Traveling 2007 PQ Exhibit

USITT is offering the 2007 Prague Quadrennial (PQ) exhibitions (national, architecture, student) to a wider audience. They are available for booking, singly or in any combination, between March and December 2008.

The PQ is the world's largest and most prestigious international exhibit and celebration of design for theatre. 2007 was the 40th anniversary of the instigation of this major cross-cultural artistic exchange, and was attended by 23,000 visitors from 79 countries; 59 countries contributed to three categories of display. National exhibits represented the best in theatre design from the last four years. Theatre training schools presented the work of the next generation of promising young designers, and the exhibits of architecture addressed the myriad of buildings and spaces that house performances.

Booking one of more of the USITT-USA exhibits in your location will offer a unique opportunity to showcase the selection of significant American designs and designers.

Information concerning fees, contracts, technical riders, and potential booking dates is available from Robert Scales at rscales@usc.edu. PR packet including press releases and artwork for posters, postcards, and flyers can be provided.

National Exhibit

The National Exhibit combines innovative exhibit techniques with digital media to express the theme: New Voices, New Visions: Out of the Box. The curators sought productions that examined contemporary themes in American culture and politics and expand existing trends in theatre design. The exhibit includes ground-breaking and inventive designs that provide alternative insights to the world of the play, and to the life within our borders. The designs represent the diversity of American theatre, from Broadway to regional and academic theatre productions, from established award winners to students. The exhibit includes three-dimensional costumes, puppets, and models, as well as original renderings and production photographs. Three interactive computer stations enable visitors to explore the productions in greater depth.

Pictured to the right is the design for the 2007 national exhibit which was designed by Nic Ularu and Madeleine Sobota. It features the work of 95 artists and 120 productions.

Featured designers include Constance Hoffman, Marjorie Bradley Kellogg, Ming Cho Lee, Carrie Robbins, Dan Moses Schreier, Paul Steinberg, Julie Taymor, George Tsypin, and David Zinn.

The catalog for the USA Exhibit at the PQ can be ordered online at the USITT Bookstore.

Architecture Exhibit

The Architecture Exhibit: Performance Spaces for a New Generation showcases recently built performance and training facilities in the United States. Featuring the best of American theatre architecture intended for education and training in the performing arts, the Architecture entry highlights an aspect of architecture that particularly distinguishes the USA in the international arena. Projects include university and college facilities, theatres, schools, and performing arts centers that include specific training programs. New theatre venues as well as renovations are displayed.

Student Exhibit

Completing the triad of theatre design is the Student Exhibit: New Visions, New Voices, New Vocabulary.

The USA Student entry presents the work of students from leading colleges and universities in gallery format. The exhibit features cubicles from 16 training programs, each designed by the students in the school. In addition, a photo montage highlights productions and projects that experiment with techniques of story telling through visual imagery and move beyond text and tradition to discover personal voices creating a fresh vocabulary. Props, costumes, class projects, an a DVD of "Design as Performance" add to the excitement of creative energy emanating from this exhibit.

Photo courtesy of Richard Finkelstein.

About the 2007 Exhibit in Prague:

The USA entries for PQ 2007 are sponsored by USITT, The United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Inc. USITT is the world's largest organization of theatre designers, technicians, educators, manufacturers, and suppliers. USITT provided the majority of the financial resources and through its International Committee also provided organizational assistance. Support for the construction, assembly, and installation of the exhibit provided by the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and the Department of Theatre of the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.