Mapping European Performing Arts Databases: An Inventory of Online Historical Theatre Data Projects

Abstract

Over the last two decades, a growing number of databases have been published online that record historical information on the production, distribution and reception of performing arts. The aim of this contribution is to present a starting inventory of European performing arts databases that are available online, since no such overview exists to date. This inventory stems from a project carried out in 2018 at the University of Amsterdam, in the context of the digital humanities research program CREATE. 1 One of the goals of the project was to examine the potential of transnational and cross-sectoral cooperation on historical research into performing arts: can we connect datasets in a meaningful way to facilitate comparative and interdisciplinary research? The first step in this project has been the creation of an inventory of online databases on theatre, music and film. 2 This contribution focuses only on performance-related databases in the field of theatre and related art forms such as opera and music theatre, as these comprised the majority of our initial inventory effort. We are aware that an overview of performing arts databases will never be complete or even up to date, but we nevertheless do believe that our compiled overview can be a practical tool for scholars interested in theatre studies and the history of performing arts to start exploring various existing theatre data projects, and to potentially further extend this inventory in the future.Several criteria were taken into account when selecting relevant data projects. The geographical focus was limited to Europe, 3 tying in with existing initiatives on a continental scale to make cultural heritage and data available for research and other uses, such as Europeana and the TMG 24 (1/2) 2021