Swiss Performing
Arts Platform

The online platform currently comprises only part of the fonds and is steadily being expanded.

The platform was designed as a database for the collections of the three regional SAPA offices of Bern, Lausanne and Zurich to provide online access to the fonds of the SAPA Foundation.

Containing data on individuals, institutions and productions, as well as a wide range of archival documents, its primary function is to document the performing arts in their many facets and inherent ephemeral character. Functionality is intuitive, providing users with immediate entry to the wealth of material in the Foundation’s own collections.

The platform is based on a graph database and not only connects different types of collections, but also exchanges data with other information systems such as Wikidata. The data can be accessed from different perspectives and via various interfaces, by means of simple or complex search options and a SPARQL interface for applications in the field of digital humanities.

The current version of the database is available at www.performing-arts.ch.

Further catalogues

In addition to the Swiss Performing Arts Platform, other research tools are available.

You can find parts of our video finds online on Vimeo. Please contact us if you would like to have access to further videos.

Vimeo

Memoriav, the association for the preservation of the audiovisual heritage of Switzerland, supports SAPA in numerous projects with the objective of safeguarding the cultural heritage of the performing arts in photography, sound and video. Thanks to this excellent partnership, unique documents can be conserved for the benefit of future generations.

These documents are listed online in the SAPA databases, as well as in Memoriav’s online database, Memobase.

Memobase

This important reference work on the creation of theatre and dance in Switzerland, published in book form and online, was initiated and published by the Institute of Theatre Studies at the University of Bern. The Theatre Encyclopaedia includes indexes of key players in SAPA’s archival fonds on whom further material is available.

Theatre Encyclopaedia

The national inventory of Switzerland’s choreographic heritage lists localities and institutions that hold archives on the history of dance in Switzerland.

As a reference institution, the SAPA Foundation has set itself the goal of creating an overview of the archival fonds available in Switzerland on our country’s choreographic heritage and to provide detailed information about the individual collections and archives. Such an overall view enhances the visibility of the existing collections and facilitates the permanent preservation of the rich cultural heritage of dance in Switzerland and its accessibility to the public.

It is presented in the form of an online map:

Click on the required search item in the menu on the left:

  • by place name
  • by name of archival fonds or collection

The individual entries contain the following information:

  • By place name: name and address of institution, description of fonds and collections, additional information, link to institution website
  • By name: name of fonds or collection, status, additional information, identifier, link to website, and name and address of institution

Here you can find the International Repertory of Archives and Collections Related to Dance created by students of HEG, Geneva, on behalf of SAPA (formerly Swiss Dance Archives).

The research platform of the canton of Vaud Renouvaud also lists the holdings of the SAPA Lausanne office.

The research platform Swisscovery covers around 475 Swiss libraries.

Library

The SAPA Foundation has bequeathed an extensive part of its specialist library to the University Library of Bern and the Cantonal and University Library of Lausanne and no longer maintains a specialist library.

The catalogues of these libraries can be consulted via the research portals Swisscovery and Renouvaud respectively.

Selected fonds related to the SAPA archival collections can be accessed as follows:

Bern: research and consultation at our office

Lausanne: research and consultation at our office and via Renouvaud

Journal fonds:

Journal fonds up to the end of 2020 are available for consultation at our Bern office.

Depending on the journal, please allow up to four working days for an appointment.

Overview of the journals available

The SAPA team is happy to assist with your searches.

Contact

Collections

Bern

The Bern office began its collecting activities in 1927, the year that the Swiss Society of Theatre Arts (Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Theaterkultur) was founded.

The period after the Second World War then marked the beginning of a systematic collection policy that has been pursued to this day. Over the years to follow, the special collections on theatre making in Switzerland were to grow extensively, as did the contents of the archives, leading to the formation of the Swiss Theatre Collection foundation (Schweizerische Theatersammlung) in 1978. Material is collected on the basis of set criteria, and the scope of activity is steadily expanding.

All the items that are collected, documented and archived are materials and media chronicling the performing arts in Switzerland (Helvetica), and include press articles and publications, as well as indexes on individual artists, institutions and productions. The full spectrum of the performing arts is covered, with records from drama, musical theatre, dance, cabaret arts, puppet theatre, circus, variety shows, theatrical folklore and audio plays.

  • 222 estates (157 persons, 65 institutions)
  • 300 autographs
  • 35,500 photos/slides
  • 1,500 printed graphics
  • 8,095 posters
  • 11,878 video recordings
  • 2,079 audio recordings
  • 2,000 playbills
  • 843,353 press articles
  • 315 metres of print products from theatre-makers (programmes, flyers, etc.)
  • 306 theatre construction and stage set models
  • 5,300 stage set and costume designs
  • 180 string and hand puppets
  • 70 toy theatres
  • 200 masks

Searches can be made partially online, via the Swiss Performing Arts platform, or in the various databases at the Bern office:

  • catalogue of video media
  • catalogue of audio media
  • catalogue of professional theatre productions (60,697)
  • catalogue of amateur theatre productions (18,663)
  • plays printed in journals and play programmes

Other records are fully or partially available in digital form: – posters – stage set designs – stage set models – masks – toy theatres – graphics.

The SAPA team is happy to assist with your searches.

The SAPA Lausanne office collects, catalogues and conserves textual and visual documents, objects and textiles.

Originally, this office developed from the private collection of Jean Pierre Pastori; thanks to various donations, other fonds have been added over the years, including important estates from Maurice Béjart and Sigurd Leeder. The office currently houses some sixty fonds and collections on prominent figures in the world of Swiss dance, including choreographers, companies, dancers, project initiators, journalists, photographers, institutions and festivals.

Almost 260 linear metres of art archives, administrative archives and private archives are available to the public for research, education and outreach purposes and also serve as a source of inspiration for performing artists.

  • Textual sources: documents on the creation process of the works, correspondence, press materials, musical notations
  • Iconographic sources: photographs, drawings, etchings, paintings
  • Objects: stage accessories, personal objects
  • Textiles: costumes, costume accessories

The fonds can be explored via the Swiss Performing Arts platform.

The SAPA team is happy to assist with your searches.

Films and videos stand at the heart of the activities of the SAPA Foundation’s Zurich office.

Over 3,000 video documents from around 200 national and international choreographers can be viewed here. They are listed in the online catalogue and are quick to locate.

These valuable fonds and collections hold choreographic works by numerous artists who have enrichened Swiss stages since the 1980s, including Sigurd Leeder, Heinz Spoerli, Maurice Béjart, Martin Schläpfer, Jean Deroc and the Swiss Chamber Ballet, Suzanne Perrottet, Cathy Sharp Ensemble, Cie Alias, Cie Drift, Cie Philippe Saire, Cie Fabienne Berger, ZOO/Thomas Hauert, Noemi Lapzeson, Anna Huber, Foofwa d’Imobilité, Gilles Jobin, Zimmermann & De Perrot and Flamencos en route.

On Vimeo you can find an overview of the Zurich collections.

Vimeo

The SAPA team is happy to assist with your searches. In addition, a team of specialists is on hand to advise dance makers and other interested parties on the archiving of their work.