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bpk-Bildagentur of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz to Become Central Image Bank of Cultural Institutions
Press releases
Press release from 03/14/2017
Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media Grütters approves 460,000 euro grant for national project. SPK President Parzinger: More than 150 cultural institutions in Germany and abroad have already put their trust in bpk-Bildagentur – a success story.
The bpk-Bildagentur (Picture Agency bpk) of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) will be expanded into a national distribution platform for high-quality, digitized images of the cultural treasures in all major German museums, libraries, and archives. Monika Grütters, Commissioner for Culture and the Media, has approved 460,000 euros for the expansion of the existing portal over the next two years.
Monika Grütters: "The funding for an expansion of the Foundation's picture agency offers the opportunity to provide cultural institutions throughout Europe with a central distribution platform for their digitized content. Moreover, it gives German museums, libraries and archives the ability to use their resources efficiently and to offer an attractive service for the cultural and creative industry. With the bpk platform, we also provide cultural institutions with a highly professional distribution channel for their content on the Internet – in part because many of them cannot manage this themselves. The project serves not only the cultural institutions and the cultural and creative industry, but also the public by making our cultural treasures more accessible and more visible."
According to the Foundation's President, Hermann Parzinger, the bpk-Bildagentur, which arose from the Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Image Archive), is already a success: "Over 150 prestigious partners from Germany and abroad – such as the British Museum, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the Louvre, and the Guggenheim Museum – have entrusted their image collections and the professional distribution of them to the bpk. Now, other potential partners in Germany are being invited to join this media service for commercial picture users. It not only allows them to relieve personnel of a complex undertaking, but also promises attractive income in the form of fees for every participating institution."
The head of the bpk, Hanns-Peter Frentz, says that the decision by the Commissioner for Culture and the Media sends a clear signal for the way ahead: "We're now in a position to bring together the digitized cultural treasures of all major German cultural institutions in an online shop and thus make it much easier for any commercial user to purchase images and acquire the rights to use them."
Links for Additional Information
- bpk-Bildagentur (Picture Agency bpk)
- Interview with the head of the bpk-Bildagentur, Hanns-Peter Frentz: "Unser Angebot ist einfach einmalig!“ (in German) (08.02.2017)
