LI-MA – Living Media Art

What LI-MA – Living Media Art does

LI-MA – Living Media Art is an Amsterdam-based not-for-profit foundation (ANBI-registered) dedicated to the collection, preservation, distribution, and research of media art, tracing its origins to MonteVideo founded in 1978 and operating under the LI-MA name since 2014. The organisation maintains a catalogue of 20,000+ works by more than 500 Dutch and international artists, a community platform (livingmediaart.li-ma.nl), and a curated reference framework — the Digital Canon of Dutch digital art (1960–2000). Its core services include rental and distribution of media artworks to museums, expert preservation (migration, emulation, digitisation, documentation), and applied research with museums, universities, and artist estates.

Its technology stack centres on a domain-specialised preservation and distribution platform rather than commercial software; there is no public API, SDK, or developer-facing tooling. The Living Media Art community platform, launched in 2024, functions as a hybrid digital meeting place for the media art community and was developed in co-creation with designer Florian van Zandwijk. Supporting assets include the Digital Canon reference database (digitalcanon.nl) and the documentation/preservation infrastructure powering services to institutional clients such as Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Van Abbemuseum, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, and Nieuwe Instituut.

LI-MA is funded primarily through project-based grants from Dutch cultural public and semi-public bodies (Mondriaan Fund, Creative Industries Fund NL, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, Fonds 21, Cultuurfonds, Gieskes-Strijbis Fund), supplemented by donations ("Friends of LI-MA") and transactional rental/distribution fees. The organisation has publicly disclosed that despite positive assessments it was not granted necessary structural funding, creating ongoing operating uncertainty. With a 16-person team, its go-to-market is event- and partnership-driven: symposia (Transformation Digital Art), travelling exhibitions (REBOOT), and curatorial commissions (e.g., Netherlands Pavilion at the 15th Gwangju Biennale, 2024) function as both programming and audience-development channels.

Name

LI-MA – Living Media Art

Legal name

LI-MA - Living Media Art

Website

https://li-ma.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Heritage Services

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921)

akta.pro primary industry

Media Arts & Film/Photography Nonprofits (BPAGAHAJ)

Keywords

• Media art preservation
• Art collection management
• Cultural heritage services
• Video art distribution
• Archive documentation services

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Project-based Funding: Relies on annually securing project funding from cultural foundations and government bodies for infrastructure and activities.
2. Donations and Friends of LI-MA: Accepts annual, monthly, or one-off contributions from supporters. Tax-exempt as ANBI (public benefit organization).
3. Rental and Distribution Services: Provides rental and distribution services for media art works to museums and institutions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

LI-MA preserves, documents, and distributes media art works on behalf of artists and cultural institutions, functioning as a national institutional archive for video, sound, and performance-based artworks. The foundation manages a collection of more than 20,000 works from over 500 artists and makes these works available for exhibition, research, and educational purposes through partnerships with museums, festivals, and universities. It also provides advisory, restoration, and rights management services to artists and institutions to ensure long-term accessibility of time-based artworks.

Product overview

LI-MA – Living Media Art operates as a not-for-profit foundation providing an integrated suite of services for media art: distribution, preservation, research, and programming. Its core product is the Media Art Distribution Service, which distributes works by over 500 artists from its collection to institutions worldwide. This is supported by a dedicated Media Art Preservation Services practice covering migration, emulation, digitisation, documentation, and storage. LI-MA's research arm conducts case studies with museums, universities, and artists. The programme portfolio includes the annual Transformation Digital Art (TDA) symposium, the LI-MA Presents/LI-MA Collection series of curated exhibitions (expanded into a nationwide tour), the Digital Care public programme, and the REBOOT exhibition series. The Digital Canon provides an authoritative reference framework for influential Dutch digital art (1960–2000). LI-MA also offers an online interactive community platform called Living Media Art, alongside documentation services and workshops for institutions. The organization traces its roots to MonteVideo, founded in 1978, and now serves as the only dedicated platform in the Netherlands systematically collecting, distributing, and preserving media art.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 20,000+ artworks preserved across 50+ collections
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and flagship.

