2015 » Czech Republic » Student Section

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Both the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (the Department of Stage Design and the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre) as well as the Theatre Faculty of the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts (the Stage Design Studio and the Lighting Design Studio) will participate in the Czech Student Section expositions that will be held in Kafka’s House. In relation to the concept of common space, the students have decided to reflect the currently hot political topic of borders: the ability to shift borders, to cross them, to destroy them or to respect them, to create them or to abuse them. The subject of the exposition does not however include borders only in their physical sense, but also their figurative interpretation, such as the borders of reality, the borders of theatre, and the borders of creation. The overall interpretation applied to the space used by the Czech Student Section, which brings together departments that have different approaches to stage design, ranges from installations to performances. The layout of the exhibition room in Kafka’s House allows the individual departments to present their own separate projects, but, at the same time, also provides a platform where they can introduce their joint interpretation of the selected topic of borders, i.e. the room offers spaces that divide, yet also join. The exposition explores those areas where an artificially created border can be broken, where the separate worlds can intermingle and how they can blend … whether a border is half a meter thick or only as thin and fragile as paper, or if it is just an intangible metaphor. Student Curators: Jan Tereba and Mariana Kuchařová (DAMU Department of Stage Design) / Jitka Pospíšilová and Lucie Wildtová (DAMU Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre) Authors: Collective comprising students and teacher Exposition Designer/Architect: Collective of students Other Collaborators: Students from the Department of Stage Design bachelor’s and master’s programs DAMU Department of Stage Design In their installation, the students from the DAMU Department of Stage Design have captured the creative atmosphere that rules in their design studios, where the students’ creativity intermingles with other emotions from “civilian” life. Our studies as presented here show how our sensations as students are transformed, as people who have always loved the theatre and its irreplaceable atmosphere, but for whom everything in the theatre world is entirely new – it is surprising and, as a rule, somewhat different from how we originally thought it would be. The installation reflects the place where we live … where we stay … where we love… where we are happy, excited, frightened … where we discuss and argue … where we laugh and cry … where we celebrate and where we mourn. It is a reflection of how we inspire each other, copy each other, and have an influence on each other. These “worlds” – both internal and external – are indivisible. On the one side we experience the deepest possible emotions associated with discovering the extraordinary beauty of the theatre world, we find love and friendship, but, at the same time, we are affected by current politics and its effects. We solve grandiose issues of the present-day world, but, at the same time, we have to worry where our next meal will come from. We laugh at the bitter old world and firmly believe that we will transform the future world to match our image of it. This all has an influence on our souls – we are happy, yet torn; decisive, yet doubtful; bold, yet helpless. We want to express all of these things in our “space”. We build on the admirable ideas that were born at the oldest department of stage design in the world. We are aware of the continuity that exists, but we want to see scenographic reality in entirely new and non-traditional ways; we want to find new scenographic expression, because we see the world in a different way than our parents and grandparents. We place importance on different situations. We sketch, draw, paint, paste, and color; we browse on the internet and endlessly discover new relationships and perspectives. We believe that we will achieve success. We are exhibiting our sketches, drawings, and mock-ups as well as the designs of our fellow students from the past four years, who have already left the department and embarked on their great adventure – their adventure in the search for stage design. The exposition includes the designs for the following stage sets: Der Mond (Carl Orff), Die Kluge (Carl Orff), Peer Gynt (Henrik Ibsen), The Wild Duck (Henrik Ibsen), The Lady from the Sea (Henrik Ibsen), Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare), Richard III (William Shakespeare), The Oresteia (Aeschylus), The Death of Hippodamia (Jaroslav Vrchlický), Johannes Doctor Faust (Matěj Kopecký), Labyrinth (Karol Sidon), Miss Julie (August Strindberg), Citizen Kane (Orson Welles), Julietta (Bohuslav Martinů), Jenůfa (Leoš Janáček), The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Martin McDonagh), Hedda Gabler (Henrik Ibsen), Exit the King (Eugéne Ionesco), Don Juan and Faust (Christian Dietrich Grabbe), The Empire Builders (Boris Vian), The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov), The Tempest (William Shakespeare), The Storm (Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky), A Bouquet (Karel Jaromír Erben), The Seagull (Anton Pavlovich Chekhov), The Cherry Orchard (Anton Pavlovich Chekhov), Rhinoceros (Eugéne Ionesco). DAMU Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre The exposition prepared by the DAMU Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre in Kafka’s House is an invitation to meet, stay, and get acquainted in a space on Cihelná Street, which the students have named the PQ Squat. This space is intended to be the ideal spot to spend leisure time, where primarily students will meet for discussion and entertainment. The space as conceived as a large apartment, in which each room has been designated for a specific purpose and the entire visual concept then evolves from this function. These functions may change over the course of the PQ. Visitors will thus continue to be surprised and also kept in an attentive state of uncertainty. You will find a winter garden, cellar, bathroom, dormitory, family chapel, children’s room, dining room, picture gallery, and other specific purpose areas. During the opening hours of the PQ exhibition in Kafka’s House, live videos will be streamed in the space between Cihelna Street and Kafka’s House. The cameras will randomly (or maybe entirely intentionally) move from room to room and broadcast the activity in the PQ Squat on screens located in the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre exposition in Kafka’s House. The exposition will include text in many languages inviting visitors to drop in to the PQ Squat. If they accept the invitation and visit Cihelná Street, they will become a part of the images transmitted from Kafka’s House and thus have an effect on what other exposition visitors see.