This special double issue of Theatre and Performance Design dedicated to the 2023 edition of the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (PQ23), titled RARE, is the result of our contributors’ creation of and immersion in the many formats PQ23 had to offer – performances, exhibitions, talks, discussions and city walks. We trust that the articles and interviews it contains go some way towards capturing the expansive nature and the diversity of that event, offering a reflection on and a reflection of current scenographic practice and thinking, as so successfully exhibited and presented in Prague.
In her foreword, outgoing Artistic Director Markéta Fantová sets the stage for a reimagined notion of scenography, one that embraces cross-discipline collaboration, sensory engagement, and a distinct departure from traditional exhibition formats. Against the background of the isolationist necessities of the Covid-19 lockdowns, Fantová reframed a scenography exhibition as a physical coming together in the form of a multi-genre live festival. Her concept involved offering experiential spaces that spoke to all senses as well as offering room for discourses that had been so sorely missed in the uncertainty of the pandemic. The expansive nature of the above as well as siting the main exhibitions and PQ talks in the historically charged spaces of Holešovice Market reminded us of the significance of artistic exchange as symbols of hope and necessity.
Opening this issue, the Golden Triga winner for the installation Spectators in a Ghost City, Cypriote artist Melita Couta (together with curator Marina Maleni), provides a poignant examination of the role of scenographic methodologies in grappling with spaces scarred by political conflict and historical trauma. In ‘Contested Spaces as Spectacles’, Couta explores Famagusta, a city haunted by decades of occupation, navigating the complex interplay between materiality, politics, and artistic creation. Adopting an analytical approach that she defines as ‘reversed scenography’, Couta challenges hegemonic narratives and speaks to the transformative potential of scenography as an instrument to expose the politics of space and a robust tool for reconciliation and conflict resolution.
Barbora Příhodová in ‘Curating PQ Talks 2023: An Act in Four Transgressions’ reflects on her role as curator and sheds light on the subversive undercurrents that animate contemporary discourse on performance design and scenography. Embracing transgression as a guiding ethos, Příhodová foregrounds decolonial narratives, feminist praxis, and emergent ecoscenographic practices. Through this distinct curatorial gesture, she invited participants to challenge dominant norms and embrace alternative perspectives, beyond the western centric, fostering a space for critical dialogue and creative expression that incorporates different world views. The centrality of PQ Talks as a forum for discussion and exchange on all aspects of scenography has expanded exponentially with progressive editions of PQ. At PQ23 its popularity was evident in the huge response to the call and the queues outside the venue, the large black box space of Jatka 78 in the Prague Market. This clearly demonstrates a recognition amongst participants of the value of discourse relating to performance design and scenography and a growing confidence that we now have a language with which to articulate the scope of the discipline as a practice, and as a mode of inquiry.
In her curation of the performance section at PQ23, ‘Curating Performances that speak all languages’, Portuguese-French scenographer and scholar Carolina E. Santo considered performances that expand artistic scenographic inquiry by weaving together spatial narratives and performative constructions. By siting the live works in Prague’s urban landscape, across a range of venues and locations, Santo challenged performers and audiences alike to engage with the city as a fluid site of exploration and transformation. We follow Santo’s discussion of the performance section with an article by Cat Fergusson-Baugh in which she presents a personal and critical examination of the extended reality (XR) artworks showcased at PQ23, delving into virtual aesthetics, emergent cognitive paradigms, and their implications for the artistic function of performance. In ‘Being There – XR Performance at PQ23’ she assesses the potential and impact of XR forms in shaping the artistic experience during live encounters. Drawing from critical frameworks that analyse the psycho-physical effects of virtual reality (VR) on users and phenomenological approaches aimed at challenging normative presentations of ‘possibility’, the author seeks to develop a comprehensive framework for evaluating works presented at PQ23.
The Brazilian curatorial team's embrace of collectiveness as a methodological choice is a powerful response to their current socio-political realities, fostering inclusivity and dialogue in the face of adversity. ‘We believe in Crossroads – encruzilhadas’ speaks to the curatorial journey of the Brazilian representation inspired by the concept of ‘encruzilhadas’ (crossroads) from Afro-Brazilian knowledge. The curatorial process engaged 29 artists representing all 27 states of Brazil and this collective endeavour served as a national network, merging diverse aesthetics, languages, expertise, and methodologies to collaboratively craft sound sculptures resonating with Brazilian and global contexts. The sonic offerings created a space for sensory exploration and movement, fostering moments of invocation, exchange, learning, and transformation. Significantly, the Brazilian team's article acknowledges the influence of Brazilian decolonial thinkers in facilitating a non-hierarchical dialogue among varied voices both to enrich the creation process and to sharpen the narratives presented by the curatorial team. From a Global South perspective, their text stresses alternative modes of creation that diverge from Eurocentric biases, instead honouring traditional wisdom and ancestral knowledge rooted in Brazil's cultural heritage.
