Prague Quadrennial 2015 releases details on this year’s upcoming event; Executive Director of PQ, Daniela Parizkova, as well as Artistic Director Sodja Lotker answer questions regarding PQ 2015.
More details from Prague Quadrennial (www.pq.cz):
PRAGUE, Czech Republic – The most important theatre and performance design exhibition in the world, with a tradition dating back to 1967, returns to Prague after four years. The 13th edition of the Prague Quadrennial will take the form of a live exhibition, offering tens of thousands of visitors presentations of works and artists from a record 78 countries from all over the world. For the first time, this year the entire program will take place in the historic center of Prague, both within major buildings and monuments and in the public space. The chief component of the program of the Prague Quadrennial 2015 is the Section of Countries and Regions, offering visitors an astounding labyrinth of scenographic exhibitions from 68 countries, with their own live events. Visitors themselves often become part of interactive exhibitions, affecting the form of dozens of exhibitions inspired by this year’s theme SharedSpace: Music Weather Politics. At this year’s Quadrennial you can encounter clouds, storms or wind, see and hear diverse kinds of music and think over artists‘ commentaries on current political events. The PQ further offers the general public school exhibitions, theatre and street performances and a specialists‘ section featuring workshops, lectures and discussions with the leading personalities in contemporary theatre and performance design, and even film, such as Robert Lepage, Robert Wilson and Julie Taymor. There’s something for the young ones, too, in the form of the special PQ for Children program. The gala opening of the 13th edition of the Prague Quadrennial will take place on Old Town Square on Wednesday 17 June.
Since 1967 the central event of the Prague Quadrennial have been the national exhibitions, presenting current trends in performance design and theatre, from scenic art via costume, lighting and sound design to new approaches to performance design such as site-specific, street performances and much more. These exhibition experiences give visitors the chance to, as it were, walk across a map of the whole contemporary world of theatre.
SharedSpace: Music Weather Politics
The theme of the 13th edition of the performance design festival is SharedSpace: Music Weather Politics. Individual exhibitions will not deal only with the closed space of theatre buildings – theatre is nowadays routinely performed in galleries, on the street, on squares, in parks, at swimming-pools and so on. Music, Weather and Politics are sub-themes that further develop the main theme of shared space, inspire artists and encourage diversity in the exhibitions presented in Prague.
Location: PQ 2015 takes over the center of Prague, historic buildings and the public space
For the first time, the upcoming edition of the PQ shifts into the historic city center of Prague, where it will take over the imaginary triangle between Old Town Square, the National Theatre and Charles Bridge. The premises chosen for the exhibition include an abandoned house, a Baroque palace, a Gothic church, a gallery, a tunnel and others. One major innovation will be moving exhibitions that take place in the public space. The central event in this section will be the Tribes live exhibition, during which dozens of masked groups from all over the world will walk through Prague – along their way these Tribes will stop in the street, in supermarkets, in the theatre or in museums.
Many countries have also elected to supplement their national exhibitions with an accompanying installation and events in public places – for example, the Australians will sail boats that they have made themselves along the Vltava River and the Swiss will install a large-scale ramp across almost the whole of Wenceslas Square; also worth a mention are the special musical/artistic performances at the Podolí Swimming Complex.
Program taster: world-class stars!
Another considerable attraction, apart from the exhibitions from more than 68 countries, are the lectures and discussions in the specialist part of the program. One of the main events at the PQ will be the lecture to be held by theatre guru Robert Lepage (Canada), a versatile artist, director, performance designer and actor who is famous primarily for his multimedia productions. Through his production company Ex Machina he directs in leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He is regarded by many as the most talented theatre artist today. Another star of the program is one of the founders of Berlin company Gob Squad Sean Patten, whose lecture will focus on the use of media in the theatre. Czech experts will also have an opportunity to meet American director Julie Taymor, whose most well-known film Frida gained six Oscar nominations, two of which it won. Her most famous theatre production is Broadway musical The Lion King, which won awards not only for direction, but also costume design. During the workshops experts will be able to collaborate with artists such as theatre professional Philippe Quesne (France), founder of Vivarium Studio. Also attending will be scenographer Dominic Huber (Switzerland), who has collaborated with, for example, pioneers of ‘documentary theatre’ Rimini Protokoll, theatre director Kirsten Dehlholm (Denmark), artistic director and founder of the Hotel Pro Forma company.
