HOME
Executive Committee
Institutional Members
International Directory
Congresses
National Collections
Research Sites
Partner Organisations
WHAT'S NEW
FORUM
|
Assemblée générale - General
Assembly
Minutes of the General
Assembly
Documentation et Art de
l'Acteur
Records and Images of the Art of the Performer
18ème Congrès
International, Stockholm 3-7 septembre 1990 / 18th
International Congress, Stockholm 3-7 September 1990
Editor: Barbro Stribolt
(Drottningholms Teatermuseum). Stockholm : 1992, p.
145-149
The President opened the
meeting by welcoming the members present and made
particular reference to the absence of the Secretary
General, Alexander Schouvaloff, who had tendered his
resignation because his departure from the office of
Curator of the Theatre Museum in London would mean that
he was removed from contact with colleagues in the active
world of SIBMAS. He expressed his regret which was shared
by his fellow officers and delegates.
1. The Minutes of
the General Assembly in Mannheim 1988 which had been
circulated were approved as a correct record, with a
comment from Kari Gaarder Losnedahl (Norway) that there
had been a suggestion of the need to have a stronger
female representation on the Executive Committee and
Council.
2. The following
Reports were presented:
- Membership
Secretariat
Mr. Reading presented a Membership Report for the
period 1989-90 which showed a current membership
of 134 members (101 being members of National
Centres) and 35 Associate members.
There had been a welcome increase in the number
of National Centres which stood at 8 compared
with the 4 in 1988. This could bring many
advantages both to the individual countries as
well as to the work of the Association on a
global basis. The Centre in Great Britain, with a
membership of over 40, had formed itself into a
national body, within the framework of SIBMAS,
which met regularly and organised conferences and
other events.
Mr. Reading announced that, with reluctance, he
was vacating the office of Membership Secretary
and wished his successor, Dr. Eszter György well
in the continuation of useful work.
- Secretary-General
In the absence of Alexander Schouvaloff the
President read a letter received from him
explaining the reason for his resignation.
- Treasurer's
Report
Dr. Dreier circulated a Report giving information
on the financial development of SIBMAS since the
Mannheim Congress of 1988, together with
financial reports for 1987 and 1988 together with
audit reports and budgets for the years 1990,
1991 and 1992. He commented further on the
effects of inflation on the financial viability
of S1BMAS, on the need in future to pay a
realistic honorarium to the Membership
Secretariat, and the continuance of support to
the Blue Book under the guidance of the
Vice-President. He outlined his proposals for
necessary increases in subscription rates which
would be a substantive item later in the Agenda.
The adoption of the Report and Statement of
Accounts was proposed by Mr. Alexander, seconded
by Miss McCallum and approved unanimously.
- President's
Report
The President gave his report verbally under
three headings:
- Participation
with international gathering on behalf of
SIBMAS.
- Bilateral
negotiations.
- Activities
in favour of SIBMAS members
1.
In March 1989 (20-24) the President attended an
International Congress of Theatre with a
Religious Theme at Sant Hilari Sacalm in Spain.
The organizer Professor José Angel Gomez had
already in Mannheim asked to have his congress
under the auspices not only of FIRT and of the
International Institute for Theatre Research but
also of SIBMAS. The output of the congress was,
however, rather ambivalent which raised the
question for organizations like SIBMAS to be
cautious with giving the name for conferences.
In April (19-21) the Standing Committee of the
International NGO's took place in East Berlin,
and Dr Heinrich Huesmann, Chairman of the
Bibliographical Commission, joined the
President's attendance since the main item was
the DATABASE project. In Berlin the following
proposal was accepted:
- A working
group of three people to be set up to
take urgent action on the database
monitoring project
- Mr. Elsom
to be its leader, responsible for action;
other representatives to be Dr. Huesmann
(SIBMAS) and a FIRT nominee
- The
principal task of the group to be is to
work out a proposal suitable for M.
