Česká organizace scénografů, divadelních architektů a techniků

* 1991, student of stage design

 

Andrea Mužíková studied Social work and Social Politics at the Silesian University in Opava between 2010 and 2013. She continued her studies with the subject of Public Politics and Human Resources at the Masaryk University in Brno. Since 2016 she studies Stage Design at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, in the studio of doc. Jana Preková. During her studies, she completed a course of Arts Therapy and four semesters of additional pedagogical studies within Lifelong Learning programme at the Pedagogical Faculty of the Masaryk University in Brno. She worked as a lecturer of Arts Therapy and in 2015 she took part in organizing  the Nad Scalou sa blýská contemporary Slovakian film festival. Between 2015 and 2016 she completed her practical internship in the Industra creative center Brno.

 

 

„What artwork did you find interesting in the past few months“

„An installation by Jane Alexander, African Adventure.“

 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“Creating in space, time and current situation. With all the borders that I can keep on discovering.”

* 1963, architect, director, stage designer

 

 Šimon Caban studied stage design at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague in the studio of prof. Josef Svoboda (graduation 1981). Together with his brother Michal they established the Ballet Unit Cramp / Baletní jednotka křeč – a dance and theatre company which created performances, one time multimedia events, films and TV films. Between 1975 and 1990 he occupied himself with artistic photography: his work can be seen in the art collections of the Centre G. Pompidou and the UMPRUM Museum in Prague. In the 1990’s he, his brother Michal Caban and his wife Simona Rybáková formed a popular authorial team for creating atypic one time presentation events for companies. In 1999 he worked as a commissioner for the Czech National Exposition of Prague Quadriennal, together with Simona Rybáková, for which they were awarded with the Golden Triga Prize. In 2004 he was awarded with the special Grand Prix Architecture Prize for his architecture work (family houses, reconstruction of the UPP and HBO offices etc). In 2010 he and his brother Michal Caban directed the Czech National Day at EXPO in Shanghai, together they are also the authors of the scenic direction of the International Film Festival Karlovy Vary ceremonials. We can see the stage designs of Šimon Caban in The National Theatre, State Opera or Prague’s musical theatres such as Kalich, Hybernia, Broadway etc. Lately he mostly focuses on directing: his authorial project Mucha’s Epopee / Muchova epopej with the music of Aleš Březina (City Theatre Brno 2010), Pardon My English and Guys and Dolls / Sázky z lásky (both in the Moravian-Silesian National Theatre, 2011 and 2012), Sexmise (Klicpera’s Theatre 2012), The Gentleman of the Camellias / Pán s kaméliemi (Buranteatr 2013).

 

„What artwork did you find interesting in the past few months“

“A book Pětadvacet tisíc dnů vzpomínek by Martin Rajniš and Magdalena Šebestová and a performance by Andrew Schneider Youarenowhere, that was programmed at the 4 + 4 Days in Motion Festival.”

* 1994, student of stage design (JAMU)

 

Anna Chrtková studied the Secondary Professional School of Applied Art in Ústí nad Orlicí (with the focus on Clothing Design) and now continues her studies in Stage Design in the studio of Jana Preková at JAMU, Brno. In 2017 she attended the project Civica Scuola di Teatro in Milan and completed her internship in the HaDivadlo Theatre in Brno (Artistic assistance for the theatre production Macocha, directed by Kamila Polívková). In 2016 she defended her Bachelor’s thesis on the topic of Manipulation through the theatre / Divadlo jako nástroj manipulace, and a year before that she attended the student section of the Prague Quadriennale, together with her whole class. She also artistically collaborated at the Setkání/Encounter Festival. In 2014 she attended a one week long site-specific project Zabydlování (Deepcamp 0.3), and implemented the exhibition space for the Setkání/Encounter Festival in the Vaňovka Gallery. She collaborated at theatre productions including: Testosteron (2017, City Theatre, Most), Alenka v říši znaků (2016, Buranteatr, Brno) a Jak je důležité býti (s) Filipem (Indigo Company in the Divadlo Pod Palmovkou, Praha).

 
 

„What artwork did you find interesting in the past few months“

“My biggest discovery recently, were essays dealing with the “aesthetics of the absence” in theatre, by the German director and composer Heiner Goebbels. When it comes to an actual experience, I have to mention the performance Ischvara by the Chinese artist Tianzhuo Chen, which was prepared exclusively for the Wiener Festvochen Festival. I also have to mention a small concert in the Tvar Gallery in Brno, that presented an Israeli artist who calls himself Señor Sendwich.“

 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

„A visual dramaturgy, more than space. A way to approach the spectator through an image, sense or an atmosphere, more than a supportive construction of the drama. A subjective construction more than a support of the narrative.”

