The conference aims to explore various dimensions of electronic music and dance cultures and the challenges associated with their documentation, preservation and archiving. Dance cultures have emerged as a global cultural phenomenon, shaping and reflecting the attitudes, values and experiences of diverse communities for years. As they continue to evolve, change and diversify, it becomes increasingly crucial to discuss ideas about preserving and archiving their cultural heritage. These cultures also encompass a wide range of music genres, subgenres and associated practices, including DJing, club culture, festival culture, music production, remixing and more. In Berlin, the location of this conference, for instance, “Techno” has even become part of Germany’s UNESCO cultural heritage list. This inclusion has been critically discussed by different communities, especially by those who highlight techno’s Black roots from Detroit. However, strategies for its preservation have hardly been developed.

While electronic music and dance cultures have had an important impact on contemporary music, art and social movements, their temporary nature and reliance on digital technologies present different challenges for archiving and preserving. Not only do we need to consider the potential technical difficulties when it comes to older technologies in music production, but also the preservation of other cultural materials such as event flyers, posters, ravezines, fanzines and even locations like clubs or festivals, which have barely been preserved and documented.

While the topic of cultural preservation in (popular) music cultures has been extensively discussed (e.g., in Baker, 2015), EMDCs have yet to be fully included in these conversations. These research findings emphasize the Do-it-Yourself and Do-it-Together approaches when it comes to the processes of cultural preservation within musical heritages, which are also applicable to electronic music and dance cultures. Despite the accessibility of oral histories (e.g., Bainbridge, 2013; Denk & van Thülen, 2014; Hanford, 2021, etc.), there remains a lack of extended collections of archival materials on this subject. This conference aims to address this gap by questioning the necessity of preservation and the role of institutions in keeping these cultures alive. It also reevaluates existing oral histories by exploring who has been asked to share their stories and who may have been left out, particularly marginalized individuals. Furthermore, the DC25 organizing committee is also interested in the methodological challenges of cultural preservation: How and what to archive and preserve when it comes to electronic music and dance cultures?

Hosted by Dancecult, in collaboration with the Audio Communication Group of the Technische Universität Berlin and CTM Festival.