As one of the methods for the continuous expansion of the collection, we organized the multimedia event LIVE THEQUE. The name Live Theque was borrowed from Ütő Gusztáv, who, under this title, organized in Sfântu Gheorghe between 1998 and 2006 a series of seminars and screenings of performance documentation, aimed at cultivating an audience interested in the history and current phenomena of performance art.

Within the current project, Live Theque served as a public platform in which, alongside the screening of video materials from the archive – selected and edited for this occasion – we created a community framework for the sharing of personal memories, public discussions, and collective storytelling. The event took place around the AnnART tent, once the administrative center and iconic symbol of the festival – today the most voluminous object in the archive. The AnnART tent was opened and reinstalled for the first time after 25 years, around Saint Anne’s Day, this time in the courtyard of the Székely National Museum.

The program was conceived as an orchestra of electronic telecommunication, inserting – through telepresence – artists represented in the archive into dialogue with the festival’s organizers and audience, thus reconnecting the artists with the local community. These interventions took the form of open discussions, messages addressed to the audience, or even performative actions echoing works preserved in the archive. The event, held over two days for four hours each day, concluded with an audio-video performance composed of iconic sound recordings from the festival’s history.

The entire program was broadcast live on YouTube.

As an independent community-based performative event, we announced as a pre-event the reopening of the AnnART tent. This was carried out with the help of volunteers, including individuals who had contributed to its construction in 1992 and who possess the knowledge required for its installation. The reopening of the tent continued the almost ritual action of its installation – an act that preceded each edition of the festival.