The Western Australia New Music Archive: 1970 – today
WAAPA, in conjunction with Tura New Music - a music organisaton based in Perth - is working on an archiving project of Western Australian new music. The project aims to discover, collect, collate and digitise Western Australian contemporary art music from 1970 to the present day, making material available for further musicological research and performance.
The initial stages of the project have involved preliminary research into availability of materials, the methodologies of archiving new music and sound art, the function of metadata, key terms, ways of accessing material once placed on an electronic database and ways of linking with similar projects Australia-wide.
The project has also been investigating new models of copyright in addition to the evaluation of digitation formats and database software.
The project is now part of an ARC-Linkage grant application, with collaborative partners, which would include Tura, the ABC, LISWA and the National Library.
The project aims to preserve Western Australian new music practice (performing, composing, installation, writing) from 1970 to date, and to facilitate its dissemination within the international community. The project also examines new models for digital archives and information sharing.
Key ECU Staff
Dr Cat Hope, Sonja Van Theil.
Engagement Partners
Tura New Music.