Golden Triga for Best Exhibition
At the 13th edition of the Prague Quadrennial the prestigious Golden Triga will be awarded for Best Exhibition, as well as the Gold Medal in several categories covering a variety of disciplines in performance design. Special prizes will be awarded for Innovative Approach to Performance Design and Provoking a Dialogue, as well as a children’s prize. Members of the expert jury include major personalities of current theatre such as director and performance designer Kamila Polívková, Russian director and performance designer and Golden Triga laureate at PQ 2007 Dmitri Krymov and Antônio Araújo, artistic director of the Teatro da Vertigem, professor of performative art at ECA-USP and Gold Medal laureate in the category of Best Production at the PQ.
Basic admission to the PQ 2015 is 300 CZK (11€).
Journalist can apply for the press accreditation, which is available to those reporting on the PQ for all types of media (print, online, TV, radio, web-TV, photography).
Press accreditation provides journalists with the free entrance to all PQ´s exhibitions for 11 days, possibility to register for the lectures and theatre performances, access to the press center and more!
Register for the press accreditation HERE.
For more detailed information about the program and the concept of PQ 2015, see attached interviews with Executive Director of PQ Daniela Parízková and Artistic Director Sodja Lotker.
Interview with Daniela Parízková
1.) What all is involved in the job of Executive Director of the Prague Quadrennial? How many times have you worked on preparation of the event?
I’ve worked in a variety of positions at the PQ since 2002, so this is my fourth Quadrennial, and the second time that I’ve been the executive director. Preparations have definitely been the most demanding this time round: the number of participating countries and artists involved has risen and there has been a fundamental change in the spatial design of the exhibition as a whole, which, to a certain extent, determines the event’s very dramaturgy. Essentially we have, for the past three years, been working on the biggest site-specific event that Prague has ever seen – more than 1,000 artists from 78 countries are preparing projects for spaces that are not, in the majority of cases, intended for this type of event. This is, for us and our partners – the owners of these premises – a considerable challenge, and an adventure. The situation isn’t made any easier by legal and administrative requirements, which have become much stricter since the last edition, chiefly due to the Czech Public Contracts Act. We are subject to a further set of strict conditions due to using a multiyear European Union grant. Due to the fact that we are a state-funded organization, we are the only organizers of such a wide-ranging event in the Czech Republic who have to fulfill all of these conditions. For this reason none of our production team, whose makeup is always different due to the four-year gap between events, can draw on a lot of experience from previous events, all of which demands a lot of effort and foresight from all of us.
My chief role is, essentially, to constantly juggle between the artistic and creative needs of curators, makers and technical, organizational and administrative requirements in order to ensure that curatorial and artistic intentions remain the priority and aren’t totally subordinated to prohibitions and restrictions. Specifically, this involves negotiations with several hundred partners from both the Czech Republic and the whole world, management of a budget of around 2,5 million EUR over a four-year cycle, grant applications, contracts, tenders etc. Naturally, all of this is discussed together with my colleagues from production, PR, project managers and many others, who are all part of the international team that I lead. But this time it really will be my last time in this job!
2.) Why did the Prague Quadrennial, this major event in performance design and theatre, come into being in Prague?
