Historiography – Ideology – Collection

visibility and communicability – a workshop discussing performing arts research data

The historical reappraisal of the history of theater science requires different perspectives and is frequently linked with interdisciplinary approaches. The multidisciplinary questions that emerge from these examinations are surrounded with certain issues. Our workshop „Zur Sichtbarkeit und Kommunizierbarkeit von Forschungsdaten in den Darstellenden Künsten” provided the opportunitiy for an interdisciplinary discussion on the topic and substantial questions:
 – how can we combine definitions, discourses and data encompassing the performing arts
– which essential contents and stories need to be investigated, to provoke a more open approach with the critical history of theater science
– and which conditions have to be met, to enable our research data to communicate

An important aspect of data communication is the concept of Linked Data. This form of communicating can be achieved with different approaches. One recent path to accomplish Linked Data processing is the digital library format BIBFRAME – a data model for bibliographic description. BIBFRAME was designed to replace the MARC standards, and to use linked data principles to make bibliographic data more useful both within and outside the library community.

The opportunity to discuss this new format and similar approaches with the BIBFRAME AG at the Vienna University Library provided our project team with an important exchange of thought and input on the topic of Linked Data concepts, which we were able to discuss further in our workshop.

We thank the BIBFRAME AG and all of the workshop participants for a most productive and encouraging week.

Various books with questionable ex libris, posters and pictures being wedged-in between book cases or a folder labelled “Völlig fraglich” (highly questionable): These are just some examples for the archival documents that were found during the process of relocating the Library and the Archive of the Department of Theater, Film and Media Studies in the spring of 2017. These concerning documents in connection with the founding years of the Department, especially from 1943 to 1945, needed to be examined as part of a critical analysis. This consideration was the basis for the exhibition project “Völlig fraglich. Vergessene Geschichte”.

Inspired by a master seminar, a group of inquisitive students of the department and the head of the archive, Birgit Peter, examined a variety of documents and established a permanent exhibition at the Department’s new location to encourage a critical approach of the university’s history. The displayed exhibits are books, photographs, archival documents, video installations or shadow theater characters – controversial findings of questionable provenance, who represent academic routines in the National Socialist era.

An astonishing moment during this process was the discovery of two badly mistreated but very valuable Belle Époque posters made by the French artist Jules Chéret  (1836–1932). Supported by the commission for university collections, the two posters “La Danse” and “La Pantomime” were restored and are now displayed in the Library of the Department of Theater, Film and Media Studies, as part of the exhibition.
(photographic documentation ©Max Bauer)

 

 

Technik des Archivierens als Technik des (Re-)Produzierens

In November our project ‘Historiography -Ideology – Collection’ had the opportunity to organize an entire panel at the 14th Congress of the Society for Theater Studies “Theater und Technik” in Düsseldorf. This was a great occasion to close a busy first year in which we had a lot of presentations, meetings and research activities on our agenda. In the panel “Historiography -Ideology – Collection: Technik des Archivierens als Technik des (Re-)Produzierens” (Panel D2, see program) we offered a broad insight into the project thesis.  It was organized as a collective presentation with Birgit Peter (project leader), Louise Hartmann, Klaus Illmayer and Sara Tiefenbacher (project researchers) as speakers. Within the timeframe of one and a half hours we presented our techniques of archiving and archival processing as well as first outcomes and impacts of our research to a bigger audience. Moreover, the data model of our Archiv-TFM database and standards used for the archival description were illustrated. The techniques we presented, are – in our point of view – necessary for the investigation of theatre historical materials in the collection of the Archive of the “Zentralinstitut für Theaterwissenschaft” (1943-1945), as this collection deals with Nazi canonization processes. One technique that we presented at the congress, is to operate with predefined entities, such as record set, agent or place. These entities are described by properties. Thereby properties can be used to underline significant attributes of archival material or collection. They are especially relevant for theatre collections formed during the National Socialist era. As an example, we introduced the HIC-property “Stempel Zentralinstitut”. The seal “Stempel Zentralinstitut” illustrates and describes accessions of the collection and archive in the years 1943-1945. By means of this property (and other planned HIC-properties) a collection-related and ideological-critical description of archival materials and collections can be emphasized. In addition, one important part of our presentation was to visually demonstrate examples of controversial inventories of the collection. On several slides we exemplified three provenance issues, such as the historical photographs (see on top), which we introduced on slide No.13 of our presentation (all slides – unfortunately only in German – are available on Zenodo). These selected photos are just one example of questionable materials of the collection, we are confronted with. Thanks again to Mimmi Woisnitza for her remarkable and sensible moderation.

Following up on our latest questions regarding acquisition processes concerning the inventories in this Archive, we had the possibility to present first research results at the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) Conference 2018 in July.

This years topic “Theatre and Migration” was a great opportunity to discuss purchasing processes in archives and collections, especially if they hold sensitive material surrounding the National Socialist era. We were able to present the first strategies to develop a model for researching the collection history of specific inventories, which also reflects the examination of individual items and the absent documentation on their acqusition. In our presentation “Historiography – Ideology – Collection. Provenance issues of Historical Theater Material from the ‘Zentralinstitut für Theaterwissenschaft’ in Vienna 1943-1945” we focused on examples of controversial inventories in this Archive, the structure and idea behind the Archive TFM database and the practices to achieve our objectives. The slides we presented are available via Zenodo.
The second presentation linked with this project was Klaus Illmayer on “Theadok – Theaterdokumentation. Collecting metadata of performances“, scheduled in the Working Group “Digital Humanites”. Klaus showed as one example the sharing of data between Theadok and the Archive TFM database.

