During the Bienal de Säo Paulo (Biennale of Visual Art) in 1959, a special exhibit, designed by František Tröster, illustrated the development of Czech and Slovak stage design and theatre architecture during the period from 1914-1959. The result of the exhibition was a gold medal for Czechoslovakia. Continued Czech success during the next three Biennales led to an offer for Prague to host an international exhibition of stage design in Europe once every four years. Since its premiere in 1967, the international exhibition has been held regularly every four years, and has come to be known as the Prague Quadrennial.

Currently, the Prague Quadrennial is the most prestigious exhibition of its kind in the world, which exhibits contemporary stage designs and theatre architecture. The PQ Exhibition, together with its series of accompanying activities, creates an exciting, unique platform for seminars, workshops, meetings of leading theatre practitioners from all over the world, and also provides an opportunity of observing and comparing the development and recent trends of world theatre.

Over the course of its ten events, the Prague Quadrennial has become a world-renowned cultural event creating an opportunity of exhibiting various theatre-graphic design concepts and illustrating the recent trends in world theatre. Such international stage designers and artists who have exhibited their works include  legends as Tadeusz Kantor, David Borovsky, Ralph Koltai, Luciano Damiani, Ming Cho Lee, and Achim Freyer, or the promiment contemporary artists as Heiner  Goebbels, Robert Wilson, J.C.Serroni, Julia Taymor, Anna Viebrock, just to name few. Even such personalities as Salvador Dali have participated in past editions of the Prague Quadrennial.  The prestige of the PQ  is substantiated by the enormous and continuously growing interest of the individual countries and artists participating in the event.

The PQ is not only for theatre and specialized artists – it is intended for the average spectator who wants to learn and become involved in the creative process through the exhibitions as well as through the interactive programmes.

The Prague Quadrennial has received the support of the President of the Czech Republic and UNESCO in past exhibitions. In 1999 and 2007, UNESCO awarded the prestigious "UNESCO Prize for the Promotion of Arts" to emerging stage and costume designers.

The Prague Quadrennial continues to be organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, and is realised by the Arts Institute - Theatre Institute in Prague.