VIDEONALE.20: 40 years of the festival for video and time-based media

Founded in 1984, the VIDEONALE is one of the oldest festivals for video and time-based art in the world, and for the past 40 years it has taken place in Bonn biannually. Since 2005, a central part of the festival has been a 6-week exhibition of exclusively time-based works at the Kunstmuseum Bonn. Under the title HANDLE WITH CARE, and headed up by the artistic team of Tasja Langenbach and Annette Ziegert, the 20th edition of the VIDEONALE took place from 11th April to 18th May 2025 at the Kunstmuseum Bonn and at various locations across the city; there will be reflections on previous festival editions of more than 1,200 works, and around 1,000 artistic positions and lines of development will be traced right up to the present day. For VIDEONALE.20, a total of 27 works that are significant to the festival’s history and to video art have been selected for an exhibition at the Kunstmuseum and for locations across the city. As part of the exhibition and festival programme they will be brought together to create a many-faceted dialogue with each other and with the public.

The VIDEONALE invited visitors to engage in depth with the works throughout the HANDLE WITH CARE festival programme by offering introductions, lecture performances, guided tours, workshops and talks. Screenings and performances took place as SATELLITES in parks, historic buildings, private living rooms and a mega-tower. Performative EXCURSIONS took place along the exhibition stops throughout the city. The programme was developed in close partnership with key figures from the urban community. The PROLOGUE started in November 2024 with VIDEO EVENINGS at both familiar and unfamiliar locations in different parts of Bonn city.

In addition to the VIDEONALE events, the program included discussions with curators and artists from the field of video and time-based arts, as well as visits to institutions in other cities in North Rhine-Westphalia.