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'Our Theatre Royal Nottingham': Co-creation and co-curation of a digital performance collection with citizen scholars

Robinson, Jo; Carletti, Laura

Authors

Jo Robinson

Laura Carletti



Abstract

While the major theatre collections of universities and libraries in the UK, Europe and the USA have been long established, and companies such as the Royal Shakespeare Company or Ballet Rambert hold their own extensive archives, the past decade has seen increasing attention paid to the need to support smaller theatres in preserving their own records. At the same time, new collaborative practices have emerged in the curation of heritage, often drawing on digital media and technologies: community archives, heritage crowdsourcing, community-university partnerships evidence this participatory turn. This article reflects on an ongoing collaboration with the Theatre Royal Nottingham, UK, and volunteer researchers from the city, to preserve, order and digitally curate the theatre’s 150-plus year history. The project builds on the potential of digital technologies – both to enhance participation and engagement and to most effectively capture and represent the interlinked stories and memories mobilized in the making and reception of theatrical performance. In reflecting on the successes and challenges of the project, we develop a model of what we term ‘citizen scholarship’ in arts and humanities research, which has enabled and supported meaningful and sustained engagement with the theatre’s archive and heritage by community volunteers.

Citation

Robinson, J., & Carletti, L. (2019). 'Our Theatre Royal Nottingham': Co-creation and co-curation of a digital performance collection with citizen scholars. International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, 15(2), 128-148. https://doi.org/10.1080/14794713.2019.1633106

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 14, 2019
Online Publication Date Jun 24, 2019
Publication Date Jun 24, 2019
Deposit Date Jun 17, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Print ISSN 1479-4713
Publisher Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 15
Issue 2
Pages 128-148
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/14794713.2019.1633106
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2197427
Publisher URL https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14794713.2019.1633106
Additional Information This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media on 24/06/2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14794713.2019.1633106.

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