Perinetti to communicate to UNESCO
- The group's
work should be based on the work which
had been already carried out, and the
existing proposals
- The group
is empowered to represent all the NGOs
present in dealing with UNESCO and other
concerned bodies.
- The group
is to report back to the next meeting in
Berlin on its results.
In the meantime, however, the President had
learned that there could be no more meetings in
East Berlin since the ITI center of GDR had been
dissolved (September 1990). In Berlin there had
also been discussions with John Ytteborg about a
joint secretariat SIBMAS/FIRT/AICT stationed in
Copenhagen.
In September (1989) in The Haag during the
ICOM-Conference the President negotiated with
General Secretary, Patric Gardon about how to
tighten connections between SIBMAS and ICOM.
Professor Veinstein had for the same purpose,
observed the Advisory Committee Session in March
in Paris.
The Draft Revised Statutes, which in the meantime
had been accepted, tries to find a broader
definition of the term museum which also includes
(Article 2, Nr b4) "Conservation institutes
and exhibition galleries permanently maintained
by library centres and archives". Thus it
could be argued that about 90% of SIBMAS members
already are professional museum workers. This in
respect of article 18 which says, that for an
affiliation an organization should be composed of
at least two thirds of professional museum
workers. On the other hand Article 18, Nr 5 has
to be considered that in case of an affiliated
organization "at least one half of the
members of the organisation become members of
ICOM within one year of the date of the decision.
In the event that less than one third of the
members of the organisation are members of ICOM
by the due date the affiliated statutes of the
organisation shall lapse". This would mean
that an ICOM/SIBMAS member had to pay a double
entry fee. To avoid this Mr Gardon was asked to
keep in mind the possibility of SIBMAS as an
International Committee according to Article 17.
Mr Gardon promised to consider this possibility
and to answer immediately but his response never
came.
2.
In Bratislava early in 1989 the President checked
the possibilities for a national center in
Czechoslovakia. Later on similar discussions were
led with Soviet, Hungarian and GDR colleagues but
also with Belgium. During the SIBMAS council
meeting in Bern (September 1989) the proposal
from John Ytteborg for a joint secretariat was on
the agenda. The proposed solution was considered
to be too expensive. Instead Eszter György from
Budapest was asked to take over the membership
secretariat. Dr György agreed to organize the
membership secretariat beginning with 1991. The
resignation of Alexander Schouvaloff as a General
Secretary was also discussed in the council.
Later the President asked Barbro Stribolt and
persuaded her to do the job of a General
Secretary.
3.
In case of professional problems of common
interest etc. it is the duty of SIBMAS to give
moral support and quite a number of letters had
been written and dispatched by the President in
favour of SIBMAS member. The President cannot
however write letters on behalf of himself and
the President referred to problems he had in
reorganizing the Austrian Theatre Museum,
specially in his intention to separate the
Theatre Collection from the National Library and
bringing it under the umbrella of the museum. The
Austrian Minister of Cultural Affairs did back
the idea but not the lobby of the National
Library. But the President asked SIBMAS members
all over the world to send letters to the
Minister in favour of the reorganization. This
turned out to be a perfect ammunition. In the
presence of the press the Minister could base his
statements on the opinion of international
experts. The President ended his report by
expressing his gratitude to all who helped the
Theatre Museum in Vienna.
Mr. Alexander, on behalf of the Assembly, thanked
the President for his Report and commented that
the Association was benefiting from his new
initiatives and activities.
3. Biennial programme
of activities
- Forthcoming
Meetings
It was announced that arrangements had been made
for the meeting of the Executive Committee to be
held in Lisbon in September 1991 and for the next
General Assembly also in Lisbon between 2-7
September 1992.
- Transactions
It was announced that the transactions of the
Stockholm Congress would be published. Members
had already been informed of the availability of
the transactions of the Mannheim congress in
printed form.
