Nederlandse Dansdagen Archive: a historical overview in progress
In November of 2024, Nederlandse Dansdagen launched the digital dansMuseum. This online platform is intended to preserve and present the festival archive and to encourage critical engagement with Dutch dance history through exhibitions, research projects and educational programming.
At the heart of the dansMuseum is the ND archive, an index of all the performances, prizes, events and committees that have participated in the festival since 1998. Looking forward, the archive aims to develop an extensive depot of press, image and audiovisual material for the purpose of preservation, documentation and scientific research.
The first version of the archive is now online, allowing visitors to explore past festival editions chronologically or randomly via the “surprise me” button.
Advancing the Archive with Omeka S
To improve the archive, we are transitioning to the Omeka S collection management system, which is already used by several institutions in the heritage and performing arts sectors. This system aligns with the National Digital Heritage Strategy and Podiumkunst.net guidelines to make digital heritage accessible to all. It also enables us to connect our data with established archives such as the Allard Pierson Theatercollectie through linked open data. Additionally, we aim to publish our collection of data in the datasetregister, which provides insight into the availability of datasets in the Dutch heritage field and encourages its use.
With support from the NDE Versnellen scheme and Podiumkunst.net in late 2024, we began implementing Omeka S. We started with collecting and describing the festival edition of 2023. By the start of this year’s Summer, we aim to have the metadata and media of 2023 fully integrated into the system.
A New Interface & Future Steps
We are collaborating with creative consultancy Zuiderlicht to design an improved archive interface of the dansMuseum website. In addition to chronological browsing, our aim is to make the archive more accessible and engaging. The next enhancements to the interface will feature a search engine, filtering options and thematic navigation.
This page will serve as a hub for updates on our progress, insights and challenges throughout this project. By sharing our experiences, we hope to inspire and support other institutions in the dance and performing arts sector. Stay tuned!