April 4, 2025
The PREMIERE project hosted a webinar discussion exploring the relationship between performance, archive preservation, and digital mediation. Moderated by Ezequiel Santos (Vice President, Forum Dança; Lecturer, University of Lisbon) and Gonçalo Amorim (Artistic Director, FITEI), the session featured guest speaker Hélia Marçal (Lecturer in History of Art, Materials, and Technology, University College London).
Opening the discussion
Ezequiel Santos opened the webinar by introducing the PREMIERE project. He briefly outlined the project’s work with use cases, highlighting the archive and memory use case he leads, which involves “the development of an application to browse theatre and dance archives” where “algorithms of multimodal semantic analysis and 3D and XR technologies” are applied to selected performances.
Performance and archive
Hélia Marçal’s presentation explored “how performance can help us think about the archive and specifically how performance queers the archive.” She examined how performance “adds some glitches to the infrastructures of the archive in institutional settings and why this is so exciting and so productive.”
Key concepts that frames the discussion of this relationship
Authenticity and categories
Drawing from Diana Taylor’s book “The Archive and the Repertoire,” Hélia discussed how the archive has traditionally served to “highlight voices and erase many other voices.” She noted that “the archive has many challenges when it tries to incorporate the repertoire as part of its structure,” though archives worldwide are increasingly adopting more holistic perspectives when engaging with performance.
She explored Nelson Goodman’s distinction between autographic works (existing in a particular moment in time, where copies would be considered fakes) and allographic works (which can be iterated with multiple manifestations that remain authentic). Performance works often blur these categories, challenging traditional archival classifications.
Preservation and obsolescence
Marçal addressed the materiality of archives, noting that “these archives that are filled with boxes, they are also filled with a set of assumptions and underlying categories.” She highlighted how value judgments determine what becomes preserved, explaining the distinction between “things” and “objects” – where objects are items deemed worthy of preservation.
Referencing Felix Tadler’s concept of “digital condition,” Hélia explained how “digital environments are much more prone to obsolescence” than physical archives.
Digital condition and infrastructure
In the digital realm, Hélia emphasized that “for people who think that digital is immaterial, there are many circumstances that allow us to see that it is not at all immaterial. It occupies a lot of space, it requires a whole new set of expertise.”
Regarding infrastructure, she proposed that “infrastructures are about relationships, and how relationships are done, and how things, what is the flux of information.” She suggested that performance, with its “varied ontologies” and “elusive categories,” can help us rethink archival practices.
Discussion themes
During the Q&A session, interesting questions emerged about the ontological frameworks of archives. When asked about the difference between categorizing performance as an object versus an event, Hélia explained that “in the creation of relational databases, basically, you create a subtext, and that’s where you use this ontological framework.” She highlighted how different institutions might use varying terminology to define the same types of performances, creating challenges for database integration.
The discussion also addressed concerns about digital obsolescence, with Hélia suggesting that hybrid approaches combining online archives with in-person iterations could help preserve embodied knowledge. Ezequiel Santos added that the project embraces “the ethics of reappearing” inherent to performing arts, making the team less concerned about eventual obsolescence.