*1993, student of stage design

 

Andrea Dudková is a student of Stage Design at JAMU, and Esthetics at the Masaryk University in Brno. The connection of theoretical knowledge and practice from the studio of Jana Preková allows her to combine a professional way of working with space and everydayness, which she often expresses through her intermediary work and video art. The experience with these media is clearly reflected in her scenographic work.

 
 

„What artwork did you find interesting in the past few months“

„I really like the things that are happening at JAMU this year. I recommend the Comedy on the Martyrdom and Glorious Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ or the project of Leošovy stopy street theatre, that they created for the celebration of 70th anniversary of the establishment of JAMU. I think that this is how contemporary theatre should look like.”

 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

 “We’ll find that at the wardrobe department”

“Sew it in red, red is evil”

“I would place two chairs in here”

“No, the spectators wouldn’t get that”

“Fix this for me”

“Make it nice”

“That’s too expensive”

“They will have their own shoes”

 

* 1954, architect, scenographer

Daniel Dvořák studied Stage Design (studio of Prof. Josef Svoboda) at the Academy of Arts Architecture and Design in Prague (1974-1980), and at Vienna’s Akademie der bildenden Künste (studio of Prof. Lois Egg). He implemented more than three hundred projects: in the Czech republic (State Theatre of Oldřich Stibor in Olomouc, State Theatre Brno and more) and abroad (Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Slovakia). From 1988 to 1998, he worked as an intendant at the Furore Opera. Since 1998 he has been the director of the Prague State Opera, from 2002 to 2006 worked as a director at The National Theatre in Prague and from 2007 to 2012 worked as the director of The National Theatre in Brno. Daniel Dvořák was awarded with the Alfred Radok Award in 1999 and in 2002 the French Government appointed him the Chevalier de L´ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

 
 
„What artwork did you find interesting in the past few months“

“Both of my biggest experiences of recent times are coincidentally also abnormally large: Damien Hirst introduced an amazing concept within the Venice Biennale – a paraphrase of marine archeology. The largest bronze figure fills the three-storey atrium of Palazzo Grassi. It is monumental, artistically crafted, polished and speaks the magical language of sanctification. I have seen an equally monumental work in Imax, in Prague’s Flora Palace. A tribute to analog, i would say – the movie Dunkerk (camera: Hoyte Van Hoytem, ​​director: Chris Nolan). Filmed by imax cameras and projected from a 70mm film strip. The Imax in Prague is the only one in continental Europe which didn’t throw away their analog projector. The movie itself is filmed according to the slogan “perfect is the enemy of good” which makes it an extraordinary visual experience. The aesthetics of classical photograph absolutely triumphed. ”

 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

„What  poetry is to literature is scenography to architecture.“

 

* 1970, stage and costume designer, puppeteer, illustrator

 

Petra Goldflamová Štětinová studied Stage Design at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre, DAMU. She is proud to be one of the students of professors Miroslav Melena and Petr Matásek, that were, according to her own words “the most important teachers”.

“I hope they are keeping an eye on me at least sometimes… both of them from above…Thank you!”

She likes to get her inspiration from the clouds, the sky, its variability and color scale – those are the same qualities which we can see in her stage design work. Whether she worked with Vladimír Morávek (Othello, Casio and Desdemona / Casio a Desdemona – Klicpera’s theatre in Hradec Králové), Akram Staněk (Prospaný život – ND Kolowrat), Sergej P. Fedotov (The Government Inspector / Revizor – Dejvické divadlo), Jürgen Esser (Der Fleck – G-H-T Zittau), or Jiří Menzel (Falstaff – State Theatre Košice), she is always able to combine her own artistic creativity, concept of the director and his requirements. After she completed her education in the studio of Melena and Matásek, she started working in Divadlo v Dlouhé, where she collaborated with Jan Borna, on a long term basis.

She of course works with Arnošt Goldflam the most.

 
 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

„… confusion of tongues.“

 

„What artwork did you find interesting in the past few months“

„I’m fascinated by clouds (and sky in general) lately.

It’s shapes, colors and the scale of lights.

Clouds are my biggest inspiration.

