Alex Barchiesi
C-theatre, geo-distributed performances at lightspeedIn the era of crowdsourcing and omnipresent networking the performing arts area of research, and in particular the theatre, will suffer a huge transformation to stay up to date and make proficient use of the immense potentials of the new technologies. The new paradigm introduced with ultra high-speed networks growing both in commercial and research frameworks will force a redesign of the performing space that will be something else from theatre as we know it and will make William Shakespeare’s “all the world’s a stage” a feasible scenario also for real-time performances.
Given this premise, we investigated in synergy with a renowned experimental-theatre director, namely G.B.Corsetti, the possibilities opened by the physical fragmentation of the stage space.
This experiment started in 2015 and drove GARR and Corsetti’s team of actors and video makers to embrace a new form of theatrical approach that resulted recently in a professional performance: “il Ratto di Europa” staged at REF16 (Roma Europa Festival 2016). The overall process of finding a technical solution to a “real life performative problem” brought the GARR team to put together a so-called distrActive (distributed and interActive) technology that allowed Corsetti’s team to couple their creative needs with the optical fibers infrastructure own by GARR through an hack of a commercially available hardware and to create a geo-distributed performance.
The technology is an absolute innovation in the field of performing arts and the system has been designed as much general purpose and usable as possible.The architecture aimed to: *usability: the use of a remote or local camera on the stage space is almost equivalent from the director’s point of view **speed: the latency introduced by a remote actor has been kept to few ms (far beyond the latency of a normal camera used in these setups and far beyond the human perception) ***portability: given an optical fiber network connection in the proximity (50-80km) it’s in principle possible to remotely use up to 16 video channels and 64 analog audio channels (at the state of the art) on a single fiber couple. Aiming to a broad diffusion in a field that is clearly not a high-budget one there has been a certain effort also in terms of the ratio between costs and performances and the choice of the hardware (given the optical fibers mesh and the possibility to configure optical paths on that so to connect different points of the infrastructure) has been carefully chosen so to minimize the expenses. This is an obvious extension and a different approach than the LOLA established project (also strongly driven by GARR) which uses the so-called IP level (or L3) of the ISO OSI stack and coupling and mixing of the two technologies can be foreseen to extend the usability to places where a direct optical connection would be not feasible. The presentation aims to show the details of all the phases of the project and the finalized solution that we wish to export towards the community.
Julia Beck
Aggregating Performing Arts: Representing different Collections in one DatabaseIn libraries, archives and museums, metadata describing various kinds of objects from the performing arts domain is gathered. This data can be very heterogeneous in scope and detail of description, standardization and data format. When aggregating the information in one database, a universal and flexible data model is needed to structure the information. Within the project “Specialised Information Service Performing Arts”, that aggregates performing arts related metadata from German-speaking GLAM institutions, the Europeana Data Model (EDM) is used as linked data model. It is described how EDM’s extensibility is taken advantage of to make different collections comparable while avoiding loss of information. As performing arts collections can be either built around the objects or the focus lies on events and performances, each collection has to be analysed thoroughly before its integration into the aggregation. In order to make the resulting knowledge base as consistent and useful as possible, the process of matching entities is crucial. This workflow is greatly simplified by shared identifiers and authority files. We will take a look at our approach to dealing with the demands of aggregating heterogeneous performing arts collections in the context of the “Specialised Information Service Performing Arts” and focus on what we learned about similarities and differences in the data and their impact on the workflow.
Emanuele Bellini
In Open Science We Trust”: From the Fondazione Rinascimento Digitale Persisent Identifier initiative to blockchain horizonsA stable reference of Internet resources is crucial not only to identify a resource in a trustable and certified way but also to guarantee continuous access to it over time.
The current practice in scientific publication and preservation of using Persistent Identifier like DOI, Handle or NBN, is becoming attractive also for the datasets that are considered now as integral part of the scientific product. In fact, in the era of Open Science, the aspects of replicability and verification of the scientific result is paramount.
