Exhibition of Countries and Regions
The Exhibition of Countries and Regions has been the heart of the Prague Quadrennial since it was first established in 1967. Organized in collaboration with curators from over 70 individual countries and regions, the exhibition presents the best in contemporary design for performance. Each participating country or region strives to capture the essence of current trends reflecting contemporary views, thoughts, and artistic developments in performance design. The exhibition focuses on works realized in the past six years in theatres or other sites adapted by scenographic means. Though sometimes viewed as a subservient role in conceptual, directorial, or dramaturgically driven approaches to theatre making, the exhibition places design as a strong, integral, and vital element of collaborative performance creation.
COMPETITIVE EXHIBITION
“Performance design” has many meanings and interpretations with “porous borders” and thresholds we cross as both creators and audiences. With each edition of PQ we expand the borders of “performance design”; but as we look for new developments, we should not try to define, intellectualize, sort and label what are its exact components. Design for performance can happen in theatre, public space, or in the middle of a lake. We are free to dream, use any approach, borrow from any discipline, from technology, painting, sculpture, architecture, or build an environment solely out of sound or light. There are no boundaries other than the ones we make for ourselves and the only limits are our own fears.
Performance design has the ability to take us across the language barriers and diminish borders between imaginary and physical spaces. Through The Exhibition of Countries and Regions emotions reverberate through material environments created for performance as we tell a story of what we feel here and now.
In performance design every visual choice – human body, any object, sound, structure, light, costume – and every audience member plays an important role in the overall structure of its complex emotional composition. Each scenographic universe is orchestrated to stimulate the participant’s mind, engage the imagination, and create a memorable experience. In the same way, this exhibition is not meant to be passively viewed, but actively experienced.
The exhibition presents a scenographic urban landscape containing blurred lines of distinct places offering unique experiences. This spatial concept encourages an environment where every element has meaning, collaboration is essential, and experiences spark dialogues of local actions and global trends.
Dates:
6-16 June
Location:
Right Wing of the Industrial Palace & Krizik Pavilion B
