The Prague Quadrennial, June 2011
Held once every four years in Prague, Czech Republic, the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space is the world´s largest performance design event – a presentation of contemporary work in a variety of performance design disciplines and genres including costume, stage, lighting, sound design, and theatre architecture for dance, opera, drama, site-specific, multi-media performances, and performance art. I was fortunate to be part of the 11 days in 2011. The links at left document the seven major parts of the PQ event in 2011, include an overview slide presentation and images of Prague and some destinations nearby.
Founded in 1967, the Prague Quadrennial has presented work from more than 70 countries on 5 continents. The exhibition draws thousands of performance and theatre professionals, students, and spectators from all over the world. At the Quadrennial in 2011, over 40,000 visitors came to enjoy installations, photos, videos, and live performances of work ranging between theatre and visual arts, as well as more than 500 events, workshops, performances, presentations, lectures, and discussions.
The 2011 event gathered around the phrase penned by T.S. Eliot: At the still point of the turning world...
At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless; Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is, but neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity, where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from not towards, neither ascent nor decline. Except from the point, the still point, there would be no dance, and there is only the dance. I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where. And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.
T. S. Eliot: The Four Quartets
The 12th edition of the Prague Quadrennial presented a record number of 62 participating countries to the traditional competitive world exhibition of performance design and architecture. Coming to Prague offered visitors the chance to discover a unique outdoor performing exhibition, Intersection: Intimacy & Spectacle, presenting thirty internationally acclaimed artists, including Romeo Castellucci, Anna Viebrock, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Nathaniel Mellors, and Josef Nadj. Additionally, a large number of projects took place in public spaces throughout the city – a unique occasion to discover Prague through the eyes of the world’s contemporary arts. Visitors were also able to explore various disciplines essential to the performing arts thanks to projects focused on lighting and sound design, architecture, and costumes, as well as talks with personalities such as Es Devlin, Richard Sennett, Mirosław Bałka, and many more. Visitors from all over the world attended, making Prague the center of the performance world for those very special 11 days, from June 16-26, 2011.