Abstract- Renata Sukaityte

Electronic art in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania: the interplay of local, regional and global processes

Key words: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, electronics art, media culture, institution, network.

Electronic media art began to develop in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in the mid-1990s when the significant political, economic and socio-cultural changes took place in the region. The restoration of independence and the integration into an international sphere of politics and culture as well as the development of a free market economy and the growth of information society which influenced modernisation of cultural sector and increased mobility of artists, curators and researchers, which were the most significant factors for the building up of new media art and culture in the three Baltic States. Thought, the starting point for the development of electronic art was almost analogous in the three countries from the point of view of local cultural, economical and social context, it evolved in quite different directions and in different speed. Especially this is noticeable in establishing the new types of institutions and communities and development of trans-national networking practices as well as the development of critical electronic culture discourses in arts, science and media.
The paper will examine the influences of inner and outer heterogeneous factors for the actors operating in various electronic culture layers as well as artistic practices in the three Baltic States in the last 10 years. A big importance will be given to the analysis of the international and interdisciplinary activities of the main players in the sector, both institutions (Soros Contemporary Art Centres in Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, E-media centre in Tallinn, Centre for new media culture in Riga - the RIXC etc.) and individuals (Mare Tralla, Nomeda Urbonas, Gediminas Urbonas etc.) and their impact to local media culture communities.