Macedonian theatre museology: the new form of memorizing
Macedonia does not have a theatre museum. In Macedonia, theatre memory is, in fact, personal, non-systematized and uncollected. The long-standing efforts of the Institute of Theatrology at the Faculty of Dramatic arts are concentrated on the basic archiving and elaboration of a number of theatrical artifacts. Here, we should give special attention to the fact that the first online museum does exist. On the Internet page of the Institute you can see the first digital theatre museum collection. Although this is a simple presentation of photographs in digital form that can be freely visited, still it is the first step in the displaying of a representative theatre museum collection. This collection and other galleries with specific productions can be visited at www.mactheatre.edu.mk.
This is the point of departure for, provisionally said, a new way of memorizing. The keeping of the theatrical artifact in a format different from the primary one will not reduce its originality; on the contrary, it will extend its lifetime. The archiving of the theatre memory in Macedonia is based on several levels. In addition to personal memories that should not be neglected, but included in the collective archives in a high-quality manner, there is also the engagement of the members of the team at the Institute of Theatrology at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje. There, the complete theatre memory is archived, digitalized and presented. Of course, every theatre in Macedonia has its own system of archiving artifacts. They are mostly visual, and kept in inadequate spaces, lacking standardized selection and archiving. From the theatrical point of view, all these forms of preserving the theatrical past should be collected in a single theatre museum that would also serve the purpose of archiving, presentation and study of both digital and material artifacts. Such bringing together of the past and the future would generate more potential for the theatre memory in Macedonia.
This, of course, is only my personal theatrological observation on the given topic and its purpose is to draw attention to the possibility of its further exploration.
Memory or collective memory is the initial motive for the establishment of a modern museum that would correspond equally with the past and the future. Therefore, the theme that is referred to in the title of this paper brings together the seemingly oxymoronic chronological determinants. Theatre memory should be nourished/cherished in a specific form exactly because of its polyvalence and variedness. The new face of theatre museology should be sought in the symbiosis between the digital and the material artifact and in the educative aspect of the exhibitions that would flirt with different genres, the limitless potential of the global Net and with the desire to acquaint others with that which is characteristically ours.
As the last “shot”, I would like to share with you several personal remarks on this very same subject. Some of them are more personal than scholarly, some are more feminine than universal, some are only an intermission in the plays of a great master of the theatre.
To remember the theatre means to remember the knowledge of a people.
To remember the theatre means to dream of the art performed on a stage.
To remember the theatre means to archive life, genuinely and in accordance with Shakespeare’s lines, “All the world’s a stage.”
References
Вилијамс, Рејмонд (1996) Културата, Скопје: Култура.
Вук -Павловиќ, Павао (1993) Творештвото и музејската естетика, Скопје: Мета форум
Craig, Edvard Gordon (1980) O umetnosti kazališta, Zagreb: Centar ya kulturnu delatnost.
Ермитаж Музеј (2006) from http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/index.html (15 mar. 2007)
Македонски театар (2002) from http://www.mactheatre.edu.mk (2 mar. 2007)
Pavis, Patris (2004) Pojmovnik teatra, Zagreb: Akademija dramske umjetnosti; Centar za dramsku umjetnost; Izdanja Antibarbarus.
Schouvaloft, Alexander (1987) The Theatre Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: Skala Bokks
Theatre Collections Online (—-) from http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/theatre/index.html (28 feb. 2007)
Theatre Museum (—-) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_Museum (9 mar. 2007)
The Columbian Theatre, Museum and Art Center (—-) from http://www.columbiantheatre.com /history/default.asp (9 mar. 2007)
The Museum of Jewish Heritage (2003) from http://www.mjhnyc.org/index.htm (15 mar. 2007)
Шукулевић-Марковић, Ксенија (2000) 50 Година Музеја позоришне уметности Србије, Београд: МПУС