Modern Drama and Contemporary Theatre for Beginners (Hong Kong, Part. 3)

Beyond the fleeting moment on stage, a quest to capture its history and the possibilities that lie in wait
To weave together the cultural assets of an era, and the cultural memory of a generation
For the flourishing of archiving and preservation
To ponder the past, and cultivate the future

Thematic seminar (1)
Why We Need Performing Arts Archives: Strategy, Approach and Practice

The first iteration of Het Firmament, the Centre of Expertise for the Heritage of the Performing Arts in Flanders, Belgium, was founded in 1968. It later became a centre of expertise that provided professional advice for theatre practitioners, and assisted them in developing a professional mindset about preserving their works and archives. The centre recently merged with Resonant, Centre of Expertise for Musical Heritage, and was renamed CEMPER, Centre for Music and Performing Arts Heritage in Flanders and Brussels, Belgium. Ms Veerle Wallebroek, Secretary General of SIBMAS, the International Association of Libraries, Museums, Archives and Documentation Centres of the Performing Arts, will share her experience in archiving tangible and intangible elements of works of the performing arts, the vision behind the endeavour and the possibilities in its practice.

Thematic seminar (2)
Archiving as a Shared Mission: CEMPER, Centre for Music and Performing Arts Heritage in Flanders and Brussels, Belgium

Since 2008, the Flemish Government has introduced various policies regarding the preservation and revitalisation of the local cultural heritage. These policies not only concern the state of cultural heritage within professional contexts, but offer support to communities, organisations and individuals who participate in the process outside of professional contexts. How does the centre provide professional advice to various theatre companies, and devise feasible and appropriate solutions for them? How does it help theatre companies to develop a professional mindset and approach the preservation of their works and archives as a “mission for all”? 

Thematic seminar (3)
Asian Intercultural Digital Archives: On Intercultural Archiving

The Asian Intercultural Digital Archives (AIDA) (aida-web.org) is a group of digital archives of East and Southeast Asian performance materials based at the National University of Singapore. AIDA focuses on the interculturality both of performance practices in the region, and of archiving practices through which performances may be enjoyed and studied by viewers within and beyond the region on the internet. The archives are produced through collaborative work that engages communities of people of different nationalities and ages, scholars, practitioners, translators, students and technical experts. This collaborative practice has enabled the collective to contribute to the research on East and Southeast Asian intercultural theatre practices. AIDA includes the Asian Shakespeare Intercultural Archive (A|S|I|A) (http://a-s-i-a-web.org/), the Contemporary Wayang Archive (CWA) (http://cwa-web.org/), and Theatre Makers Asia (TMA), all of which archive full-length video recordings of performances, translations, and extensive data on these performances, to be enjoyed and studied by viewers around the world.

Currently, A|S|I|A is the largest archive to date, containing 62 performances of Shakespeare’s plays adapted in 17 East and Southeast Asian languages. Moreover, it has four parallel language interfaces – English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Scripts, time-coded to accompany each video, have been translated into the four languages as well, along with detailed data on each performance, including its style, reception, and sociocultural background. Using A|S|I|A as the primary case study, this talk will explain the concept and practice of archiving intercultural theatre performances and trace its development as a resource portal for scholars, educators, practitioners, and everyday users.

Dialogue and Exchange
Offline Documentation, Online Sharing: Development and Challenges

Thematic workshop (1)
Developing a Performance Archive: Multilingual Surtitling and Video Treatment

Following the first talk on intercultural archiving, the second talk will focus on the practical aspects of developing an archive. Building a performance archive goes beyond providing digitised video recordings and subtitles. When reframing documented performances in the Asian context, it is often necessary to provide multilingual translation and the basis for an accurate, contextualised and comparative experience of performances in Asia. This talk will explore the processes behind and the issues faced when developing a multilingual video archive and suggests ways to develop approaches and tools for designing a multilingual environment and user interface.

Thematic workshop (2)
The Cross-boundary in Community-initiated Digital Practice: ET@T’s Arts Archive and VR Session

Taiwan’s ET@T collaborates with professional arts practitioners from different disciplines to produce contemporary narratives inspired by archival content. As part of an ongoing creative experiment, the organisation applies digital technology in order to create digital archives of the performing arts. In 2018, ET@T collaborated with performing arts practitioner Liu Shou Yuo towards a multi-perspective, panoramic recording of the dance solos in Shapde5.5 – Shou-Yuo Liu’s Solo Dance. The virtual reality recording brings the audience to the auditorium, where they are immersed in the performance while viewing the stage from “five sides”. In freeing the viewing angles of the panoramic recording for the audience, the project seeks to elevate archiving from compilation to a more comprehensive, objective preservation of the intangible and artistic expression of a live performance, instilling into the archival materials an artistic quality that is fresh and dynamic. The workshop includes a virtual reality recording experience session.

Remark: The virtual reality experience session is approximately five minutes in length. Participants should pick their preferred timeslots when enrolling for the workshop. The organiser will confirm the allotted timeslots for individual participants at a later time.

Thematic Workshop (2) Co-presenter: CCDC Dance Centre

*A discount of HK$20 would be offered for signing up Thematic Workshop (1) & (2) at the same time.