Archiving Performance in the Digital Present is a joint project co-hosted by APGRD and ReTAGS (Reimagining Tragedy in Africa and the Global South, University of Cape Town). It began life in October 2022 as a pop-up online workshop organised by APGRD Archivist, Claire Kenward and ReTAGS Digital Archivist, Jayne Batzofin. 

 

Since then, Jayne and Claire have hosted a series of hybrid workshops exploring the methodologies, technical possibilities, ethics and conceptual frameworks of archiving performance in the digital world. These workshops have brought together archivists, theatre historians, poets, linguists, and performance practitioners in an informal exploratory space.

Presentations on the intersections between documenting performance and developing performance, digital innovations and interventions, and also on the idea of the archive in a digital space. Interspersed with and followed by group discussions with attendees.

Speakers: 

 

Presentations on the ideas around ‘Anecdotal and Qualitative vs.  Analytics and Quantitative’ and how these relate to the digital performance archive: understanding the “value” of archival materials and their digital representations, the potential for users to transform them through various interventions. Hosted by Jayne Batzofin and Claire Kenward.
Speakers: 

 

Presentation by guest speaker, Tinashe Mushakavanhu, on the archival representations of Zimbabwean literary figures, followed by discussion on the theme of interacting with the inaccessible and the invisible in archives: on metadata and commentary (both implicit and explicit), on the transformations that occur when material is described, tagged, and digitised. Hosted by Jayne Batzofin and Claire Kenward.

Guest speaker: Tinashe Mushakavanhu (Oxford)

 

Find out more about all events related to this project.