Pavel Drábek's theoretical essay posits a thought-provoking inquiry into the intersection of relational aesthetics and performative scenographies. In ‘Playing, Viewing, Touching, Modelling, Mentalizing: Theoretical Reflections on PQ 2023’ Pavel invites readers to reconsider the boundaries of scenographic artistic inquiry and the process of communal reflection. Elaborating on evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar's influential concept of ‘mentalising’, Pavel argues that to sustain a ‘recognisable identity’ in a rapidly expanding field, scenography must demonstrate an ‘element of self-referentiality – an awareness of itself – that signals its own self-contained creation’. Using a selection of works presented at PQ as case studies he analyses how these works engage the senses and activate ‘self-referential models of the mind’ for the participants and audiences that encounter them.
Andrew Filmer's article ‘Unsettled Assemblies: Performance Space, Infrastructure and Architecture at PQ 2023’ provides an insight into his curatorial thinking behind the Performance Space Exhibition located in the the National Gallery’s Trade Fair Palace (Veletržní Palác). The accompanying images of the installations and projects selected advocate a compelling vision of performance spaces as vital social infrastructure, capable of mediating connections and associations within communities. As curator, Andrew sought to transcend traditional notions of performance venues, inviting participants to explore uncommon spaces and practices that challenge prevailing social, political, and ecological paradigms. ‘Unsettled Assemblies’ emphasises the importance of reimagining performance spaces as dynamic sites of engagement and dialogue, capable of fostering meaningful connections and responses to contemporary challenges.
Turning to scenographic practice in more conventional performance spaces that nonetheless has produced groundbreaking visual and atmospheric effects, we follow on with a conversation between Theatre and Performance Design co-editor Thea Brejzek and the award-winning German costume and set designer Kathrin Brack. Conducted at PQ23, ‘All that there is’ develops into an in-depth dialogue between artist and academic on the intricate dynamics of ideation, representation and pedagogies in contemporary scenography, illustrated by recent drawings and production stills by the artist. Finally, in the main body of this special double issue, Sara Franqueria, representing the Portuguese Student Team, offers a behind-the-scenes description and reflection of their project, HODOS. In ‘We created space to reclaim time … and that time made extra(ordinary) space’, she situates the project within the context of Portuguese artistic creation and research, exploring the complex interplay between time, space, and aesthetic agency. Through her analysis, Franqueria proposes a conceptual framework that foregrounds the temporal dimensions of scenography, positioning performance as a space-time entity that engenders new possibilities for artistic expression and reflection and scenography as a catalyst for aesthetic and cultural innovation.
We continue with our regular feature Report From … , in this instance a report from Kampala, Uganda. Asiimwe Deborah Kawe is the Artistic Director of the Kampala International Theatre Festival (KITF) and was one of the keynote speakers at PQ23. Kawe’s presentation triggered co-editor Jane Collins’ memories of working in Uganda in the late 1980s and at various intervals throughout the 1990s. A Report from Kampala seemed the perfect format to discuss recent developments in Ugandan theatre and the origins of the festival as well as the current state of the theatre scene there. One of the key discoveries in the conversation with Kawe was a burgeoning interest in scenography amongst young Ugandan theatre artists and the creative ways in which they are adapting what they have to hand to produce dynamic sustainable design both for building-based and – when they are able – site-specific performance. We conclude this special double issue as usual with our book reviews.
One of our aims in this special double issue has been to reflect on the expansion of scenography beyond its historic Eurocentric bias to incorporate current and emergent practices from around the globe. This was also clearly at the forefront of Artistic Director Markéta Fantová’s mind in the planning and curation of PQ2023. The fact that this bold vision was developed in the midst of a pandemic, when travel and being together with artists from one’s own city, let alone from other parts of the world, was impossible, is a testament to the faith Fantová and her team had in the value and the necessity of the Prague Quadrennial as a social, cultural and political meeting place, a discursive space to foster understanding and celebrate difference. Our thanks go to Markéta and her team of curators for their tenacity in making it happen. We wish Marketa all the best as she continues her freelance design practice and with her new challenge of developing an international education platform for lighting design and technology for undergraduates from around the world. We welcome Barbora Příhodová as the incoming Artistic Director of the next PQ; her foresight in curating a truly international PQ Talks for PQ23 bodes well for the future and will surely mean that the scope and influence of the Prague Quadrennial will continue to grow.
This special double issue also marks a number of changes for the journal, as our valued editorial associate Nick Tatchell will be stepping down this summer. For most of our contributors Nick has been the first point of contact and a supportive guide through the adamantine processes of editorial management. His patience, knowledge and care for authors, and editors, has been much appreciated and he will be sorely missed. We wish him luck with his future projects. As we mentioned in the previous issue, David Bisaha is also stepping down as Associate Editor Book Reviews this summer. We are delighted to announce that Dr Richard Allen, Wimbledon College of Art, will be joining Lucy Thornett, who continues to work tirelessly in that role.
Looking forward, Volume 10, issue 3, 2024 will be a special issue on ‘Staging Climate’, guest edited by Lawrence Wallen; and Volume 10, issue 4, 2024, will be a general issue. As always, we are interested in receiving proposals for forthcoming special issues, so if you have ideas you’d like to discuss please contact the editors directly. Thanks as ever go to our editorial board and all our reviewers, and of course our contributors.