East European Performing Arts Platform (EEPAP) supports the
development of contemporary performing arts (dance and theatre)
in 18 countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space
The Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space is the largest scenography event in the world that explores a wide range of scenographic practices – from stage design and costume design to lighting design, sound design and new scenographic practices such as site-specific, applied scenography, urban performance, costume as performance, and much more.
Since 1967 Prague Quadrennial every four years explores and presents the most up-to-date trends in the field of performance design and architecture of the performing space. The core of this international event consists of exhibitions from more than 60 countries from all over the world.
Since 2009 the Prague Quadrennial has organized activities to supplement the main events, including exhibitions, symposia and workshops. The program includes performances, educational events and residencies to promote an international platform for exploring the theory, practice and education of contemporary scenography as an expanded field.
The upcoming 13th edition of the Prague Quadrennial (PQ'15) will take place from 18 to 28 June. The main theme will be SharedSpace: Music Weather Politics. The aim of PQ'15 is to make invisible scenography – environments that deeply affect us, despite being intangible – visible.
Apart from the traditional, competitive Section of Countries and Regions and Student Section, PQ'15 will also include the Performing Space section, focusing on architecture. Specialties of PQ'15 are theObjects, Makers and Tribes accompanying exhibitions and live events, which will be held in galleries and public spaces in the centre of Prague.
PQ'15 will also include the traditional student performances in the streets and theatres of Prague, which this year will carry the titleZlomvaz Festival as part of the SpaceLab educational project. Lectures, discussions and SpaceLab workshops with leading world experts from theatre and the arts will form a major part of PQ'15.
PQ is a platform bringing together as many as 5,000 theatre professionals and students, as well as more than 50,000 visitors from all over the world.
Background, purpose, idea:
Artistic Concept
Scenography as SharedSpace Introduction
In the last years there have been many dramatic world events in the shape of large gatherings of people connecting to express their will and needs. These gatherings have shown the power of live meetings of people as well as the need of people to use theatricality as their way of expressing (acting, masking, building temporary structures). It is time to rethink theatre as (what thinker Alan Read calls) 'the last human venue' – place where living people have living connections – and where large groups of people come to share realities: narratives and experiences as well as potential possibilities: fiction and fantasy. Prague Quadrennial 2015 aims to revisit the power of theatre and imaginary and discover the powers and responsibilities of scenography that use, yet exceed the theatrical.
PQ '15 invites participants to explore scenography as performative environment that influences not only spatial relations of elements of performance but also determines mental relations (narrative, social, past or future) as well as relations between the performance and audience in contemporary theatre.
PQ '15 aims to explore scenography as SharedSpace – space that influences (designs) relationships between people, space that provides room for relating, and more than anything space that provides place for sharing – sharing of ideas, stories, and of social responsibilities.
PQ '15 aims to revisit theatrical – imaginary, visionary and non-existent as creative socio-political power.
PQ '15 aims to discover invisible scenographies – environments that influence us deeply although they are intangible – through proposing Music Weather and Politics as main themes for the scenography exhibition of Section of Countries and Regions.
PQ '15 aims to focus on the making – and the relationship between the Makers (scenographer-artist) – the Space (performance architecture) and the Objects (products with stories) within three additional exhibitions.
PQ '15 aims to play with situating, relating and gathering of people to provide for inclusive spaces and projects.
PQ '15 will happen in multiple spaces in the very center of Prague and invites visitors to think locally (exploring the specific of the local) in the connection with the city both when working on presentations from their country and when exhibiting in the specific places in Prague.
Share the experience, share the viewing, share responsibility – share space!
Sodja Lotker
PQ Artistic Director