The Prague Quadrennial was created in response to the major successes of Czech performance designers abroad in the 1960s, when they won the top prize at the Sao Paolo Biennial, the most important event in performance design, several times in a row. The organizers of the Biennial were considering linking up with a partner in Europe in order to ensure higher participation from Europe in the future. The Czech Republic was, at the time, a mecca for European performance design. As this happened in the 1960s, the country was inclined towards international collaboration, and the first edition of the PQ took place in Prague in 1967. Even this first edition was a success, featuring 25 countries and registering considerable interest amongst the general public. Despite this the PQ was, until the beginning of the 1990s, perceived as more of a professional event aimed at a specialist audience; its significance was (and still is) attributed to the fact that it brought to Czechoslovakia the work of artists from Western countries, many of whom came in person. After 1989 we had to seek ways to bring the PQ closer to the wider public, in which we have been successful. We would like to continue along this path in the future. A further focus will be to not present theatre alone, but also projects that lie on the boundary between theatre and the visual arts, theatre and film, theatre and architecture, projects that use media from a variety of artistic disciplines while still relating, in some way, to space. Prague needs a cultural event that takes place over the whole city and that attracts both experts from abroad and the public, because there are no language barriers at the festival. The PQ could have the same significance for Prague that the Biennial of visual arts has for Venice, during which the city is alive with art for four months of the year, attracting visitors from all over the world.
3.) Do similar events take place abroad?
Worldwide there is only one event in the same field – World Stage Design (the International Exhibition of Scene, Costume, Lighting and Sound Design). This exhibition is, however, relatively new, and has so far only been held twice, and always in the period between two Quadrennials – that is, it also works on a four-year cycle. Participants in WSD are selected from registered applicants by a jury. Unlike this event, the PQ is chiefly based on national participation – in this it is similar to the Venice Biennial. We, too, supplement these national exhibitions with our own curatorial reviews. The PQ is exceptional in its scope: the national section presents over 66 countries, with artists from 78 countries participating in projects across the festival as a whole. The last edition was attended by over 5,000 professionals from all around the world and over 50,000 visitors over 11 days. I don’t think any similar event in the Czech Republic attracts so many visitors from abroad.
4.) How would you present the Prague Quadrennial to those who don’t know about it? What makes this year’s 13th edition unmissable?
The 13th edition of the PQ could be described as a live exhibition, or even as just a performance design festival, that offers tens of thousands of visitors works from more than 78 countries worldwide over an 11-day period. We endeavor to present performance design in a different way, so that it is more comprehensible and more fun, to place it in the context of the city itself or the specific place in which it is located. For the first time this year, the entire program takes place in Prague’s historic city center, both within major buildings and monuments and in the public space. The main part of the PQ that will be of interest to the general public is the Section of Countries and Regions, offering visitors an astounding labyrinth of scenographic exhibitions from more than 66 countries, with their own live events and interactive installations. In reference to the PQ 2015 themes of SharedSpace: Music Weather Politics, and both inside buildings and in public spaces, visitors will hear diverse forms of music, the weather will be unpredictable and current political and societal event will resonate. Visitors can expect some uncommon encounters – with clouds, storms, a live eagle and they will become, in many cases, an integral part of the installations themselves.
5.) PQ 2015 also promises a large number of exhibitions in public spaces. What will they be like and where will they be located?
The key event in the public space is the Tribes live exhibition, which will take place at a number of locations in the form of in-costume walks by artists and students. The concept is based on the fact that the recent political demonstrations in many countries across the world (including Germany, the USA and the Czech Republic) uncovered old, half-forgotten laws banning the wearing of masks at public demonstrations. During the Prague Quadrennial 2015, dozens of masked tribes from all over the world (relating to the themes of Politics, Weather and Music) will walk through the center of Prague – on their way, these tribes will stop in the street, in the metro, in the supermarket and in the theatre or museum.
Many countries have also elected to supplement their national exhibitions with an accompanying installation and events in public places – for example, the Australians will sail ships that they have made themselves along the Vltava River and the Swiss will install a large-scale ramp across almost the whole of Wenceslas Square; also worth a mention are the special musical/artistic performances at the Podolí Swimming Complex. We will reveal details of the events program for public spaces gradually, and there are many items that we’d like to keep secret from the public right up till the last moment so that they have the chance to discover them for themselves during the PQ.
