Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1991 - 57

991 PRAGUE QUADRENNIAL

TH E P '91 SCHOOLS OF
SCENOGRAPHY EX IBITS
BY CAROLYN LANCET & RON NAVERSON
he Schools of Scenography Exhibit of the 1991
Prague Quadrennial
included a wide range of
presenrations of srudenr
work From some 20
counrries. UnFonunately, when the original venue became unavailable, the exhibit
was set up in the underground parking
garage of the Palace of Culture. The
exhibit coordinarors rried their best ro
create a display space using panels painred black or white ro enclose the area, but
could never overcome the realiry of poor
lighting, exhaust fumes and noise. In
some cases, the rough qualiry of the space
was appropriate ro the installations; in
others, it meanr that some of the anwork
was hard ro see. Despite those limitations, the exhibit of srudenr work was
very energetic and exciting and in many
ways demonsrrated the positive aspects of
inremational collaboration.
During the opening ceremonies, the
usual speeches of welcome were preceded
by a perFormance piece in which a young
woman From Hungary dipped her long
hair in difFerenr colored painrs and laid
broad srrokes of color onto a roll of
paper, aFter which her colored locks were
solemly cut oFF and placed in plastic
sandwich bags. Throughour the First
week, visirors ro the student exhibits
would sign their names, leave colored
finger or footprinrs and add new strokes
ro the paper.
Several counrries' srudenrs rook an
almost "anti-an" approach ro their
exhibits. (One can only imagine how
pleased those studenrs must have been ro
be displayed in a garage l ) Leading that
movemenr was the enrr)' from Denmark,
which consisted of the back of a wall
(their "Reversed Stage Design"), with a
list of its pam (bolts, beams, poles, a tape
of ROil/eo & juliet For atmosphere) as its
"catalog." Along the same lines, the enrry

From Ausrria Featured models For JdomeIlea and La CLemenza di Tito, each of
them smaller than a deck of cards, none
labeled and all jumbled rogether. Each of
the designers had taken what some might
call a deliberately provocative approach
ro the texL One wonders iF this could be
a comment on all the Mozart work
upstairs.
The installation From Great Britain
was the combined eFfon of Four thearre
schools. The space was crowded with
stuFF, including the usual design work
along with costume bits, newspaper
curouts, sculptures and a viewing area for
a student-produced video called The
Miracle. Tot everything displayed had
anything ro do with a producrion, but it
was cenainly thearrical! The studenrs also
created a perFormance arr space in which
various things happened on a fairly regular basis.
The exhibit From the Dutch Schools
of Visual Arrs Featured a reconstruction
of the 1910 Ballet Russe Firebird created
by a collective of srudenrs. The costumes
were displayed on mannequins in the
cenrral passageway, which allowed spectarors ro see firsthand the arrention ro
detail, the replication of period fabrics
and the painring on the cosrumes.
The exhibit From Poland was a combination of installation and rraditional
display. At the Fronr of their space was an
arrangemenr of props and arrifacrs From
The iV/admall alld the '1111, including
designs, phoros, research and (apparenrIy) some of the scenic pieces draped
around a funky old wheelchair. Furrher
back, the srudents displayed some
inrriguing designs For ThreepellJ' Opera,
with acrual costume bits (zippers, studs,
rags) incorporated inro the renderings.
Sweden was represenred by the Four
studenrs currenrly enrolled in the Dramaric Institure's design course. They
filled the space wirh diFFercnt kinds of

arriFacrs represenring their work thus Far:
cosrumes, slides, rough sketches, porrFolio books and videos. The work was high
quality and cleverly presenred.
Several of the srudenr displays included puppers of one Form or another. (Perhaps this is the place in which their thearrical heritage diFFers most From ours.) A
live marionerte show was Fearured in the
Belgian enrry and puppets appeared in
the Yugoslav work (which the brochure
says was all done by Faculty) as well.
Perhaps the most unusual exhibit was
From rhe Czech and Slovak srudenrs, pri-

marily under the direction of Yaroslav
Malina at DAMU. The srudenrs brought
in an old car and proceded ro decorare it
wirh f1owers, painr, lights, newspapers
and other sruFF and generally had a good
rime doing iL Studenrs From Bmo conrributed an elevaror stuck at eye level
(complere wirh passengers' costumed
Feet) ro rhe space.
In more tradirional displays were rhe
studenr works From Canada, China, Iraly,
Egypt, Ausrralia and the United States.
The Chinese srudenrs showed srrong
inf1uenccs of rheir rhearrical rradirion
TD&T

1991

FALL

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