DOI: 10.34914/olos:n5hnev7xvzbzxgv7mtmhnt74ju
title: Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge 

description: This deposited data set offers a representative cross-section of data generated by the research project Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge. Funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation 2020-25 and hosted at the research Division of the Bern Academy of the Arts, the project examined emerging approaches within the newly established subfield of conservation focused on performance-based artworks. It explored innovative methods for conserving these works through: (a) forms of documentation and archiving, (b) material residues, and (c) the transmission of knowledge. Ultimately, the project reflected on conservation as a knowledge-generating activity and tested its potential contributions to broader discourses in performance studies, anthropology, art history, and aesthetics.

The dataset includes:
(1) A selection of reflections on the topic of performance conservation from the project’s website (blog). These are writings by the project's members and invited authors that address one of the topics relevant for the project's programmatic agenda. They serve as primary data and, although they were edited for an online publication, they have not been peer-reviewed. 
(2) A cross-section of interviews from the over 30-episode series Two Questions. Addressing the questions, Can performance be conserved? And what does it mean to conserve performance?, these interviews range from early career voices and artistic contributions from around the globe to senior scholars in the field such as Diana Taylor and Philip Auslander. Conceived in the pandemic, the series offers a fascinating and deep dive into thinking about the meaning of keeping performance and into the very essence of conservation. 
(3) A selection of photographic documentation from the final research festival organized by the project team, held from September 14 to 29, 2024, at Tanzhaus Zürich; ADC | Association pour la Danse Contemporaine, Geneva; MCBA | Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne | Plateforme 10; Aargauer Kunsthaus; and Dampfzentrale Bern. These images reflect the ways in which knowledge is transmitted, whether as a body-to-body transmission or in lecture or workshop-based formats. 
(4) Photographic documentation of the exhibition Yet to Come: Experiments in Reverse-Engineering and Conserving Performance, held at the Directors’ Hall, HKB Bern, from September 14 to 29, 2024. This set of photographs offers a glimpse into the making and the realization of one of the most important outcomes of the research project. 
(5) A selection of recordings from the project's annual colloquia. The discussions, talks, and exchanges are regarded as materials—at times even raw data—that have later been developed into book chapters and other forms of public dissemination.
(6) A selection of recordings from our research seminars. See the description above (5).

This dataset is an integral part of the broader scientific output of the project Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge. This output includes two edited volumes, a dozen peer-reviewed articles, several media interventions, a research website, a comprehensive list of references and resources on the subject, as well as audio and video documentation of the project’s meetings with artists and scholars from around the world, archived in a non-public repository. Both anthologies and the research articles are available Open Access via the HKB ARBOR repository or on the project's website www.performanceconservationmaterialityknowledge.com.