6.) The Prague Quadrennial will also include the now-traditional children’s section. What can younger visitors look forward to this year?
The PQ for Children section will be held for the fifth time and will work on two levels. The first is directly connected to the national exhibitions, that is, the aforementioned Section of Countries and Regions, where children can go on an adventure trail through the exhibition. Children receive a map of the exhibition and are given tasks at several expositions; in solving these tasks they find out for themselves what the given exposition is about. Several small workshops have also been arranged, where they can try out a variety of techniques to help them understand what performance design is about and learn to work with space. They will also be able to vote for the best exhibit. The second aspect is of fundamental importance to us: here, we offer children creative experience itself. For every edition we prepare a certain theme which we distribute to registered schools together with dramaturgical educational materials. This year’s theme is the ‘umbrella’ as both a theatre prop and an item related to one of the themes of this year’s PQ. Children are to prepare a project according to our instructions and then bring them to the exhibition. Children’s imaginations are so boundless that they rival the experience of professionals. For us, children are also important because, if they can in some way participate in the PQ, they become an informed audience who return for future editions.
7.) Where can visitors find a comprehensive schedule?
The PQ takes place over 11 days and its program is very diverse. You could say that it doesn’t have opening or closing times. No matter what time visitors walk through the streets in the center of Prague and PQ locations, there’ll always be something interesting on. Visitors can find a complete, comprehensive schedule on the PQ website www.pq.cz or in a printed brochure that will be available to buy at box offices during the event.
8.) What kind of attendance are you expecting?
I’m hoping that this year we can break the attendance record and pass the 50,000 barrier. Despite the fact that the PQ initially focused primarily on attracting specialists from all over the world, for the last four editions we have tried to attract a broader audience to the festival. I think that visitors of all ages will find a favorite exhibition, work at exposition at the PQ and experience it in their own, personal way. The PQ is for everyone.
9.) Are you prepared for such a large influx of visitors to the city center?
We want every visitor to enjoy the PQ in their own way, and that’s why our work starts with keeping every visitor fully informed and ensuring that they know in which locations the PQ is taking place and how to get to some locations. We will be providing thousands of free maps, PQ brochures and a navigation system around the center of Prague. We’ll even be getting help from the Prague Municipal Police for movable expositions in public spaces. During preparations we also considered putting on extra trams and buses on selected public transport lines; however, as individual PQ locations are within walking distance of the historic center of Prague, this won’t be necessary.
10.) How is an event of PQ’s scale financed?
The PQ is an official event of the Czech Republic and is organized by the Ministry of Culture, which regularly allocates funds from its budget. The prime significance of this for us is continuity in the organization of the event, as well as allowing us to utilize grants from other sources. We gained, for the second time, European Union support through multiyear grants as part of the EU Culture program. Out of the total 80 registered and 14 supported projects, the PQ and SharedSpace were the only multiyear projects in the Czech Republic to be successful, being awarded a grant amounting to more than 760 thousand EUR; this is the highest amount every awarded to a Czech cultural event from EU funds. This is of major importance to us, as it lets us show possible Czech supporters that there is also a willingness abroad to invest sums of this magnitude in the PQ. We also receive support from foreign cultural institutes with branches in Prague. We face the most difficulty, however, in gaining funds from private sources. Irrespective of the current crisis, the PQ is disadvantaged by its four-year cycle; we cannot offer sponsors their desired continual cooperation. We therefore have to renew cooperation for every edition. The City of Prague is a traditional PQ partner, but not as key a partner as we’d like. The city should understand that cultural tourism is a major phenomenon that is understood as such by a large number of European cities. During PQ 2011 we commissioned an economic impact study that demonstrated that the event brought the state income that was twice the amount of grants received. During PQ 2011, visitors to Prague spent over 164 million CZK (cca 6 million EUR) and increased revenues amounted to as much as 393 million CZK (14,5 mil EUR). Prague City Hall received the amount of 1.5 million CZK (55 thousands of EUR), equal to support provided to us through our partnership, in accommodation surcharges. The study demonstrated that the PQ was one of the most successful cultural projects in 2011 from not only an artistic, but also an economic, point of view: every crown invested in the Prague Quadrennial generated nearly six crowns in revenue for the Czech economy and two crowns for the GDP.
