Morten Børresen, "The Man on the Screen", 1982
Photo: Nasjonalmuseet / Robert Meyer Collection

Videokunstarkivet (The Video Art Archive) is a national reference archive for video art from the 1960s to the present day. The archive contains work information, video files, and more related to Norwegian video art.

For a number of years the Arts Council Norway financed the project to build up an archive of Norwegian video art, and ensure that video art is preserved and made available as a resource for research, studying purposes and curatorial work. On 1 January 2021, the administration and further management of the Video Art Archive was transferred to the National Museum   

As of December 2023, the database contains around 5,700 work titles, as well as more than 1,300 artists or artist groups. Access is made through the website Videokunstarkivet.org.

Accessible video art

The Video Art Archive is a reference archive, not a curated collection. The archive is kept separate from the National Museum's art collection. The archive contains metadata and information holding biographical data, documentation, web links, video files, stills and other information relating to video art works and artists represented.

The archive makes the video art visible and accessible. The works in the archive are openly searchable by artist name and title. Curators, researchers and others can apply for access to the archive of viewing files.

The Video Art Archive is a tool for artists to preserve their works, and developed for artists to register their works and upload files. They have full control and ownership over their own works in the archive.

Visit Videokunstarkivet

For questions about registration and access, please contact Senior Adviser Håvard Oppøyen.