- World Encyclopaedia
of Contemporary Theatre (WECT)
A letter had been received from Professor Rubin
to the effect that negotiations were in progress
with Messrs Routledge and other associated
publishers for the complete text of WECT to be
published in 5 volumes with an additional volume
of the Lexicon and Bibliography. The text would
be initially in English but translations to other
languages would be negotiated. The estimated
price would be £100 per volume with a 30%
discount to all WECT members. WECT would receive
royalties on all sales.
- TANDEM
A Report, submitted by Dr. Huesmann in German,
was read and translated. See TANDEM.
- Blue Book
Professor Golding reported on behalf of Dr
Veinstein and fellow Committee members. Following
the Mannheim Congress the questionnaire had been
simplified and improved to make completion
easier. Improvements to the content of the work
had been made to allow more entries to be
included and more information for each entry. The
page lay-out was to be re-designed and the size
of the volume reduced. It would be printed in 5
languages: English, French, Spanish, German and
Russian.
The Minutes of the meeting of the Blue Book
Commission tabled by Dr. Rennenberg is attached
at Appendix "A".
- Toole Scott Circus
Bibliography
Mr. Reading reported that the initial campaign to
solicit advance subscriptions towards the
printing of the 5th and final volume of the
Bibliography under the supervision of the Theatre
Museum in London on behalf of the Association,
had proved disappointing. However, estimates for
a more modest presentation of the work had now
been received and a new initiative was to be
launched towards the successful completion of the
undertaking.
- FIRT / SIBMAS
Bulletin
Mr. Alexander opened his Report with an apology
that the French version of the current issue had
been delayed but would be available immediately
after the Congress. He stressed the importance
for all members to remember to send in all items
of relevant information for the use of the
editors especially concerning exhibitions (with a
note of the venue, dates, times and catalogue
price) and of publications (giving author, full
title, publishers, address for ordering and the
price). The Bulletin relied on the input of such
information and would always only be as useful as
members themselves made it.
4. Rules of SIBMAS
The proposals for the amendment of certain rules of
SIBMAS, as prepared by the Officers, had been circulated.
They concerned Articles 9 and 11 and are attached at Appendix
"B" .
They were read by the President, with comments, in
inviting discussion.
Dr. Bucht proposed with regard to Article 9 that, in
addition to the requirement that each country should have
only one representative on the Council, the composition
of the Council should, as far as possible, also be
elected so that it represented the various spheres of
activity of the Association. After full discussion this
was agreed.
It was further proposed that the stipulation of three
months notice prior to the date of the General Assembly
for the submission of nominations for election to the
Council was unrealistic and counter to the successful
running of the business of the Association. After long
discussion it was finally agreed that a period of only 24
hours before the time of the meeting of the General
Assembly would be allowed.
The precise wording of the necessary amendments to the
proposed new Articles to take in the effect of these
further changes would be left to the discretion of the
Officers. (These changes are shown in a note appended to Appendix
"B".)
5. Election of the
Council
The following nominations were proposed from the Chair
for the election of Officers and members of the Council.
President: Oskar Pausch, Vice Presidents: Dorothy
Swordlove and Cécile Giteau, Secretary General: Barbro
Stribolt, Treasurer. Martin Dreier; Heather McCallum,
Hedvig Belitska-Scholtz, Roswitha Flatz, Vitor Pavao dos
Santos, Liliana Alexandrescu, Alessandro d'Amico, Guillem
Jordi Graells, Pirkko Koski, Margaret Benton, Dana
Sliukova. The election of the above nominations was
proposed by Mr. Wout Spies, seconded by Dr. Barbro
Stribolt and carried unanimously.
6. Election of the
Executive Committee
The Chairman announced the composition of the Executive
Committee as follows: President: Oskar Pausch, Vice
Presidents: Dorothy Swordlove, Cécile Giteau, General
Secretary: Barbro Stribolt, Treasurer: Martin Dreier;
Heather McCallum, Hedvig Belitska-Scholtz, Roswitha
Flatz, Vitor Pavao dos Santos. These nominations were
proposed by Professor Santos, seconded by Dr. Rennenberg,
and approved unanimously.
