Talks 10. Performance in Unlikely Places

Abstract

“Anatomy Theaters, Legal Dramas, and Landscape Staging: Unexpected Performances in Special Collections”: This session will locate varying types of performances within three historically significant special collections, expanding the definition of what constitutes a performance collection and demonstrating new potential for these thematic research collections. Rare materials in law collections capture the drama and spectacle of the courtroom, while early modern anatomical atlases depict the human body on display in the theater of anatomy, the central prop of an intricate ritual performance. Architectural collections reveal an interest in mise-en-scéne and directing the body in space, creating both a design and a choreography. What further types of performance do these special collections in turn draw around themselves?