11.) This year you have attracted one of the most sought-after directors in the world to Prague. Is it difficult to persuade such a star to attend and accommodate all their requirements?
Every four years the PQ is attended by the most important personalities in contemporary theatre and performance design. Although we had invited Robert Lepage in the past, collaboration was not possible due to his high workload. This year we were very lucky, as the director will be working on his current project in Vienna, not far from Prague, just before this year’s PQ. Robert Lepage will present his oeuvre in his Masterclass lecture, part of the PQ Talks section. Robert Lepage is a versatile artist, director, performance designer and actor who has become famous primarily due to his multimedia productions. Through his production company Ex Machina he directs in leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He is regarded by many as the most talented theatre artist today, and we are proud that he accepted our invitation.
12.) How long does it take to prepare an event of this size? How many people are there in the organization team?
Work for the PQ continues throughout the whole four-year cycle. Three to ten people work on the PQ team in the period between individual editions. About a year before the event the team slowly expands and during the PQ up to 300 people work together on the team.
13.) How much is admission to this year’s Prague Quadrennial and are some parts of the program free or, on the other hand, only for a restricted number of visitors with a prior reservation?
Basic day admission from the general public is 300 CZK. Entry is free for children up to 15 years of age and seniors over the age of 65. However, because we want the PQ to be open to everyone who is interested in contemporary theatre, performance design and art, we have prepared a wide range of opportunities for visitors to get a 50% discount on admission. One of these is through our cooperation with the Prague Public Transit Company: visitors gain a 50% discount on admission on presentation of a ticket or Opencard. Likewise, we cooperate with many Czech theatres and art institutions or events – theatre fans also get a 50% discount on admission on presentation of a theatre ticket. However, part of the PQ program is completely free of charge, primarily live events and exhibitions in public spaces. PQ also offers student performances, workshops for professionals, as well as talks and discussions with limited capacity. Places can be reserved on the PQ website at pq.cz.
14.) What has most engaged your interest this year – what are you most looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to the response of audiences to our spatial concept. Makers from abroad who have already viewed the spaces were extremely enthusiastic, and I therefore believe that Czech audiences, too, will look forward to walking through the historic center of Prague as artistically interpreted by makers from both the Czech Republic and across the whole world. I hope that they will visit many places, or even accept the challenge of visiting all 68 national exhibitions. I hope that we will also be able to amend Prague’s reputation as a conservative city that focuses only on aspects of its own history and, similarly to other cities in Europe, it is more active in opening itself up to contemporary art, as already foreshadowed in previous editions of the Quadrennial and other art events in recent years.
My personal favorite item on the program is the intimate Objects exhibition which, through a crystal-clear concept created by curator Tomáš Svoboda, will tell the stories of performance design objects, as eg. from Maori culture, or American prisons. I also secretly hope that I’ll be able to walk through Prague in one of the costumes made for the Tribes live exhibition. It’s just a shame that the ‘Supermen’ conceived by my favorite Swiss artist Massimo Furlan are to be older guys with big bellies. 🙂
Interview with Sodja Lotker, PQ Artistic Director and the Tribes Curator
1) What makes the Prague Quadrennial unique? What status does it have on the international theatre scene?
