THE TERRITORY, co-produced by Southwest Alternate Media Project, Austin Museum of Art and HoustonPBS in cooperation with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is the longest running showcase of independent film on public television in the country.

For the past thirty-four television seasons, THE TERRITORY has existed in Texas as an electronic art gallery, showcasing extraordinary work by filmmakers from all over the world. Originating in 1975 from the fertile minds of a group of media artists at the Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP) in Houston, the series found its first home on access television. Later it moved to Houston’s PBS station KUHT.

As the oldest public television station in the U.S., KUHT-TV helped to pioneer the broadcast of short, independent film and video. With the entry of the Austin Museum of Art as third co-producer in 1984, THE TERRITORY expanded its focus to national and international artists and expanded its audience from Houston to other Texas PBS stations.

For decades art houses have been the main venues for experimental and avant-garde films. Video art’s home has been in progressive museums, art galleries, and media art centers. The innovative collaboration of a media arts organization, a Texas museum, and public television stations has greatly widened access to these important works.

Some of the well-known media artists on THE TERRITORY have been:

Bill Viola (Venice Biennale, MoMA and Whitney retrospectives)
Suzan Pitt (Academy Award winner; Cannes featured artist)
John Sanborn (pioneer of digital media art)
Kip Fulbeck (Rockefeller fellow)
Jeanne Finley (Guggenheim fellow)
Robert Rodriguez (went on to make “El Mariachi,” “Spy Kids” and “Sin City”)
Victor Masayesva (Hopi artist, NEA Fellow)
Nam June Paik (pioneer of digital media art; major exhibitions at Whitney and MoMA, etc.)
Gus Van Sant (Academy Award nominated director of “Milk”)
William Wegman (famous for his photos of dogs)
Jonathan Demme (Academy Award winning director of “Silence of the Lambs”)
Jane Campion (Academy Award winning screenwriter of “The Piano”)
Tracey Moffat (Australian Aborigine artist; major exhibitions including the Dia Center in New York)
Steina and Woody Vasulka (Pioneering video artists)