Rockr Girls

Rockr Girls (Stage performance pics only please!), a group on Flickr.

And a follow up to the previous post - Here's a Flickr stream we could easily contribute to with photos from the ROCK CHICKS launch event.

Linking to existing photo groups is also a good way to help people discover our site too.

Flickr Galleries

Caz & I set up a Flickr account for the Arts Centre's Collections some time ago with a view to eventually being part of The Commons.

I was suprised to find that other flickr users have uploaded some great photos from inside Hamer Hall and tagged them as Performing Arts Collection.

Check out our so far very "modest" efforts at a Flickr Stream here. Flickr provides an interesting Curatorial outlet for us - Sets or Galleries can be created with up to 18 images. It could be a set of quirky or unusual images you stumble across during research; a selection a favourites; or musings and selections featuring the colour yellow - whatever you like!

The focus is on interesting photography, and we are not short of resources in this regard. So lets delve into the collection and create some small galleries without the usual constraints of the physical gallery environment.

I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get some conversations started in the comments about unidentified photographs from our collections, and potentially crowd-source some info about them. Got an interesting image you need help identifying? Lets put it on our flickr stream and see what people think!

As a follow up to the last post , if you are interested in the Circus Oz project have a look at our blog http://www.circusarchive.net/blog/

Theatre in the Digital Age

Image: Digital Theatre

Can something as ephemeral as performance really ever be 'captured' or it really just a case of trying to nail jelly to the wall? Having been personally involved (often unsuccessfully) in trying to convince performers, directors, musicians and unions of the importance of preserving their archival performance footage I know by heart all the excuses for not doing so.

'It was only a dress rehearsal not a real performance'
'It was only a single camera shoot',
'It doesn't capture the spirit of the performance',
'You'll never get such and such to sign a release form'

While we all sympathise with these concerns I'm glad to see that there are three exciting digital projects out there at the moment trying to resolve some of these issues.

The first is the remarkable Digital Theatre featuring performances the Royal Court Theatre,Young Vic and Almeida Theatre among others. If you haven't already read it this article in The Age recently shows just how far we have come in being able to document live perfomance in a real and meaningful way.

Another interesting site using digital technology to document/discuss theatre in a different way is Theatre VOICE . The site was set up in 2003 in association with the Theatre Museum at the V&A and features 100s of audio recordings about theatre in the UK through the eyes of critics and theatre practitioners.

Closer to home, we're involved in a three year ARC Linkage project that aims to 'create and analyse an experimental prototype for an online participatory ‘living archive’. Built upon the Circus Oz collection of performance and rehearsal video documentation, this project seeks to 'drive innovation in repertoire development, performance research and audience interaction'.

Maybe we're starting to get somewhere...

War Horse...

Check out this amazing TED Talk by the Handspring Puppet Company the people behind the extraordinary production, War Horse. If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, scoot through to about the 9 minute mark to see the horse in action - it will take your breath away.