Posted by: artcitizens

now/next: performance space at the crossroads
WHAT IS A THEATRE NEXT?

an 11-day open laboratory in the architecture section of the Prague Quadrennial 2011

The Architecture Section of the 2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, asking “what is a theatre now and what could it be next?” will focus on an Open Laboratory where selected participants will collaborate and work with renowned international experts in theatre architecture, theory, and design to propose alternative models for citing performance. Theatre will no longer be considered art form or built form but a social, cultural, and political venture; no longer a single receptacle of performance, but a civic meeting place that addresses local and global realities.

The auditorium is often considered a static object designed to contain performance. But performance cannot be contained... it exceeds architecture, especially in this age of media spectacles, fluid technologies and uncontainable bodies. So what role does the auditorium now play other than forcing us to perform as well-behaved spectators? If we acknowledge that architecture itself performs, as space-inaction, then perhaps we can explore new strategies for experiencing live performance as a more dynamic, creative and communal spatial event.

Dr Dorita Hannah: Professor of Spatial Design & Commissioner of Architecture at PQ11

In the English language the word theatre means both the dramatic practice and the building itself. The history of theatre tends to illustrate how art form and built form intersect, inform, and accommodate each other. However, at the turn of the 20th-century, the relationship between theatre and architecture became a troubled one, with the architectural rejected by theatre and the theatrical negated by architecture. This tension led to a lot of exciting experimentation in which the boundaries between performers and audience were tested and realigned. Yet, despite the exciting inroads made into performance space last century, such experimentation has dwindled with an invariable deferral to more conservative models. The most exciting venues now tend to be found-spaces for site-specific projects where theatre refuses to be contained and its artists choose to leave traditional auditoria and wander—free from those dark and disciplined interiors—in search of more complex and challenging sites. What is this saying about theatre buildings in the early 21st century?

Although theatre buildings continue to be constructed, they remain passive receptacles for performance, maintaining (rather than challenging) theatre practice and disciplining the collective body into well-behaved citizens that consume culture rather than actively co-create it. This open laboratory, which will form the locus of the Architecture Section at PQ’11, will take the shape of lectures, workshops, open reviews and public presentations.

For details on PQ’11 refer to: http://www.pq.cz/en/ and http://www.pq.cz/en/concept.html

For details on the Architecture Section refer to: http://www.pq.cz/en/architecture.html

Participation conditions:

Twelve international postgraduate students, and emerging practitioners with at least five years practice experience in architecture, performance and design, will be chosen from submissions of a CV, a portfolio, and a 600-word statement of intent (manifesto), to come to Prague for eleven days and participate in the open laboratory, located in the deconsecrated Church of St Anna’s, where the international exhibition of the PQ will also be housed. These candidates will be selected from postgraduate students and emerging professionals whose research is focused on the dynamics of performance space. The participants will be given a brief prior to the workshop to help them prepare and bring work to be shared and developed.

Deadlines:
· Applications: 31 October 2010.
· Announcement of selection: 30 November 2010

Requirements
· Applicants have to be PhD students or emerging practitioners.
· Selected candidates must be present during the entire workshop (16-26 June 2011)
· Filled-in application form (hyperlink) must include
o CV
o Portfolio
o Statement of intent (manifesto)

Costs:
· Workshop fee is covered by the PQ
· Travel or accommodation costs or per diems are covered by candidates

The Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space is the largest scenography event in
the world - presenting contemporary work in a variety of performance design disciplines and genres - costume, stage, light, sound design, and theatre architecture for dance, opera, drama, site-specific, multi-media performances, and performance art, etc.
Further info and application form can be found at www.pq.cz


Source: http://www.pq.cz/en/architecture.html

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