7. Election of
Honorary Presidents
It was proposed from the Chair that Prof. Veinstein,
Professor Golding and Professor Zielske should be elected
as Vice-Presidents. This proposal was seconded by Dr.
Bucht and approved unanimously. The President then spoke
in tribute of the work of Professor Veinstein in the
initial setting-up of the Association in 1976 and his
subsequent important contribution to its success and
recognition as an international body.
Similar tribute was paid to Professor Golding, especially
for his efforts on behalf of the Blue Book publication.
Presentations were made to both new Vice-Presidents. The
President then spoke of Professor Zielske and the
contribution he had made as President before illness had
compelled him to retire: he would write to Professor
Zielske and send good wishes on behalf of the Congress.
8. Annual
Subscriptions
The Chairman referred to the paper submitted by the
Treasurer proposing the following changes to the
subscription rates for the various membership categories:
Rate Existing Advised
National Centres of four members CHF 120 CHF 140 Each
additional member CHF 25 CHF 30 Members CHF 30 CHF 35
Associate Members CHF 20 CHF 25
It was explained that
these increases were the lowest possible to preserve the
continuing solvency of the Association.
The adoption of the proposed new subscription charges was
proposed by Miss Swerdlove, seconded by Mr. Alexander and
approved.
9. Date of Next
Meeting
This would be on Friday 7 September 1992 at the
conclusion of the Congress in Lisbon, commencing on the 2
September. Further information and the necessary papers
would be sent to members in 1991 following the meeting of
the Executive Committee.
10. Other Business
- The Chairman spoke
on the role played by I.C.O.M. in the affairs of
the Association. (See the President's report.)
- Miss Franchi
submitted a Report on behalf of herself and two
colleagues, Mme. Bucht and Mme. Hallar, all
practising archivists, setting up a Working Group
to establish contact with other archivists so as
to have a forum for discussion of matters of
common concern and to share experience and
working methods. This was noted with approbation
and encouragement.
- A proposal was made
that members of SIBMAS should encourage their
national theatre museum and collections to allow
free or reduced admission charges for SIBMAS
members.
- A proposal was made
jointly by Dr. Homering and Dr. Rennenberg that
consideration should be given to the
standardisation of the size and format of SIBMAS
publications.
- There was
discussion regarding the proposed theme for the
Lisbon Congress. Dr. Bucht was unhappy with the
theme "Performing Arts and Politics" as
giving too wide a scope to take the papers
outside the strict parameters of the Association
and suggested that a theme "Performing Arts
documentation in a changing Society" would
be preferable. There seemed to be a general
agreement with this suggestion which would be
seriously considered at the Lisbon meeting of the
Executive Committee when finalising arrangements.
- Mr. Buck raised the
matter of the awkward lack of synchronisation
regarding meetings of FIRT and SIBMAS which had
resulted in a dash of two successive meetings in
Stockholm, and urged the Officers to tackle the
problem to the benefit of both organisations. The
Chairman invited written proposals on the matter
to be sent in for consideration at the 1991
Lisbon meeting.
- Miss McCallum
submitted a proposal to assist the encouragement
of new membership.
- Mrs. Jowers, an
Associate Member, proposed the compilation of a
register of members able and willing to offer
accommodation and hospitality to other members
either on study visits or during meetings. She
lived in Canterbury, Great Britain, and would
welcome such requests.
11. The meeting
concluded with a presentation to Mr. Reading and
expressions of gratitude from the Chair, on behalf of the
assembled members, to Dr. Stribolt and her helpers, and
the translators for all their hard work before and during
the Congress to make it such a successful and happy
occasion.
18th Congress
SIBMAS Home Page
URL:
http://www.theatrelibrary.org/sibmas/congresses/sibmas90/sto_34.html
Information about
this site: Claire Hudson, Secretary General
Last modified:
November 21, 2000
|