From the theatre of past two or three years: An unforgettable experience from the Dejvické divadlo, A Blockage in the System.”

*1989, architect, student of scenography

 
Nitish Jain comes from India and currently studies Master’s degree in Scenography in Prague at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts. He got his Bachelor’s degree at the Sushtan School of Art and Architectur (SSAA), and worked as an architect of exhibitions in the Atelier Anonyme Design in New Delhi, India. He occupies himself with adventure architecture and attempts to link spatial narratives and storytelling. Nitish Jain is currently interested in the intersection of traditional artistic forms: in his current project, he attempts to connect Erben’s Kytice z pověstí národních, Indo-Persian forms of the 13th century narrative called Dāstāngoi and Norwegian folk music in an immersive theatre production. He seeks to create visual poetry through materials that are often generally considered inappropriate and non poetic. Jain builds on architecture practices that support the phenomenology of space through materials (as in the works of Peter Zumthor and James Turrello). He was also influenced by the philosophy of Gaston Bachelard.
 
 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“Scenography means perceiving space as a visual, sensible and adventurous entity. I see space as an active narrator in the performance, and I deal with its expressive and sensory potential. I try to create a link between the space and the audience and to use scenography to manipulate reactions, to evoke or to provoke them. My work attempts to create a bridge over the gap between a meaning and a metaphor, while using the sensitivity of space, light and sound in order to create an immersive experience. ”

*1976, graphic and stage designer

 

Eva Jiřikovská studied Graphic Design and Art Education at the Masaryk University in Brno in the studio of Jan Vičar.  Between 2004 and 2016 she worked as a stage and costume designer in the Moravian Slovak Theatre in Uherské Hradiště. She took part in the following productions: Alenka v říši divů / Alice in Wonderland, Cikáni / Gypsy, Kalibův zločin / Kaliba’s crime, Svatba / The Wedding, Měsíc nad řekou / The Moon Over the River, Marvinův pokoj / Marvin’s room, Válka s mloky / War with the Newts, Medeia / Medea, Cybercomics. Mein Faust, Villon F., Vojnarka, Lucerna / The Lantern. She was the author of all the advertising graphic designs at the same theatre. On a long term basis she collaborates with directors like Dodo Gombár, Jan Antonin Pitínský, Anna Petrželkový, Jakub Maceček, Linda Keprtová, Jiří Honzírek, Břetislav Rychlik and lately for example Daniel Špinar. She also created stage designs and costumes for theatre and opera productions in The National Theatre (Boris Godunov, Tři sestry / Three sisters), The National Theatre Brno (Hubička / The Kiss, Ideální manžel / An Ideal Husband, Tančírna / Le Bal, Veroničin pokoj / Veronica’s Room, Lékárník / Lo Speziale, Perikola / La Périchole), or The National Moravian-Silesian Theatre.

 
 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“A dream.

Searching.

A challenge.”

 

*1988, architect, doctoral student at the Brno University of Technology

 

 Jan Machát is a Czech stage designer and an architect, preoccupied with light design and therefore works as an “architect of light”. Jan Machát studied the Technical Lycée in Olomouc and currently studies in the Doctoral programme at the Institute of Civil Engineering within the Brno University of Technology. His interest in stage design, light design and video mapping started during his studies at BUT. In 2011, the first Lighting Design Festival was set up in Olomouc and Jan Machát was actively involved in organizing the festival in the following year. Since then, he created the visual side of several public events, such as balls (Ples jak Brno or the Ball of the Brno University of Technology) or for example implemented design of the stage at the Mácháč Festival. He almost attended the famous Burning Man Festival in the Nevada Desert. In 2013 Jan Machát and his classmate Michal Okleštěk established the artistic group Visualove.
 
 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“A free creation of theatrical space, which uses various means of expression. Contemporary stage design is influenced by modern technologies and my work as well – I work with projection, video mapping and lighting design.”

