and Hans D. Christ. Since 2005 its directors are Dr. Inke Arns, as artistic director, and Susanne Ackers, as executive director. HMKV serves as a platform for the production, presentation and contextualisation of contemporary and experimental media art. Through its strong commitment to the field of media art HMKV has developed into a unique institution in Germany.

HMKV's work is embedded in regional and international networks. The association organizes exhibitions, film and video programs and lecture series accompanied by conferences and workshops. Furthermore, since 2000 HMKV is in charge of the six month stipend of the federal German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW), eglible for women media artists residing in NRW.

Since the founding of HMKV several large-scale international media art exhibitions have been organised by the association, amongst them the much acclaimed exhibition "Reservate der Sehnsucht" (Reservations of Desire, 1998) in the so-called "U", a derelict brewery in the city center of Dortmund. In 2000 HMKV organized the exhibition „Plan B – Kunst Raum Stadt“ (Plan B – Art Space City) in the Brückstraßenviertel area in Dortmund. In 2000 and 2001 Hartware curated projects in Rotterdam („Sublime“, Stichting Duende, 2000), Duisburg („dialogues & stories“, Museum Küppersmühle Collection Grothe, 2001), Amsterdam and Copenhagen („Say Hello to Peace and Tranquility“, Montevideo/Amsterdam, Nikolaj CCAC/Copenhagen, 2001). In 2001 and 2002 several exhibitions took place in the 400 square meter large exhibition space in Güntherstr. 65. Among them were „new ideas – old tricks“ (2001), „Kontrollfelder: Programmieren als künstlerische Praxis“ (Control Panels: Programming as Artistic Practice, 2002) and „no one ever dies here, no one has a head“ (2002).

Since 2003 HMKV uses the 2.200 square meter large PHOENIX Halle (formerly - until 1998 - the site of the steel production plant Phoenix-West). Here, the exhibition "Games - Computer Games by Artists" (2003) took place - which received the "Innovationspreis" by Fonds Soziokultur and an award of distinction of the German section of AICA - as well as the exhibitions "so wie die dinge liegen" (2004), "Nam June Paik Award" (2004), „Expanded Cinema. Film as Spectacle, Event and Performance“ (2004), "Dispersed Moments of Concentration. Urban and Digital Spaces" (2005) and "On Disappearance. Loss of World and Escaping from the World" (2005).

Besides this, HMKV organises conferences on media art and net culture, as for example „404 Object not found – What remains of media art?“ (2003), „Perspectives of Net Art“ and "Readme100 - Temporary Software Art Factory" - the 4th international Readme festival on software art and culture (both 2005).

The activities of HMKV until 2007 will be dealing, in different formats, with the theme of „Augmented Space“: in exhibitions, workshops, performances, symposia, publications, Internet applications and in European research projects. „Augmented Space“ is a term developed by the Russian media theoretician Lev Manovich. It designates the real-space which is permeated increasingly with digital information accessible via mobile communication devices. These elements which constitute the digital public space will be investigated in artistic-experimental projects and will be made accessible for an interested public in the context of media art.

For more information see www.hmkv.de Inke Arns