Conference organisers: DARIAH-EU Working Group Theatralia; Croatian Association of Theatre Critics and Theatre Scholars (Zagreb, Croatia), Croatian ITI Centre – International Theatre Institute (Zagreb, Croatia), The Division for the History of Croatian Theatre of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Zagreb, Croatia), The Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research (Zagreb, Croatia)

Partners: Empiria Theatre (Zagreb, Croatia), Gogolfest (Kyiv, Ukraine), Youth Culture Centre “Ribnjak“ (Zagreb, Croatia), La Rochelle University (La Rochelle, France), Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek (Osijek, Croatia)

Dates: 15 – 17 March 2023

Location: Croatian ITI Centre – International Theatre Institute, Basaričekova Street 24, Zagreb, Croatia and online

Language of the conference: English

About the conference:

The transition process of cultural and artistic institutions, associations and individual artists to digital communication, which has been going on for several decades, has recently been further accelerated by various factors such as the pandemic or digital transformations of state institutions. Digital communication in the field of art, in addition to everyday, professional and administrative communication, which also includes promotional activities, encompasses shaping and presenting artistic work with the help of digital technologies and, afterward, digital processing and storage of administrative and archival material.

Performing arts, which are considered intangible cultural heritage, are particularly difficult to adapt to this situation precisely because their value is largely manifested as the totality of all tangible elements (scenography, costume design, dramatic text, lighting, etc.), which at a specific moment in conjunction with the audience create a unique and intangible experience and expression. Extensive use of digital technology and communication platforms for theatrical performance implies a radical change in the communication code and requires a major adaptation of previously acquired and established knowledge. It also requires the acquisition of new knowledge, which is often not closely related to the arts and humanities.

The conference aims to examine the possibilities of interdisciplinary connecting information sciences and computer science with the performing arts in the context of digital humanities while reflecting on the achievements so far on this path. Therefore, through three thematic blocks an attempt will be made to show, among other things, how digital humanities tools can serve scholars in performing artsresearch, what is the relationship between digital technologies and theatrical performance and, finally, what are the possibilities of digital archiving and linking data on performing arts material on both national and international level. At the same time, the conference will introduce members of the national theatre community, i.e. performing arts and theatre (i.e. performance) studies with leading international scholars and experts in the field.

On the first day of the conference, a workshop will be held for theatre artists, scholars and all interested individuals. The workshop will be led by theatre director Iva Srnec Hamer (Empiria Theatre), actor, director and producer Andrii Palatnyi (Gogolfest) and theatre scholar Cècile Chantraine Braillon with her team of experts (La Rochelle University). The workshop will include rehearsing and performing a play on an agreed topic. The play will then be performed in a hybrid format – simultaneously, part of it will be performed in the physical theatre space, and the other part online via the Zoom platform. Spectators, also participants in the workshop, will have the opportunity to try the prototype of the e-spectator digital tool, which is being developed by a team of scholars and experts from La Rochelle University, during the live performance and/or on its recording. The mentioned tool enables the annotation of the video footage of an individual performance and the digital recording of the emotions experienced throughout the performance. After the workshop, there will be a discussion dedicated to the results of the workshop, followed by an open exchange of experiences with the use of digital technologies in various forms of performing arts.

The international scientific and professional conference is part of the project of the same name by the DARIAH-EU Working Group Theatralia, which is dedicated to the research of digital technology in the performing arts and the digitization of theatralia, financed from DARIAH-EU funds.