 

*1977, stage designer

 

Sylva Marková comes from Brno, in 2002 completed her studies of Stage Design at JAMU (prof. Miroslav Melena) and in 2006 successfully finished the Doctoral programme at the same University (prof Bořivoj Srba was leading her dissertation). She took part in the creation of several theatre and opera productions in theatres in Brno (National Theatre Brno, City Theatre Brno, Feste Theatre, EOD, Chamber Opera JAMU), Prague (Archa, Divadlo 21, Komedie Theatre), Plzeň (DJKT), České Budějovice (South Bohemian Theatre – drama and opera), Zlín (City Theatre Zlín), Ostrava (Petr Bezruč Theatre, National Moravian-Silesian Theatre – drama and opera), Opava (Silesian Theatre Opava), Olomouc (Moravian Theatre Olomouc) and in Uherské Hradiště (Moravian-Slovak Theatre). Very significant is her work with the Ensemble Opera Diversa group, for whose original opera she created both costume designs as well as stage designs: The Strange Suicide of Two Lovers in Shinagawa / Společná smrt milenců v Šinagawě, The Pumpkin Demon in a Vegetarian Restaurant / Dýňový démon ve vegetariánské restauraci, Ponava: Lost Rivers / Ponava (Zmizelé řeky), Wizard and His Servant / Čaroděj a jeho učeň. In 2008 she passed her gamekeeping test and she owns a hunting licence. Since 2015 she teaches scenography and opera directing at the Music Department of JAMU in Brno.

 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“More and more a ‘race with the budget’, unfortunately.”

* 1996, student of stage design

 

Judita Mejstříková comes from Prague where she studied the Archibishop Grammar School. She is currently studying the second year of Stage Design at the Theatre Faculty of the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, in the studio of doc. Jana Preková. She occupied herself with scenography ever since she was seventeen. Lately she mostly cooperates with the opera company RunOperun. Her implemented works include for example stage design for the performance Na dotek (Director: Zuzana Horáková, student group OLDstars 2017).

Learn more: http://runoperun.cz/

 
 

„What artwork did you find interesting in the past few months“

“Recently I was surprisingly touched by the exhibition Gott my life (about the carrier of Karel Gott), where I went basically unintentionally and by accident. After the visit, I am returning to the topic of commercialism, adoration of idols and various types of viewers and target groups, that an artist and his work addresses.”

 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“For me, contemporary theatre is a tool for criticizing and reflecting on today’s society. Scenography is one of the main means of expression that is decisive for the performance. Nowadays, as theater has reached a stage that could be called post postmodern, it is difficult to find new forms of expression that would not be based only on an empty concept. Contemporary stage design is therefore a search for these new forms of expression. “

 

*1979, stage and graphic designer and a sculptor

 

Richard Pešek finished his studies of Sculpture and Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in 2004. He is an author of the visual of the Alfréd Radok Award, the medal of Prague Quadriennale 2007 and the 20th anniversary of the Czech Abilympics jubilee prize. His works can be seen at exhibitions and symposiums in the Czech republic and abroad. He designed scenography for theatre productions such as Café Aussig and Jessie and Morgiana for the North Bohemian Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Ústí nad Labem, The Little Match Girl / Děvčátko se sirkami for Malostranská beseda in Prague, Harald — hvězda se vrací and Gustav Klimt for F. X. Šalda Theatre in Liberec, Blood Wedding / Krvavá svatba for DJKT, Plzeň or Le sacre du printemps / Svěcení jara for the Black Box of the Plzeň Theatre etc. Since 2007 he is the head of the fields Wood-carving and design of applied objects and Furniture renovation and wood-carving at the Higher Professional School of Applied Art and Secondary Professional School of Applied Art in Prague. He is a frontman of the Dolly Bus Band.

 
 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

„Amazing opportunity to form space and time.“

* 1956, stage designer, costume designer, visual artist, lighting designer, curator

 

Jana Preková studied the Secondary Professional School of Applied Art in Prague and in 1983 finished her studies of Stage Design at DAMU, Prague. She currently works as an associate professor in Stage and Costume Design Department in JAMU, Brno, which she co-founded in 1990. She led the Studio of Body Design at the BUT Faculty of Fine Arts unil 2010. As a costume designer and scenographer she collaborates with many theatres (in Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Hradec Králové, Pardubice etc) and directors (Martin Františák, Miroslav Bambušek, Ivan Rajmont, Viktorie Čermáková, Michal Dočekal and more). Her regular collaboration with Jan Antonín Pitínský as well as her collaboration with Jan Nebeský, is one of the constants of Jana Preková’s creative work. Out of all her works, let’s mention for example the production Z cizoty / Aus der Fremde (director: Jan Nebeský, Divadlo Na zábradlí, 2005), for which she was awarded with the Alfréd Radok Award for costumes. Jana Preková collaborates with established theatres (such as The National Theatre), as well as studio and experimental productions. She often participates in various site-specific events, exhibits visual works and as a curator she engages at presentations of young artists. She was awarded with the Golden Medal PQ 99, since 1990 she leads international workshops in the Czech republic and abroad (USA, Turkey, Spain, Finland, France etc.) and since 1990 she is a member of ČOSDAT / OISTAT.
 
