Mo Chao-Chung Session — Monthly Knowledge Salon Season 7

[Why Organize Theatre Company Archives?]

Taiwan—a beautiful island rich in diverse cultures and histories—has an abundance of theatrical creation and activity. Yet the archives of micro-scale works produced by smaller, short-term, or non-continuous theatre teams are undeniably part of Taiwan’s theatre history, and for many reasons have not been written into it. Facing limited resources and manpower—or a weak sense of how their works matter to the broader history of Taiwanese theatre—many groups have not properly preserved or re-activated their materials. If we can recover these missing pieces, we’ll see a truer picture of Taiwan’s theatre landscape.

[Why Build a Cross-Theatre Archival Organizing Team?]

While gathering the materials described above, Center x Center once rescued the working files of a senior Taiwanese theatre practitioner just as they were about to be discarded. If even the records of well-known figures can be lost this easily, then materials from lesser-resourced, little-known, grassroots micro-productions are even less likely to be preserved or seen again. Time keeps moving—we don’t know how many priceless theatre archives lie sealed away and forgotten, or are being cleared out right now.

Therefore, alongside actively building a Museum of Archives to encourage micro-theatre groups to preserve their materials digitally, Center x Center also hopes to rally passionate collaborators to seek out and organize micro-theatre archives scattered across different places. Beyond supporting academic research, we aim to re-activate these works so they can generate revenue through remounts or reinterpretations. For physical materials, if a group cannot or does not wish to keep them, they may authorize Center x Center to preserve and creatively activate them. After all, no matter how small the work, how short-lived the troupe, or how unknown the team, these are real and indispensable parts of Taiwan’s theatre history.

[Sponsor]

The One Who Builds the Archive:
Grassroots Theatre Archives, Audience Participation, and the Self-Writing of Urban Culture

This session takes the article “Nostalgia and Disappearance — Exhibiting Art Archives in Recent Macao” as its starting point, inviting audiences to explore with Mok Sio Chong the history and unique characteristics of archival exhibitions in Macao.

For many years, Macao’s theatre archives were dispersed across various civil organizations and individuals. Yet in recent years, exhibitions of theatre documents have offered new perspectives—archives are no longer merely the “results” of history, but processes in which audiences, creators, and citizens actively participate. From 2019’s ⌘O to 2022’s from Scene → to Zine, audiences engaged with archives through embodied actions such as “opening, exploring, illuminating, and making,” constructing their own theatre histories through participation.

Speaker: Mok Sio Chong

Photography: Cheng Tung

Mok Sio Chong is a Macao theatre director, critic, and cultural event curator. He serves as the editor-in-chief of Theatre.Reading quarterly and the “Pinto” website, as well as the chairperson of the Macao Theatre Cultural Society. His work focuses on promoting theatre criticism, researching Macao’s theatre history, and organizing archival materials. He has directed over twenty theatre productions exploring themes of urban memory, local history, and personal oral narratives.

Capacity｜Limited to 45 participants
Admission｜Free registration (please sign up as a Center x Center member to claim your e-ticket). On-site registration may be available depending on capacity.

Entry Rules｜ Entry opens at 6:30 PM. Please present your e-ticket upon entry.
(Yes, you really do need to show your e-ticket! Please be kind to the check-in staff!)

Exit Reminder｜ At the end of the event, please take all your trash with you.
(Seriously—everyone needs to take their own trash. Let’s reduce waste together; don’t make things hard for the organizers or the planet!)