Wolanski
Foundation Supports NIDA Archive Project
The
Wolanski Foundation has formed a partnership with the National Institute of
Dramatic Art to assist the development of performing arts information
resources at Australia’s leading theatre school.
The
NIDA collections comprise official records, company archives of the Old Tote
Theatre Company and Jane Street Theatre, personal collections of distinguished
directors and staff such as Robert Quentin, Tom Brown and John Clark, the NIDA
Rodney Seaborn Library (a reference service available to NIDA staff, students
and the general public) and the SBW Foundation Collection incorporating
material from the theatre historian and broadcaster John West, and material
from the Dennis Wolanski Library of the Performing Arts.
In
December 2004, the NIDA Foundation Trust launched an appeal to raise $3
million to establish improved facilities for the collections and develop them
as a major Australian information cultural resource.
Wolanski Foundation director Paul Bentley will join archivist Dr Peter
Orlovich, Dr Margaret Leask, Kathryn Adler and Derek Nicholson to develop
archive plans, systems, programs and services, complementing library services
managed by Christine Roberts.
NIDA
General Manager Elizabeth Butcher said: “NIDA’s role in supplying well trained
actors, directors, designers and technicians to the industry is a story worth
telling and a story worth preserving. Mel Gibson, in a recent interview, spoke
about it as a huge entertainment force. Its impact on post-war cultural
developments, such as state arts centres and state theatre companies, needs to
be appreciated. We very much welcome the involvement of the Wolanski
Foundation in the project.”
Phillip Wolanski, a board member of NIDA, said: “I’m delighted to be able to
support the development of the NIDA collections, housing some of the material
dispersed by the Sydney Opera House in 1997, and other significant items
relating to Australia’s cultural heritage.”
The
Wolanski Foundation was established in 1998 to facilitate management,
production and appreciation of the arts through the provision of information
services. It provides a web-based information service and aims to generate
ongoing value from the work of the Dennis Wolanski Library of the Performing
Arts, assist other organisations to manage their arts information resources,
and stimulate collaboration in the management of arts information.
NIDA
will light the candles for its 50th birthday in 2008. In
celebrating its achievements, it will point with pride to a stellar cast of
directors and artists widely recognised in international and Australian
theatre, film and television.
Contact: Margaret Leask, phone 02 9697 7554.
Websites:
NIDA
www.nida.edu.au
The Wolanski Foundation www.twf.org.au
