Dance archives and digital participation
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Göteborgs Universitet - Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 300 000 |
| Project duration | November 2016 - April 2018 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | Personal mobility between societal sectors |
Purpose and goal
The aim of the collaborative project Dance Archives and Digital Participation was to use staff mobility to find new ways to make marginalized dance visible, and thereby contribute to social diversity. A broad, activistic and empathetic understanding of archival engagement permeated the work within the project. This led to the establishment of a web of relations in which dance groups, archival staff and researchers interact with digital technology to represent independent dance and make it accessible.
Expected results and effects
The goal of the project was to use participatory research to contribute to creating innovative digital solutions for how marginalized dance can better be represented in and through archives. The project has resulted in the inclusion of new dance groups in a database, implementation of new archival theory, and identification of new possibilities afforded by information technology. The relational dance archive can eventually come to include and represent many diverse knowledges and forms of expression from the field of dance.
Planned approach and implementation
Interviews, talks, participation in other stakeholders’ events, and blogging were important tools for building trust, exchanging knowledge and developing the project. Current dance archive theory was combined with new findings within information technology to develop a theoretical/written proposal for how a participatory dance archive might be designed. It is proposed that a network-based Study Centre and extended digital collaboration can make the dance archive participatory, accessible and representative.