• Netherlands Embassy in KoreamajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 7 September 2024Invited LI-MA to curate the Netherlands Pavilion at the 15th Gwangju Biennale, presenting artist duo Persijn Broersen & Margit Lukács.
• AVA_NetcoreOthersThe (knowledge) network for audiovisual collection holders in the Netherlands and anyone interested in this heritage. LI-MA is a proud member aiming to strengthen the position of AV heritage in the Netherlands.
• Digital Culture MoonshotcoreOthersAn initiative to strengthen the digital culture field in the Netherlands.
• DINAMOcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDistribution Network of Artists' Moving Image Organizations. The international coalition for distribution organizations supporting and promoting artist's moving images. Goal is to share common expertise in advocacy, exhibition, preservation and education.
• SBMKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoundation for the Conservation of Contemporary Art initiates and stimulates knowledge sharing and cooperation related to the maintenance and conservation of contemporary visual art.
• NDEcoreOthersDigital Heritage Network stimulates and facilitates knowledge sharing and cooperation, developing a national, cross-sectoral network of facilities and support for digital heritage.
• NADDcoreOthersNetwork Archives Design and Digital Culture works towards an accessible archive for design and digital culture, combining knowledge and strengths of museum and heritage organisations.
• University of AmsterdamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey partner of the Master's programme Presentation and Preservation of the Moving Image (P&P) at University of Amsterdam Media Art Conservation.
• TatemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in digital art preservation and knowledge sharing.
• ZKMmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in digital art preservation and knowledge sharing.
• RhizomemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in digital art preservation and knowledge sharing.
• Nieuwe InstituutflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner for REBOOT exhibition (October 2023 - May 2024) celebrating pioneering history of Dutch digital art and culture. Co-organizers of Digital Care programme.
• Van AbbemuseummajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPreservation partner in collaborative digital art infrastructure project; trusts LI-MA to preserve their digital art collection.
• Stedelijk Museum AmsterdammajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPreservation partner; hosted Marina Abramović retrospective with works preserved and distributed by LI-MA.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI): Nonprofit that distributes, preserves, and provides access to video and media art. Highly comparable business model of artist-endorsed collection, rental/distribution, and preservation services.
• ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe: German museum and research center for media art with deep preservation and exhibition programs. Direct peer in media art collection, preservation, and international programming; also an LI-MA research partner.
• Ars Electronica: Austrian media arts organization operating a major archive, annual festival, and research center on art, technology, and society. Directly comparable in combining preservation, exhibition, and research for media art.
• LIMA (Australia): Australian nonprofit for the preservation, distribution, and promotion of media art. Nearly identical mandate to LI-MA, serving as the Oceania counterpart in the global DINAMO distribution network.
• PACKED Centre of Expertise in Digital Heritage: Belgian expert center focused on digital heritage preservation, including audiovisual and media art. Comparable specialist preservation services and advisory role to cultural institutions.
• Video Data Bank: Chicago-based nonprofit archive distributing video and media art. Comparable specialized distributor/preserver serving museums, schools, and researchers with a curated collection of artists' moving image works.
• Rhizome: Digital art preservation organization based at the New Museum in New York. Directly comparable mission around born-digital and net art preservation, and already a research partner of LI-MA.

Broad incumbents

• Tate: Major UK museum group with significant digital and media art holdings and active preservation research program. Research partner of LI-MA but a much larger incumbent with growing internal capabilities.
• Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam: Major Dutch museum and LI-MA partner/customer. Demonstrates the broader incumbent museum category that both commissions LI-MA preservation services and could in theory develop in-house alternatives.
• Nieuwe Instituut: Dutch national museum and institute for architecture, design, and digital culture. Larger institution that has co-organized REBOOT with LI-MA and operates overlapping digital culture preservation activity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/LIMAAmsterdam
• Facebookfacebook.com/LIMALivingMediaArt
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/li-ma-living-media-art
• Instagraminstagram.com/lima_media_art

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LI-MA – Living Media Art