The present contribution aims at providing an overview of the conceptual and technological evolution of Persistent Identifiers in Science in the last 10 years. The analysis recalls the first National bibliography number incubation initiative promoted by Fondazione Rinascimento Digitale in Italy , the attempts on PI interoperability among DOI, Handle, ISNI, ORCID, addressed in the APARESN European project, up to the current stat of the art of the major initiatives. Then will be envisioned the new challenges posed by the persistent identification of Big Data in Science and the new possibilities enabled by the emerging technologies as the blockchain in terms of trustworthiness, certification and new services to establish a Trustworthy Open Science.
Maria Grazia Berlangieri
Sources, data, metadata: theatrical documents and digital remediationRe-elaborating the discussed document model of the theatrical ephemeral in the last decade has also meant re-elaborating the related model of metadata that in some way has updated and changed the statute and the form of archives in the performative field. The multitude of informations, documents, the pluralism of languages and media that converge today in the (digital) archives require as much complexity in the “representation” of contents that otherwise are dispersed in the amount of data, as Lev Manovich also emphasises: “richness and variety do not mean comprehensiveness”. According to this interpretation, I will present the work that has been done for the European project Eclap, European Collected Library of Artistic Performance and for the European Research Council Incommon, in the praise of community: shared creativity in arts and politics in Italy (1959-1979).
Corrado Cerruti, Paola Coppola
Tor Vergata’s Roadmap to Open ScienceThe University of Rome Tor Vergata has recently established an internal working group on open science to develop a roadmap based on our own specificities, on the Italian context and on the framework of YERUN/Europe. Such a roadmap involves: establishing institutional policies on open access and open data; developing educational and training programmes; exploring new ways of publishing and new infrastructures; and encouraging new models of internal research assessment
Fabio Ciotti
Open science, Digital Humanities and the assessment of Digital ScholarshipThis talk has the objective to examin the problem of the evaluation of digital scholarship in the humanities in the general framework of Open Science. The scholarly field known as Digital Humanities has nowadays gained a wide impact both at the scientific, academic and cultural level, and it’s deeply transforming methods, theories and practices in the Humanities domain. The endorsement of the Open Content principles in scholarly publishing, the sharing of research data and methods, the creation of research infrastructure to foster cooperation in scholarly activities are integral parts of that transformation. We could say the DH have adopted Open Science pillars ante litteram. However the problem of the assessment of digital scholarly products has always been a steep obstacle for the generalization of those good practices. In order to overcome thatobstacle both an evolution of digital research infrastructures and a parallel evolution of the evaluation institutions and culture are required. We will try to identify the main traits of these changes.
Beat Estermann
Bootstrapping the International Knowledge Base for the Performing Arts: Key Stakeholders and Use ScenariosOver the past years we have seen various efforts and initiatives to create an international knowledge base for the performing arts based on linked data technology, relying both on Wikidata and the classical linked data approach. We take stock of the various initiatives and provide an overview of key stakeholders and use scenarios. We thereby draw on first-hand experience in the context of linked open data projects in various segments of the performing arts value chain, involving production and presenting companies, archival institutions, educational and research institutions, and the free online encyclopaedia Wikipedia. By putting the different use scenarios and required data in relation to each other, we pinpoint areas where the most important synergies are to be expected and identify fields where further research is needed. Typical synergies related to linked open data involve the use of a shared data model, the pursuit of over-lapping use cases, the use of shared identifiers, and the collaborative maintenance of base registers and authority files. Such synergies are the driving force behind any linked data initiative. Based on an analysis of the data that is currently available and the requirements implied by the various use scenarios, we single out those use scenarios that require the least effort to generate added value. Focusing on such low-hanging fruits is crucial when it comes to bootstrapping the international knowledge base for the performing arts.
Beat Estermann would like to share with the participants ahead of the conference the concept paper, available under the following link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P2nP81SlroQnPAsBvGjVQORwds-Zy7UUsqL_TYX1a0s/edit#
Feedback is always welcome!