The Prague Quadrennial is unique, and the largest theatre exhibition in the world. Its uniqueness lies in the spectrum of countries, theatrical disciplines and genres presented. There is usually work from over 80 countries on display. Since the late 1990s we have focused on broadening the understanding of what scenography/ performance design is (going beyond standard drama, ballet and opera into new performance genres – site-specific, interventions and installations using a variety of materials, media and technologies). We have also transformed the Quadrennial from an exhibition into an event that incorporates hundreds of workshops, performances, lectures and other events, thus making the PQ unique, vibrant place of exchange and close encounter for thousands of theatre students and professionals from a variety of disciplines and from all over the world .
2) How has performance design changed since the first edition of the PQ in 1967?
I would say that there are two important, radical tendencies that have changed performance design: one is the leaving of the theatre building to find stages in variety of public and private spaces. The other one is contemporary dance and performance, where not much is really built, but the performance designer becomes an organizer of space and spatial relations; sometimes I call this invisible scenography.
3) Has the role played by performance design shifted in the context of the creation of theatre performances?
The roles of all theatre makers have shifted in contemporary theatre, with the rise of planned, collective work, in which authorship and copyright are understood differently. Performance designers further initiate their own artistic projects – installations, interventions, fashion shows etc. Unfortunately, in more traditional theatre forms the role of scenographer is still perceived as a certain kind of service to the play and director, and the role of the stage designer is reserved for men and costume designer for women. I find this very strange.
4) In what ways would you say that Czech performance design has changed? Does the current generation have any personalities who have achieved success abroad like, for example, Josef Svoboda and František Tröster in the previous century?
Nobody is as famous as Josef Svoboda internationally! I cannot think of any designers from other countries who have been as influential and admired as Josef Svoboda!
However, due to the strong tradition and legacy of (and in spite of) authorities such as Svoboda and Tröster, there are a great many excellent designers in the Czech Republic. Just some of my (personal) favorites are Jana Preková, Jan Št?pánek, Martin Chocholoušek, Martin ?erný, Marek Cpin, Kamila Polívková, Antoním Šílar, Lucia Škandiková, Robert Smolík …
5) The theme of the 13th edition of the PQ 2015 performance design festival is SharedSpace: Music Weather Politics. How will these themes manifest themselves in exhibitions?
I wanted to inspire the curators of national selections to think about ´why we do things´: not to present yet another design for yet another Ibsen or Shakespeare production, but to tell us about the significance of what performance design ´does´, how it influences the performance and the audience, in the same way that music, weather and politics (art, ethics and Mother Nature) deeply influence our lives on a daily basis. How the work of a designer is influenced by their specific worldview, by the specific culture or issues with which they are dealing, is, in my opinion, the most interesting aspect.
6) This is the fifth time that you have worked on preparations for the Prague Quadrennial, and the second time that you have been the director. How are you able to influence the PQ concept through your dramaturgy?
The influence of the Concept of the Prague Quadrennial (dramaturgical mission statement that stands at the beginning of each Quadrennial) is very strong. We aspire to inspire and challenge curators and teams of national selections to think about performance design in new ways (as both a practice and profession) via concepts that we propose; at the same time we try to keep all doors and windows open so that the curators and teams can present issues, concepts and designs that are important locally. This is a very interesting challenge.
I am, however, proud to say that through our exhibitions, projects and symposia we have legitimized a whole new way of thinking about scenography in the sense of form, role, impact.
7) In which respects is PQ 2015 different to previous editions? What might surprise visitors?
PQ 2015 will be very different spatially: for the first time the main sections (Section of Countries and Regions and the Student Section) will be spread over several venues. All of these venues are located in the very center of Prague and have differing architectural characters. Additionally we have a large number of projects in public spaces in the center of Prague. I think this will create opportunities for a greater dialogue with the city and its inhabitants.
We will further have eatable scenography (the Makers Section), hundreds of masked groups of people travelling, shopping and walking around the center (Tribes), secret stories of Objects….
8) Many of the installations share a common thread – interactivity. Do you see in this a certain trend in contemporary performance design?
