The Edith-Russ-Haus for Media Art is a space where contemporary media art is exhibited and discussed, like a channel through which information on art, society, and new media flows.

The regularly changing exhibition program presents innovative and experimental positions within international contemporary art. Presentations, artist talks, and workshops promote public discourse on contemporary art and its relationship to the social reality from which it stems.

The Edith-Russ-Haus supports the realization of several new artistic projects every year, thus contributing to artistic production, experimental collaboration, and critical exchange. We consider these newly commissioned pieces to be important inspirations in shaping the program and overall direction of the institution.

The Edith-Russ-Haus’s program not only focuses on the ways in which today’s technologies influence the shaping and defining of artistic ideas, but it also celebrates artists who have the vision and power to conceive speculative designs for the future by critically examining the present.

The Edith-Russ-Haus was made possible by a generous endowment from Edith Maria Ruß (1919–1993), who was an educator, journalist, and collector. She wanted to enrich her beloved local community, the City of Oldenburg, with an institution dedicated to “the art in transition to the new millennium.” This vision was the basis for the concept of the media art house, with its exhibition space and apartments for artists-in-residence.

The Edith-Russ-Haus opened in 2000. It was directed by Rosanne Altstatt (2001-2004), Sabine Himmelsbach (2005-2012), Claudia Giannetti (2013-2014), and Edit Molnár & Marcel Schwierin (2015-present).