Amy Growcott
The Marius Petipa Society – an online museum for Marius PetiThe Marius Petipa Society is a project foundation that aims to promote, restore and secure the legacy of Maestro Marius Petipa. In today’s world, after a rocky ride through the 20th century, Petipa’s legacy has become somewhat unknown and obscure, not in the least due to the many revivals of his ballets. This has resulted in many people questioning why he is such an important, relevant and colossal figure in the world of ballet, so it is vital for balletomanes, dancers and everyone from the ballet world to be able to learn about Petipa and to understand the depths of his contributions to this art form that he dearly loved. Through the means of historical and academic information and research, The Marius Petipa Society aims to mend the holes that have been punctured into the Maestro’s name and place in history as the greatest ballet master of the 19th century and to teach the ballet world of today exactly why he is known as “the Father of Classical Ballet”. “Designing dances can’t be taught, because it is a question of creativity. How could I pass on what does not come to me on order, but through inspiration?” – Maestro Marius Petipa (1907)
Carla Montesano
Open data and open access as an opportunity in bioscience research: the contribution of H2020 STARBIOS2 projectSTARBIOS2 is a project funded by European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation that promotes Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in six European research institutions and universities from Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Poland, and the United Kingdom, working in partnership with a further six institutions from Brazil, Denmark, Italy, South Africa, Sweden, and the United States.
Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) is a major strategy of the EU work programme “Science with and for Society” aimed to achieve a better alignment of research and innovation with the values, needs, and expectations of society. The RRI strategy includes the “keys” of public engagement, gender, ethics, science education and, last but not the least, Open Access issues.
In the context of projects funded through the Horizon 2020 program, publication in Open Access is an obligation to be taken into account since the drafting stage of the proposal: each beneficiary must guarantee free access to all scientific publications related to the results.
Open Access, as well as all the more general practice of Open Science, represents a powerful tool to increase and improve the communication inside the scientific community and among scientists, stakeholders and the general public.
The modalities with which the Open Access process takes place, the advantage related to the wide scientific communication and the limitations set by the business models existing in the sector, are of the utmost importance and need a deep debate also within the individual research organizations.
Aurélie Mouton-Rezzouk
Heritage and/or Communication. Archives and History Issues on Theatres’ WebsitesFrom a dedicated “historical” page presenting a summary of previous events and presentation of prominent personality with a few visuals, to a specific “archive” tab providing either a simple access to former programs, or to a wide variety of archives (documenting both the show and the creation process: video recording, photographs, press reviews, interviews, set models…), companies’, institutions’ and venues’ website are nowadays currently confronted with what is both an opportunity and a complex choice, resulting altogether from communication strategy, economic priorities, and esthetic and political issues. What happens when the director of an institution changes? What happens, when a new team happens to take over a structure, and seeks to establish its own artistic identity?
Considering a wide range of examples – two of them venues closely associated with an artist, the Théâtre du Soleil with Ariane Mnouchkine, the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord with Peter Brook; two festivals, Paris Quartier d’été, now “Paris l’été”, and the Festival d’Automne à Paris; and several theatrical institutions in or around Paris, either led by an artist or by a manager – we will try to demonstrate to which strategies, values and limitations archives and historical information access is submitted to on performing arts structures’ websites.
Riku Roihankorpi
Sustainability, the Live Arts, and Learning: Hybrid Performance as A Digital Asset of Theatre Training and ResearchIn the Nordic and Baltic countries, the use of technology is wide-spread, well-informed, and copiously integrated into theatre productions. Consequently, practices that rest on technologies of telepresence (e.g. low-latency streaming) and hybrid (mixed-reality/virtual) performance allow new questions of sustainability, inclusion, and diversity to be investigated as aspects of the use of the digital in theatre training and research.
