Since its creation in 1947, the Festival d’Avignon has produced a multitude of traces: programmes, posters, correspondence, administrative archives and creative documents. Over the past thirty years, these traces have undergone profound changes. Alongside digitised archives, natively digital materials have emerged: emails, websites, social media, video recordings, photographs, databases and the hard drives of artists and institutions. This unprecedented body of material raises new questions about the collection, preservation and analysis of contemporary archives.
Open to all, this symposium will alternate between round tables bringing together researchers, curators and representatives of cultural institutions, conversations with artists, presentations of research projects and plenary lectures.
Saturday, 11 July
9:00 am Welcome
9:30 am Pannel discussion: The Digital Taste of the Archive
How are born-digital archives shaping the memory of contemporary theatre? Archivists and representatives of cultural institutions discuss what should be preserved, transmitted, and made accessible.
With Juliette Caron (Odéon–Théâtre de l'Europe), Lou Forster (Centre national de la danse), Joël Huthwohl (Bibliothèque nationale de France), Alexandre Quentin (Festival d'Avignon), and Florence Thomas (Comédie-Française). Moderated by Marion Denizot (Université Rennes 2).
11:15 am At Last, It Works! Macrohistories and Microhistories of the Festival
The From Stage to Data team presents the first results of its research: digital tools, ontology, documentary analysis environments, and applications of artificial intelligence for writing the history of the performing arts, from individual trajectories to collective dynamics.
With Clarisse Bardiot, Alexandra Beraldin, Brandon Farnsworth, Jacob Hart, and Antonios Lagarias. Moderated by Jean-Marc Larrue (Université de Montréal).
2:00 pm In Conversation: The Digital Gestures of Creation
Two conversations with leading artists on the place of digital technologies within their creative practice and their relationship to memory.
With Tim Etchells (Forced Entertainment), in conversation with Alexandra Beraldin (in English), and Séverine Chavrier on the creation of Absalon, Absalon!, in conversation with Clarisse Bardiot.
4:00 pm Keynote: How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
Over the past decade, Doug Reside, Performing Arts Curator at the New York Public Library, has experimented with a range of methods for restoring and providing access to files that have become unreadable. He will reflect on his efforts to develop a universal emulator for theatrical production and share his optimism about advances in generative artificial intelligence, which may, paradoxically, help us preserve our past (in English).
With Doug Reside (The New York Public Library). Moderated by Jacob Hart.
Sunday, 12 July
9:30 am Pannel discussion: Measuring the Immeasurable
More than 1,500 productions are presented every summer: how can such an abundance be communicated, and later documented? Representatives from the Off Festival, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and TMNlab discuss the structuring of performing arts data and its transmission to heritage institutions.
With Jean-Baptiste Raze (BnF, Maison Jean Vilar), Harold David (Festival Off Avignon), Dominique Fataccioli (Théâtre du Bourg-Neuf), and Anne Le Gall (TMNlab). Moderated by Antonios Lagarias (Université Rennes 2).
11:00 am Pannel discussion: How Do You Look at 400,000 Images and 120,000 Films?
Never before have theatre productions been photographed and filmed so extensively. How can these vast collections be organised, preserved, and explored? Artificial intelligence and computer vision now offer entirely new ways of interrogating these visual archives.
With Christophe Raynaud de Lage (photographer), Gildas Leroux (Compagnie des Indes), Arthur Lezer (INA), and Giacomo Alliata (Université Rennes 2). Moderated by Clarisse Bardiot (Université Rennes 2).
2:00 pm In Conversation: Passing On Living Memory
A unique perspective on the years when digital technologies gradually became embedded in every aspect of the Festival’s professional practices.
With former Festival d’Avignon technical directors Michaël Petit and Christian Wilmart, in conversation with Sophie Gaillard (Avignon Université), followed by Hortense Archambault (MC93) reflecting on the Festival at the dawn of the digital era (2000–2013), in conversation with Clarisse Bardiot.
4:00 pm Creative Destruction
Choreographer François Raffinot looks back on his journey through Avignon and reflects on what the archives have revealed to him, having carefully preserved the traces he wished to leave behind.
With François Raffinot, in conversation with Juliette Riandey (Centre national de la danse).
Related Events
Thursday, 9 July
4:00 pm - The Digital Archives of Théâtre du Soleil
Maison Jean Vilar, La Mouette
As the Théâtre du Soleil archives enter the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, what role has digital technology played in both the creative process and the archive? Moderated by Béatrice Picon-Vallin (CNRS).
Friday, 10 July
11:00 am – Conference: Arvest: Building Living Archives of Creation
2:00 pm – Workshop: Introduction to Arvest
Discover Arvest, the open-source platform developed by the project team to collect, structure, and enhance the digital traces of artistic creation. No technical background required.
Monday, 13 July
3:00 pm – Performance: Playback / Talkback
Maison Jean Vilar, La Mouette
Drawing on fragments from the Festival’s digital archives, Duncan Evennou and Alvise Sinivia create a performance in dialogue with filmmaker Guillaume Cailleau, reviving the tradition of the live narrator to give meaning of archival images.
All the information here
Distribution
Partners université Rennes 2, ERC From Stage to Data, Festival d’Avignon, HERMES (France 2030), Bibliothèque nationale de France, Association Maison Jean Vilar, Villa Créative, CND Centre national de la danse, Avignon Université.
Organisation Clarisse Bardiot, Alexandra Beraldin, Jeanne Fras, Marlène Meslay, Fateme Ramezani (université Rennes 2, dans le cadre du projet ERC From Stage to Data)
Financed by the European Union (ERC, STAGE, grant agreement no. 101097091)