Abstract
The Prague Quadrennial serves as a gathering site for theatrical designers, other creative artists and performance scholars exploring performance’s significant impact on society. Curatorial teams, as well as independent artists, exhibit prominent theatrical design work created by their nation or region over a four-year period. These curators recontextualise past performances for an international audience seeking meaning within their present moment. As a result of these endeavours, a professional community discusses its future.
This presentation analyses a theoretical shift developing from the exhibition’s mid-twentieth century scenographic origins to the contemporary exhibition’s exploration of performance design’s boundaries. My investigation uses primary source documents inclusive of the exhibition catalogues published by Prague Quadrennial’s organizers, narratives from key national exhibits, and post-event scholarship to unpack this shift over the event’s first half-century of existence. This presentation offers that this theoretical evolution occurs within three distinct phases: an early phase focused on the scenographic artefact, a middle phase prioritizing conceptual installation, and a latter phase concerning performance design’s potential opportunities.