Video Annotatathon
Call for Participation

17.-18.09.2025 at ITI Germany in Berlin

English version

First Annotatathon for performing arts-based video data in Germany will be held in Berlin on 17th and 18th of September 2025. What data can videos hold for your research?

The Media Library for Dance and Theatre (MTT) at the International Theatre Institute Germany in Berlin will hold a Video Annotatathon, a two-day event concerned with video-based research and analysis in theatre and dance studies. The event which is held in cooperation with Motion Bank and supported by NFDI4Culture will provide space for active annotation practice on video materials from the domain of dance and theatre using the Motion Bank Systems, a video annotation tool that has been tested for many years in the practice of the performing arts.

What do we offer?

The program is structured as a mix of presentations and inputs, ideation, hands-on collaborative annotation and coding sessions as well as open discussions. Introductory sessions on video annotation processes in a research environment as well as into the technological makeup of Motion Bank Systems will be provided. For the try-out sessions, it is possible to bring your own video to annotate or choose one of the pre-selected videos from the Media Library.

Who’s invited?

This event is open to researchers, students, archivists and practitioners in the field of performing arts who are interested in an exchange on video-based analysis. It also welcomes coders from cultural and research backgrounds interested in further experimenting with the Motion Bank Systems codebase and video annotation data in general.

We particularly encourage people who are facing structural exclusion or barriers to accessibility to apply. We also very much welcome applications from everyone who is new to Germany, especially those who had to leave their country of origin due to war or for political, social, or economic reasons.

Working language will be English.

How to register?

Participation is free of charge. Availability on both days is required. Previous experience with Motion Bank Systems is not necessary. Registration is done via the following form. It is open until 15.07.2025. The maximum number of participants is 20, further registrations will be able to move up in case of participant cancellations and will be informed in time.

If you have any questions regarding the project, the institution and/or conditions of accessibility, please contact Milica Tancic at m.tancic@iti-germany.de

Cooperation Partners and Supporters

Media Library for Dance and Theatre

The Media Library for Dance and Theatre (MTT) is a centre for artistic and scientific research and discussion for those involved in the performing arts. It is one of the most extensive publicly accessible audiovisual documentation centres for the performing arts in Germany. It documents developments in contemporary dance, theatre and performative production formats.

Motion Bank

Motion Bank’s interdisciplinary research focuses on the fundamentals of digital dance research, the digital documentation of dance and the use of digital technologies in dance practice. For its research work, Motion Bank cooperates with numerous partners from the performing arts, higher education in dance, archives and other research and cultural institutions.

NFDI4C

NFDI4Culture is the consortium in the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) that deals with research data on tangible and intangible cultural assets. It includes art history, musicology, theatre and media studies as well as architecture.

Quelle: https://www.iti-germany.de/en/news/video-annotatathon