Israeli Center for the Documentation of the Performing Arts MILA Tel Aviv University

Overview

The Israeli Center for the Documentation of the Performing Arts (known by its Hebrew acronym MILA) is an archival center housed within the Department of Theatre Arts at Tel Aviv University. It is the foremost repository of documentary materials relating to Israeli theater and the performing arts, holding programs, posters, photographs, scripts, press clippings, correspondence, and other materials documenting Israeli theatrical history from its earliest institutional manifestations to the present.

History and Founding

The center was founded in 1970 by Shimon Lev-Ari, an Israeli actor, theater director, and translator, under the auspices of the Department of Theatre Arts at Tel Aviv University. It was originally named The Israeli Archive of Theatre. Lev-Ari served as its manager from its founding until his retirement in 2009. In 1982, the archive was formally recognized by the Israeli state curator as a public archive. In 1988, the municipality of Tel Aviv awarded the center and Lev-Ari the Moshe Levi Prize for the Performing Arts in recognition of exceptional contribution to Israeli theater.

Collections and Holdings

The center holds extensive archival materials documenting Israeli theater history, including the administrative archive of Habima — Israel's national theater — with documents dating from the 1920s. Collections include posters and programs from Israeli theatrical productions spanning many decades, including Yiddish light entertainment shows from the late 1960s to the 1990s. A computerized cataloguing project begun in 2010 has to date cataloged over 1,000 items. The current chair of the center is Olga Levitan, a theater scholar at TAU.

Access

The center is accessible to researchers via appointment through Tel Aviv University's Faculty of the Arts.