Curtain Up! The Practice of Archiving Performance

The Annual Conference 2024 is being held in partnership with the (APAC), a network for all museums, libraries and archives holding performance arts materials in the UK and Ireland.

This is an opportunity to share the work of the performing arts archive world with the wider sector and consider the transferability of particular methods and experiences of performing arts information professionals.

The conference theme is active archiving, with, through, and for practitioners. We will explore how archives can be developed in collaboration with the record creators, the practitioners themselves, to create more representative collections of performance for use by practitioners, academics, the general public, and beyond. We will also address current concerns regarding long term preservation of performance archives and the interventions available to save endangered works and collections.

Speaker participants from the following institutions are confirmed:

• Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon
• Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
• Kingston School of Art, Kingston University London
• The National Archives, London
• Digital Curation Lab, University of Salford
• National Theatre and Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London
• Victoria and Albert Museum, London
• University of Galway, Ireland
• University of Falmouth and University of Exeter Penryn Campus
• University of Bristol Theatre Collection

Please monitor the BRA website and this page for the full programme which will be published soon.

Conference fees include full catering for the day

For any accessibility requirements please email: [email protected]

We look forward to seeing you in October!

Banner images:

The Swan Theatre auditorium at curtain call, 2015. Photo by David Tett © RSC.

Macbeth curtain call, 2018. Photo by Paul Stewart © RSC

Host or Publisher The British Records Association (BRA)