The time we spend in Belgrade was intense, exciting, interesting and very rewarding. Thanks again for the great conference to everybody involved, especially the organizational team from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts at University of Arts, Belgrade.

 

 

One of the fundamental aspects of our project is, that the Archive in this case does not possess finding aids, a book of arrivals or any register of items received. Especially in our case as the founding year was 1943, therefore in the “National Socialist” (Nazi) era, where questions concerning provenance are critical issues.
The announcement that we were able to solve the acquisition history of the “Theaterarchiv Leuschke“(Leuschke Theater Archive), one representative inventory in our project, is a major achievement. The collection was purchased in 1943 as one of the first acquisitions for the newly founded “Zentralinstitut”(Central Institute for Theater Studies). Leuschke is the last name of the collection’s creator Alfred Leuschke. Paradoxically his identity was unknown even though his name is explicitly in the title. Our Leuschke research revealed further documents on his personal data in Dresden. Evidence shows the creator is Georg Edmund Alfred Leuschke (1872-1945). This persistent identifier is a result of our research.

About the acquisition: As our archive does not hold any books of arrivals, we only have a few informations on the case. An indication for the provenance are library seals on the records. This points to the fact, the “Stadtbibliothek Wien” purchased this inventory and made it available to the “Zentralinstitut” on a long-term loan. Several files in the “Wienbibliothek”, former known as “Stadtbibliothek Wien”, verify the acquisition history. One fact is that the founder of the “Zentralinstitut”, Heinz Kindermann, managed to incorporate important members of the “Reichsgau Wien” to acquire this inventory during the II. World War. Another important fact: Leuschke was payed the tremendous purchase sum of RM 12.029,27  (ca. 64.000€ ) by the administrative division of Vienna.

These research accomplishments are important steps for a broader contextualization of the archive holdings. We still have to ask: Why are these inventories in Vienna and under which circumstances could they be purchased in 1943?

Having the opportunity to participate at DHd2018 as a whole research group, we were able to experience many aspects of the conference’s programme.

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Our schedule started with practical exercises in the first day’s workshops –  we focused on ATR (Automated Text Recognition) with Transkribus and discussed the diversity of digital repositories. In addition we are very thankful to the organisational team for making it possible for us, to attend the (actually fully booked) workshop “Digitale Sammlungserschließung mit WissKI und CIDOC CRM”. One of our main interests in this year’s conference. Being able to work with the tool WissKi and their VRE (Virtual Reserach Environment) was incredibly helpful for our own research. Especially because WissKi uses CIDOC CRM and we, as a project, have been working intensely on a model for our own onthology.
A recurring tenor of the panels we participated was the importance of sustainable data management (see FAIR principles) to enable Information Retrieval. These aspects encouraged our strategy to implement the conceptional modell for archival description RiC – Records in Contexts. First mapping attempts for these standards in our database and description have already started.

 

After the struggles that come with the first stages of a research project – such as working out a schedule, submitting applications for technical equipment and buying a new coffee mashine – we already had the chance to present a first attempt of digitizing material. The Collections at the Vienna Library gave us the opportunity to exhibit the “object of the month” in January 2018.

The pictured typescript/newspaper clipping belongs to the collection “Theaterarchiv Leuschke” and represents an example for ideologically motivated historiography in theater history.

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This project will research collections of the Archive of the “Zentralinstitut für Theaterwissenschaft” founded 1943 at the University of Vienna, as ideologically motivated scholarly studies. The goal is to conduct an historical analysis of the generated sources, following a scholarly investigation of the collection inventory. The project will develop the best practice for digitizing the research of a collection’s history with the premise, that analyzing the history of a specific collection defines its structure and the purchase of individual objects in it. This is of great significance for collections that were made during the National Socialism, where provenance issues are especially pertinent. This research work will apply to three representative inventories of the Archive, that were verifiably purchased or established in 1943: the Nazi Picture Archive, the Houben Censorship Archive and the Leuschke Theater Archive. These self-contained collections enable the work to be done in a realistic period of time and the heterogeneity of the material allows a broad-scoped investigation with archival and scholarly historical questions, as well as the necessary digitizing. Amongst others the collections comprise photographs, manuscripts and newspaper clippings, which ensures a representative selection of materials. The in-depth investigation of a collection formed during the Nazi era will contribute to the clarification of complex provenance issues regarding questionable inventories, and will thus form the basis for restitution proceedings. The publication of the research results in the form of papers, a digital exhibit and the metadata in the Phaidra repository. Examining the ideology of the collection and the collecting process will form the basis for the overdue research of the historical provenance of materials that were most likely stolen, such as some of those integrated in the Archive in this case.

Institution: University of Vienna, Department for Theater, Film and Media Studies
Project leader: Birgit Peter
Team: Louise Hartmann, Janina Piech, Sara Tiefenbacher, Klaus Illmayer
Cooperation: Martina Cuba (Theater-, Film- and Media Studies Library/ Vienna University Library), Claudia Feigl (University
Collections Coordinator, Library and Archive Services/University of Vienna)
Nov 2017- Nov 2020
funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF)/ P30545-G24