Founded in 1989, the ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruheis a cultural institution which, since 1997, has been located in a historical industrial building in Karlsruhe, Germany that formerly housed a munitions factory. The ZKM organizes special exhibitions and thematic events, carries out research projects, produces works in the field of new media and offers public as well as individualized communications and educational programs.
The ZKM houses under one roof two museums, three research institutes as well as a media center; in this way it groups research and production, exhibitions and events, archives and collections. It works on the interface of art and science, and takes up cutting-edge insights in media technologies with the objective of developing them further. Since the death of founding director Heinrich Klotz the ZKM has been directed by Prof. Peter Weibel. In addition to the ZKM, the associated Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, as well as the Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe [Municipal Gallery Karlsruhe] are likewise housed in the former munitions factory.