International Association of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts
Société Internationale des Bibliothèques et des Musées des Arts du Spectacle
Opening of the Congress
Théâtre vivant et documentation
Acts of the XIth International Congress of the Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts
Actes du XIe Congrès international des bibliothèques-musées des arts du spectacle.
Copenhagen 8-14 september 1974. (Editors: Per Pio & Ev Steinaa.)
Copenhagen 1976, pp. 8-11
The
reason why I am the first to speak to you at this congress: SIBMAS's
11th
congress, is simply that I was the first who heard about it. - It
occurred
during our 9th congress in Budapest, where one day our dear colleague,
Mr.
Bosman from Holland, whispered in my ears: "Don't you think it would be
a
splendid idea to hold a congress in Copenhagen?" - He was of the
opinion
that we here in Copenhagen would have the best possibilities to attract
all,
that is to say, participants from all countries. - In the hope that Mr.
Bosman
was right, I went on with the matter, for there were some gentlemen to
whom I
had to speak first. It was my principal, our national librarian, Mr.
Palle
Birkelund, whom we have the pleasure to see among us here today. He was
- as
always - most obliging and immediately gave the green light to me to
take the
next and the last step an my way as a supplicant for SIBMAS. - The last
step
was our Ministry of Culture. There was the money box, so it was a
rather
important step. It wasn't necessary for me, however, to use a crowbar
or
explosives to get it open.
Unfortunately,
I am not able to thank the former head of department of the Ministry of
Culture, Mr. Henning Rohde, in person, for the most favourable
reception with
which he met my proposal at once. - Mr. Rohde had promised to be here
today,
but in the meantime he has been assigned a task on which we who love
theatre
only can congratulate him: he is from the season to come the chief of
our
National Theatre. However, not being able to thank him, in person, I
ask the
Ministry of Culture and its officials to receive SIBMAS's cordial
thanks.
I also
wish to thank the City Council of Copenhagen and especially its
burgomaster,
Mr. Borge Schmidt, for his kind invitation to a reception at the City
Hall, and
I take the opportunity to thank the burgomaster for his presence here
today.
When
the Ministry of Culture had given the green, was quite a lot to do.
We hope that we have done our work in such a way that you will not only
derive
benefit from being here, but also get some nice days in Copenhagen.
When I say we as regards
work, it
is
because Mrs. Eva Steinaa got into the picture now and
has stamped it very much, indeed, ever since.
At
first we planned that the congress should take place in the National
Museum,
but Mrs. Karen Neiiendam was so kind to propose this beautiful old
theatre as
the right framework for our congress. On behalf of SIBMAS I thank you
very
much, Mrs. Neiiendam - for the idea and all the trouble it has caused
you. It
is also very important for me to thank Mr. Krogh, who is
responsible for
the management of this museum - to thank him very much that he made it
possible
to realize Mrs. Neiiendam's splendid idea.
With us
today we have also Mr. Jens Louis Petersen, vice-president of the
I.T.I. and
president of the Danish committee of I.T.I. I thank you very much, Mr.
Petersen, for doing SIBMAS the honour to be present here today.
As to
the theme of the congress, I think I may say that it has been chosen in
complete harmony with Mr. Veinstein. -Mrs. Steinaa and I thought
ourselves that
it was a good theme, and when we proposed
it to Mr. Veinstein during the congress in Brussels, he gave it his
acceptance
by phrasing it immediately with a French significance, so that it could
not be
misunderstood, and it was to be hoped that it would tempt many to come
to
Copenhagen to read a paper. - The result did come up to expectations. -
In the
course of this week you may look forward to hearing many excellent
papers on
the way in which libraries and museums can inspire the Performing Arts.
We have
taken great pleasure in reading the papers sent to us, and we hope that
you
will feel that we have been rightly pleased.
Finally,
in conclusion, I want to express my gratitude to the new head of
department of
the Ministry of Culture, Mr. Ole Perch-Nielsen, because he has not only
done us
the honour to be present here today, but he has also given us the
pleasure of
being willing to open this congress.
I give
Mr. Ole Perch-Nielsen the floor.
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
On behalf of the Minister
for
Cultural Affairs, Mrs. Nathalie
Lind, I have the great pleasure of welcoming all delegates to the
Eleventh
International Congress of the Museums and Libraries of the Performing
Arts.
This
congress is yet another example of the importance of international
cooperation
also in the cultural field, - an example of those links which exist
between
experts from different countries and which are of vital importance,
perhaps not
least for small countries, by providing the opportunity of exchanging
information and experiences through personal contacts.
Earlier
this year Denmark was the host country of another event of this kind:
the World
Conference of the International Council of Museums. The theme of that
conference was "The Museum and the Modern World" and the conference
dealt among other questions with the developments which are taking
place with
regard to the relationship between the Museum and the Public.
It seems
to me that the main theme of your Conference is an expression of the
same wish
to re-examine the role of institutions entrusted with the task of
preservation,
documentation and conservation and the relations between such
institutions on
the one side and the public and the users on the other.
In the
case of Libraries and Museums in the field of the Performing Arts, this
question
covers the use made of these institutions by the general public,
research
workers and students, but also - and perhaps of special importance in
this area
- the relationship with that part of the public which comprises the
creative
artists themselves.
