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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 46 | August 2000


Maybe Nicole, Maybe Mel: PASIG meets in Sydney

Star spotting momentarily distracted the annual meeting of Museum Australia’s Performing Arts Special Interest Group (PASIG) when it began in the grounds of Fox Studios Australia.

The first day of the meeting was held at the Sydney office of ScreenSound Australia which looked out onto the entrance of a large sound stage. Outside, a line of horsedrawn carriages and broughams waited patiently to go inside for filming on Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge. Maybe Nicole Kidman would pop outside for a bit of fresh air? Then again—maybe not.

On the second day, PASIG convened at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) where the spectre of Mel Gibson and a thousand hopeful actors emanated down the corridors of learning.

In between, the participants considered matters weighty enough to match the surroundings. PASIG is a unique grouping of libraries, museums and galleries involved in collecting, preserving and exhibiting performing arts materials, which include some of the most elusive and vulnerable of heritage items. The group has been meeting for over ten years discussing common concerns of collecting, documentation, services and exhibitions.

Reports to the meeting included an update by actor Peter Sumner on the ambitious project to mount a production and exhibition of the grand 1901 pantomime ‘Australis’ as a Federation event, involving resources from many institutions represented. Joh Hartog from Flinders University reported on an equally ambitious project, albeit in cyberspace, to create an electronic facility to promote performing arts research.

Continuing the online emphasis, Dr Michelle Potter described the advances made to the Australian Dance Directory, a product of the ‘Keep Dancing’ project, which is a cooperative venture between the National Library, ScreenSound Australia and Ausdance.The success of ‘Keep Dancing’ highlighted the problems facing Associate Professor Gay McAuley from the University of Sydney. Professor McAuley has nurtured a unique collection of videos of drama performances developed as part of the Performance Studies unit at the university. It forms an invaluable record of the application of performance styles and theories, but is in urgent need of a long-term permanent home.

Ruth Graham from the National Dance and Drama Centre in Wellington, New Zealand, provided a new perspective on performing arts resources in a country closely linked with Australia in many aspects of theatre history. Although not organised into a group such as PASIG, the New Zealanders are conducting a survey of performing arts resources. This new link across the Tasman in performing arts resources will be developed.

A focus on music resources came with presentations from the ABC Archives, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and ScreenSound Australia, as well as the perspective of a user of these resources, Associate Professor Patricia Brown from the University of New South Wales. Another distinguished researcher and user who gave an idiosyncratic account of his methods and resources was Ken Healey, critic, writer and lecturer from NIDA.

For the final sessions the group adjourned to the Wharf complex, home to several major performing companies. The archivist of the Sydney Theatre Company, Judith Seeff, provided an insight into her role with the company—as far as is known the only such professional archival position with a major Australian performing arts company.

For more details on PASIG, please see: amol.org.au/pasig. For the Australian Dance Directory, please see: www.nla.gov.au/ausdance.
Richard Stone

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