Dokumentace současnosti Divadelního oddělení Národního muzea: České divadlo v období pandemie covid-19

Pages	23–37
DOI	10.37520/amnph.2025.019
Keywords	Documentation, Czech theatre, COVID-19, Theatre Institut, National Museum
Citation	VODIČKA, Libor. Dokumentace současnosti Divadelního oddělení Národního muzea: České divadlo v období pandemie covid-19. Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae – Historia. Prague: National Museum, 2025, 79(3-4), 23–37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37520/amnph.2025.019. ISSN 2570-6845 (print), 2570-6853 (online). Also available from: https://www.nm.cz/en/periodicals/acta-musei-nationalis-pragae-historia/79-3-4/dokumentace-soucasnosti-divadelniho-oddeleni-narodniho-muzea-ceske-divadlo-v-obdobi-pandemie-covid-19

Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae – Historia | 2025/79/3-4

This methodologically-focused paper turns its attention to the issue of museum theatre documentation of the present as part of the active collection-building activities of the National Museum’s Theatre Department (NM TD). In the introduction, the author summarises the specificity of theatre museality, describes the limitations throughout the 20th century, and defines current theatre collection-building activities within the so-called performative turn, which presented a new definition of the term “theatre” and enhanced the perception of various forms of stage performance and their impact on the lives of individuals and society. The article presents the basic pillars of the current documentation work of the NM TD, focused on the contemporary Czech theatre in the years 2017–2025. It describes the main topics of the working team of curators of the Theatre Department and the focus of individual “probes” that map the contemporary Czech theatre and performative activities in the relevant thematic, genre and temporal segments. It also takes a closer look at the issue of documenting theatre life in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021, which had a significant impact on theatre life. It notes the transformation of the function of theatre as an institution being a substitute for certain dysfunctional components of the state and municipality (organisation of assistance, education, social work, etc.), but also the transformation of theatrical communication between creators and audiences (the transfer of productions to virtual environments, outdoor venues, etc.). It describes the specifics of this material and how the documentation and collection for the collection-building activity was carried out.

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