The processes that digitally reframe physical performances – such as simultaneous use of 3D Motion Capture (MoCap) and real time streaming of performance data – significantly enhance the exploration of the hybrid bodies of cultural histories, exchanges, and futures. Via discussions on adaptation to digitality and (its) bodily utopias (Foucault 2006; Roihankorpi 2018), Agamben’s (2014) thoughts on human-technology symbioses, and Morton’s (2013) views on “hyperobjects”, the paper proposes ways to consider the potentials of sustainability in the (re)generation of the performing body in digital spaces. It discusses the international and interdisciplinary MoCap and telepresence workshops hosted by the Centre for Practice as Research in Theatre T7 between 2012 and 2018. Participated by theatre and media scholars, professionals, and students from the Nordic-Baltic region, Australia, mainland Europe, and China, the workshops creatively accessed the embodied information peculiar to live MoCap and telepresence practices. The aim was also to learn from ways of manipulating the terms of physical presence in an intercultural context.
The results of the workshops suggest an understanding of sustainability that encompasses not only new, more ecological processes of research and learning in the Live Arts (disconnecting them from emissions), but also the role of the performing arts in building an awareness of sustainability based on embodied knowledge of cultural heritage, inclusion, and diversity. The digital approaches employed in the workshops enabled the construction of hybrid notions of the performing body that emerge not only from human-technology interactions, but also from reliving its diverse histories.
Mirella Serlorenzi
Sitar e Open Data. Per una democrazia della conoscenza archeologica di RomaLa volontà di rendere il SITAR uno strumento a disposizione della collettività è stata una sua prerogativa fin dagli arbori, del resto l’idea di “mappare” una città della complessità di Roma non poteva nascere se non, in prospettiva, offrendo un’elaborazione interpretativa, partecipata, aperta e condivisa. Per questa ragione il sistema, nato nel 2007, si è presto trasformato in una piattaforma Web-GIS in grado di mostrare il posizionamento topografico dei rinvenimenti archeologici corredati di schede descrittive. La nuova Digital Library permette inoltre una facile ricerca dei contenuti con sistemi friendly utilizzabili da tutti. E’ forte la convinzione, infatti, che il sistema debba avere la massima accessibilità, fruibilità e riutilizzo dei datigarantendo a tutti il pieno accesso ai documenti, fornendo le basi, anchegiuridiche, per una democrazia della conoscenza.
Elena Servito
AFI Archivio Fondazione INDA: da patrimonio archivistico ad archivio di interesse storico particolarmente importante. Azioni di tutelaL’Archivio della Fondazione INDA è il luogo di promozione del sapere teatrale , di incontro tra studiosi e artisti e di raccolta dei tesori dell’arte e del pensiero, prodotti dall’INDA in oltre 100 anni. Poter conservare e rendere fruibile questo patrimonio unico al mondo per le generazioni future è di vitale importanza. Dopo il riconoscimento del 2013, da parte della Direzione Generale degli Archivi e della Soprintendenza Archivista Regionale, quale Archivio di interesse storico particolarmente importante, la Fondazione INDA predispone il riordino e la digitalizzazione del patrimonio archivistico INDA. Attraverso un video racconto, la percezione dell’importante lavoro fatto fin ora svolto e le prospettive per un futuro archivio digitale INDA.
Birk Weiberg
Modeling Performing Arts: On the Representations of AgenciesThe documentation of performing arts through databases is a challenging task for several reasons. Primarily, this has to do with the absence of a central seizable object that can be described and quantified. Any information collected in a database for performing arts thus seems to be of second order, paraphrasing what cannot be reproduced. Furthermore, for the contingency of database models likewise applies what Michel Foucault said about discourses when he analyzed them as power structures, which predefine what may be said in regard to a specif subject. This has become increasingly relevant since cultural databases are turning into knowledge graphs and loose descriptions are translated into highly structured and machine readable data in the face of Linked Data and Digital Humanities. The paper here will look at the emerging database of the Swiss Archive of Performing Arts and focus on the implementation of an activity-oriented data model based on the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model.