From a
general point of view I find it very valuable that the so-called
traditional
institutions in this way continuously reconsider the
functions which they have to fulfill in the cultural life.
I think
that the setting of the old Court Theatre will be very inspiring
surroundings
for your congress - even if your discussions will perhaps deal mainly
with the
problems of the audio-visual media and the possibilities which those
media give
you for enlarging the field of activity and for intensifying the
dialogue with
the public.
It is
my sincere hope that the efforts made by the organizers will result in
a
successful congress and that the exchange of thoughts and ideas on this
occassion will prove to be fruitful for all delegates and thus
contribute to
the enrichment of the cultural life of our countries.
With my
best wishes I declare the congress open.
Ladies
and gentlemen!
On behalf of the Danish
center
of the I.T.I. which means The
International Theatre Institute I wish the congress very welcome to
this week
in Copenhagen. We in the I.T.I. are dealing with the living theatre and
its
actual manifestations while you in this organization are collecting
material of
the Performances of yesterday and thereby today, when today becomes
yesterday. None of us can live without the other. The success of
this.congress
is of essential importance also for the work of the I.T.I., and it is
therefore
not only friendliness but also egoism when I wish the congress all the
best for
the coming days. Thank you.
Vous
connaissez la hâte que j'éprouve toujours de vous mettre
devant vos tâches de
travail en matière de documentation, et quand il s'agit d'un
congrès de la
SIBMAS, généralement nous entrons rapidement dans ces
obligations de
travail, mais aujourd'hui je dois dire qu'il faut qu'en votre nom je
remercie
très vivement le directeur du cabinet du Ministre des Affaires
culturelles du
Danemark, qui nous fast l'honneur d'être parmi nous ce matin et d'ouvrir cette
séance, et je viceprésident du centre danois de
l'Institut International du
Théâtre pour les paroles qu'ils viennent de prononcer. En
effet il apparait que
ce n'est plus seulement je théâtre, je
théâtre vivant auquel nous tenons tout
particulièrement, mais aussi tout ce qui, en matière de
théâtre, présente une
valeur culturelle qui se trouve avoir été comprise par
eux et que de cette
compréhension résulte précisément cette
magnifique réunion que nous avons
aujourd'hui grâce à leur concours. Je crois qu'il y a dans
de nombreux pays en
dehors du Danemark et en dehors des différents pays qui nous ont
déjà
reçus pour nos précédents congrès, un pas
à franchir entre l'intérêt que l'on porte et éventuellement
l'amour que l'on porte au théâtre, et l'intérêt que l'on
peut porter à la documentation théâtrale, qui
modestement se borne à recueillir
ce qui résulte précisément de la vie du
théâtre, en essayant d'en faire
profiter d'une part les chercheurs et d'autre part, heureusement de
plus en
plus, les professionnels qui s'alimentent aux sources documentaires que
nous
mettons à leur disposition. Il est évident que lorsque
nous entreprenons de
constituer chacun dans notre pays ces collections de livres, de
périodiques, de
documents de théâtre, il nous faut des moyens
matériels, et ces moyens jusqu'à
présent, vous ne je savez que trop, ont éte tres
limités. Et il me semble que
dans cette période très difficile pour la plupart des
pays - cette période
d'inflation - les membres du gouvernement qui sont en rapport avec
cette
autorité redoutable dans chaque gouvernement qu'est je ministre
des finances
devraient attirer son attention sur je placement exceptionnel que
constitue
l'achat de documents, de documents provenant d'artistes, et qui en
très peu de
temps prennent une valeur considérable. Je pense que parmi
l'intérêt que l'Etat porte à des dépenses très
variées, celle-là ne part pas en fumée,
celle-là ne cesse d'augmenter de valeur avec je temps, et que
nous aurions
intérêt, les uns et les autres qui sommes bien de cet avis, chacun
dans notre
pays de faire valoir à quel point cette entreprise est, comme
disent les
financiers, rentable. Il faut que l'on prenne conscience de cette
vérité pour
qu'on nous donne ce dont nous avons tous je plus grand besoin: des
moyens plus étendus pour rendre, si c'est possible encore, notre
action plus large, plus
efficace, et finalement pour arriver à répercuter, aussi
bien en faveur des
chercheurs et des enseignants que des homes de théâtre,
les richesses que nous
conservons.
Ces
considérations qui nous font penser à nos soucis
quotidiens ne
doivent pas nous couper tout à fait du plaisir que nous avons de
nous réunir
pour la première fois, à l'occasion de ce 11e
congrès, dans un théâtre et de
pouvoir lier à la fois nos préoccupations à
l'ambiance ravissante qui est celle
que nous avons déjà ressentie en entrant dans cette
salle. C'est à la fois un
théâtre et un musée et, comme vous je savez, je
thème de notre congrès est
précisément de faire je lien entre je musée, la
bibliothèque et je théâtre
vivant, et aucun lieu et finalement aucun pays nous pouvaient
d'avantage nous
permettre de réaliser ce voeu. Et je suis tres reconnaissant
encore une fois à
tous ceux qui ont permis de réaliser cette manisfestation qui,
par je nombre
des inscrits et par la façon dont l'accueil a été
déjà prévu, me parait être un
très grand succès.
02/09/04Information about this site: Maria Teresa Iovinelli, Secretary General
Last updated: August 31, 2004