The Satellite Video Exchange Society (SVES) is a Canadian nonprofit organization established in 1973 and incorporated under the Societies Act of British Columbia. It operates the VIVO Media Arts Centre, an artist-run centre dedicated to the production, education, distribution, exhibition, and discussion of media art based in Vancouver, British Columbia[2][3][5].

History and Overview

SVES was founded with the original mandate to facilitate international information exchange through a public video library. One of the earliest international video centres and Canadian artist-run centres, it began by operating the first video exchange library. By the early 1980s, the organization expanded to provide access to video equipment, offer workshops, international distribution services, and publish the magazine Video Guide[5].

Mission and Vision

The mission of SVES through VIVO Media Arts Centre is to directly support artists and independent community-based producers by fostering development, exchange, and dissemination of their skills in a supportive environment with accessible services and programs. Its vision is to nurture a robust, diverse, and vibrant media arts sector that serves as a catalyst for critical and innovative engagement with media and technology's material and cultural aspects[1][5].

Programs and Services

VIVO facilitates a variety of programming including events, exhibitions, artist and curatorial residencies, and media workshops. It has hosted notable festivals such as the Vancouver New Music Festival and the LIVE (performance) Biennale. The centre has presented works by prominent artists and curators including Paul Wong, Jayce Salloum, and Abbas Akhavan among others[2].

The centre also offers equipment rentals and digitization services as part of its support for media artists, though equipment rentals undergo periodic maintenance pauses to ensure service quality[1].

Crista Dahl Media Library & Archive

Housed within VIVO is the Crista Dahl Media Library & Archive (CDMLA), one of Canada’s most extensive video art collections, comprising over 5,000 video titles along with an extensive publication and photo archive. The archive preserves important video collections documenting unique histories of British Columbia, including works related to Metro Media, The Women’s Labour History Project, and First Nations Access Program, among others. The archive is named after Crista Dahl, a long-time volunteer and influential archivist who played a key role in developing SVES’s collections and international video exchange initiatives from the 1970s onwards[2].

Significance

The Satellite Video Exchange Society, through its operation of VIVO Media Arts Centre, remains a pivotal institution in Canada’s media arts landscape, supporting independent artists and preserving critical cultural histories in media form.

Business Registration Number: 119141497RR0001