(I wouldn’t use the word interactive; all art is interactive in different ways). Installations in the main sections will this time be something we call ´relational’ – they simply anticipate the presence of the audience within the exposition. The exhibitions are, in a way, little ‘stages’ for audiences.
And, yes I think this is an important aspect of performance design – that it creates space for live, mental and physical relationships among living people. This is very political.
9) The Prague Quadrennial has already brought the exhibition into the public space once before, in 2011 (Intersections on the Piazetta of the National Theatre Prague). Will there be something similar this year?
I have mentioned the Tribes project before. We will have over 80 groups of people, designed by artists and students from all over the world, travelling through the center of Prague over the whole duration of the festival.
The Intersection project was very exciting, but we have decided to do something bigger (over 80 groups) that is, at the same time, more ecological (we will not be building anything): a project that creates a presence for performance design in (and collision with) everyday life, in the public space.
10) Which exhibitions have most engaged your interest?
I am very intrigued by (and secretly proud of) what we used to call the ‘Eastern European’ countries: Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Serbia etc. I feel a very strong tendency to merge conceptual, precise and innovative thinking with thinking that is poetic (even, in a good way, romantic) and open. For the first time I feel that these expositions have something in common that is unique to the region. However, this is based on the reading of the concepts of expositions, and reality is yet to be encountered.
11) What will the exhibition by the Czech Republic look like?
The exposition of the Czech Republic is curated by Czech designer Jana Preková, who focuses on the work of the distinctive Czech director Jan Nebeský, who has a very specific way of working and has inspired generations of artists, and his collaborators – artists, designers, musicians… The exposition will consist of installations, interventions, an archive and an on-going party… from what I last heard.
12) Amongst other things, the Prague Quadrennial of also a competition exhibition. In which categories can makers win a Golden Triga this year? Who bestows the awards?
This year we will have many awards covering the variety of sub-disciplines of performance design (stage, costume, lighting, sound design) as well as Award for Provoking a Dialogue, Innovative Approach to Performance Design and of course the main prize, the Golden Triga for the Best Exposition.
I am especially proud of the jury, which is very diverse and full of professionals that are pushing theatre and performance design forward in many ways: Kirsten Dehlholm, creator of concepts and exhibitions, as well as director for, primarily, Hotel Pro Forma; Eloise Kazan, the award-winning Mexican designer in theatre, dance, opera, interior architecture and film; Joslin McKinney, Associate Professor in Scenography at the School of Performance & Cultural Industries of the University of Leeds, was originally a theatre designer; Katr?na Neiburga is one of the most admired Latvian artists of this decade in visual arts and theatre; Kamila Polívková is an award-winning Czech scenographer and director who works in both the Czech Republic and abroad; Antônio Araújo is Artistic Director of the Teatro da Vertigem and Professor at the Department of Performing Arts of ECA-USP, as well as Golden Medal winner in the category of Best Realization of a Production at PQ 2011; Dmitry Krymov is a Russian director and designer whose work fuses art, prose, poetry and popular culture, as well as being winner of the Golden Triga at PQ 2007; Radivoje Dinulovi? is a Serbian architect, set-designer and theorist, author of over one hundred projects in the field of theatrical architecture and set-design. He is also the author of the book ‘The Architecture of the Theater of the Twentieth Century’ (2009); Dominic Huber is a stage designer and theatre maker, co-founder of Blendwerk GMBH and who has worked with, among others, the Rimini Protokoll.
13) The Prague Quadrennial traditionally also gives students the opportunity to showcase their work. What are the benefits to them of participation in the PQ?
The Prague Quadrennial is a wonderful, inspirational place for students, a place where they have the opportunity to meet – to talk to and work with – top professionals in the field, and where they can start orienting themselves in contemporary practices and trends.
On the other hand, for us at the Prague Quadrennial, students are great inspiration and fuel for creation of Quadrennials to come.
