Artworks with digital components started to make their way into the Tate Collection in the mid-90s. These were initially audio or video components, but since then digital components are part of almost all the time-based media artworks in our Art Collection. We categorise artworks that use the media of film, video, audio, software and performance as time-based media and Tate has had a section specialised in the conservation of these artworks since 1998. Over this period, Time-based Media Conservation has approached the preservation of these works as opportunities for research in the preservation of the different media. We have used the acquisition and display moments to develop our knowledge of the technical aspects of these works, to increase our understanding of the production processes and the different ways in which artists use the different media, the relation of the media to the artworks as well as the technologies available for preservation. All these aspects are essential to define the object of conservation, and to understand what needs to be preserved. In 2019 the Tate Collection owns over 600 artworks with digital components and we are acquiring about 30 new works per year. This trend is likely to increase, as is the number and type of technologies conservation will need to support. This paper will address these multiple aspects from the view of the Time-based Media Conservation Department at Tate, and we will discuss the strategies that we have put in place, and how we were able to develop them. This will highlight the importance of the research currently taking place both within Tate, with artists and their teams and with external experts on different fields.
