History
In 1997, the Netherlands Audiovisual Archive (NAA) was founded to safeguard the nation’s audiovisual heritage in one place. It brought together collections from several organisations, including the Public Broadcaster’s archive, the RVD film archive, Stichting Film en Wetenschap, and the Broadcasting Museum. In 2002, the NAA became the Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision, and in 2006 Queen Beatrix opened our colourful building at the Media Park in Hilversum.
Evolving into a Multidisciplinary Media Institute
Over the years, we evolved from a traditional archive to a multidisciplinary media institute. Our collection expanded from radio and TV broadcasts to also include games, podcasts, press materials, social media, and more. We launched DAAN, our digital archive platform for professional media makers, making heritage accessible for reuse in news, documentaries, and other productions.
Mergers further broadened our scope: in 2017 we took over the Press Museum, in 2019 COMM in The Hague, and in 2022 Europe’s largest music collection, Muziekweb. This million-CD and half-million-LP archive is now housed in our new Music Building in Hilversum, opening to the public at the end of 2025.
In February 2023, after a major renovation, we reopened our interactive Media Museum, where visitors explore the impact of media on themselves and society. And in spring 2026, a large part of our archive—hundreds of thousands of radio and TV programmes from 1920–2020—will become freely available online.
Today, Sound & Vision is one of the largest media archives in the world. We are both an expert centre and a meeting place, online and offline, helping people to better understand and use media—contributing to a vibrant, media-literate society.