UNESCO listing for AusStage

Full article issued by Flinders University.

AusStage, the world-leading digital humanities platform preserving and showcasing the history of Australian live performance, which is hosted by Flinders University and supported by ARC funding, has been welcomed to the prestigious UNESCO Memory of the World register.

AusStage is now a model being replicated around the world – and it has received significant ARC support through seven major Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) scheme grants – most recently led by chief investigators at Flinders University and The University of Melbourne, with multiple partners around Australia.

Along with information on 117,000 productions in 240 genres, performed in 11,300 venues and performance sites, involving 17,650 organisations and 166,900 people, AusStage holds 71,500 associated resources, ranging from articles to menus, programs to costumes, 13,900 which have links to fully digitised content.

Chief investigator, AusStage co-founder Emerita Professor Julie Holledge, says the recognition by UNESCO is 'a crucial reminder of the importance of such artistic activity … showing the interconnected networks of people, places and organisations over the entire history of Australia’s written documentation, including evidence of indigenous historical performance sites before the First Fleet’s arrival in 1788'.

The UNESCO Australian Memory of the World program honours documentary heritage of significance in Australia and around the world, and advocates for its preservation.

 

A page from the AusStage live performance Database website. Image Credit: AusStage.