 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“A question”

*1990, artist, student of stage design

 

Gabriela Procházka is a student of the  Faculty of Art and Design at the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem. She studied the Václav Hollar Art School. In 2015 she had an internship in Sweden, Alingsås, attended the Dresden Summer Academy and a year later completed the training in Austria, Hallein. She is currently working in Prague, where she, as an artist,  focuses mainly on new media. She searches new ways of storytelling through light effects. She has recently collaborated with sound designers in order to learn how to translate her own sound scenes into a specific artistic language. Gabriela Prochazka creates new types of experiences and facts that are able to arise during live audiovisual performances. She explores the boundaries and intersections of stage design, lighting design, installation, audiovisual and theatrical performances, club scenes, and the artistic world.

 
 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“I’m studying Digital Media at the Faculty of Art and Design, with the focus on the use of new technologies (light, sound, projection, sensors). Whether in a gallery or theatre environment, I am interested in applying these elements in a way, that they can become another possibility to explore the narrative of the story. Also,  it’s not possible to perceive only scenography, separated from other elements, such as sound and movement on the stage. Ideally, everything is one synesthetic entity. “

*1992, urban planner, student of stage design

 

Lenka Řezníčková finished her studies of Urban Planning at the Brno University of Technology and nowadays studies Stage Design at JAMU, in the studio of Marie Jirásková. A young author devoted to stage design, drawing and painting, urban planning, activism, public space and theatre with an interdisciplinary overlap.
 
 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“I see  scenography in the broader sense of the word, beyond the theatre environment. Scenography is the materialization of attitudes, opinions, feelings. Working with public space, architecture, companies. Artistic processing of the outside world in any form. ”

* 1963, costume designer

 

Simona Rybáková studied the Secondary Professional School of Applied Art and later the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague in the studio of clothing design. She completed a half year long internship in the field of clothing design in Helsinki – University of Industrial Arts (1990) and a scholarship stay at the RISD Providence in the USA. Since 1996 she is the Czech representative in the executive (until 2009) and in the scenographic board of The International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians (OISTAT). She is also a member of the Czech and European Film Academy. She curated the international exhibition Extreme costume / Extrémní kostým and co-curated the section Extreme Talks at the PG 2011. She created costumes for the  Ballet Unit Cramp / Baletní jednotka křeč (founders Michal Caban and Šimon Caban) and for many other companies and theatres: State Opera and the National Theatre in Prague, Klicpera’s theatre in Hradec Králové, South Bohemian theatre in České Budějovice, J.K.Tyl Theatre in Plzeň and many more. She was awarded with the following prizes: 1st prize of the Swarowski Award,  Golden Triga PQ 99, main award for costumes at the WSD 2013 in Cardiff and a bronze medal at the WSD Taipei 2017. She won the Czech Lion Prize for her costume work for the Tři Bratři movie.

 
 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“Shared space, which I feel part of, and in which I try to move across the spectrum, genres and generations.”

 

„What artwork did you find interesting in the past few months“

Big bang data – exhibition in DOX

Tymothy Snyder: On Tyranny – book

Dunkerk (directed by Ch. Nolan) – film

*1992, architect, stage designer

 

Tereza Špindlerová finished her Bachelor’s degree in Architecture at the Bauhaus-Universität in Weimar and at Escola Tëcnica Superior ďArquitectura del Vallôs in Barcelona. She continued by studying Master’s degree with the specialization in Conceptual Design at the University in Stuttgart with leading professors Bruyn and Allmann. She wrote her thesis on the topic of The theatre of cruelty / Divadlo krutosti.  Her conceptual project: Vanilla Ice Cream and Hot Raspberries / Dvojdům pro  vanilkovou zmrzlinu a horké maliny was awarded with the Next Landrnark competition prize in Milan. Between 2014 and 2016 she worked as a student assistant for the professor Astrid Ley. She is currently on an architecture internship in the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam.

 
 

„What artwork did you find interesting in the past few months“

 “Especially in the light of current events, I would like to mention the play called El Rei Borni by Marco Crehuet, which was presented in Barts, Barcelona, and later filmed. Although this whole claustrophobic drama takes place in one of Barcelona’s flats, not only the status of the entire contemporary society in the period after the economic crisis, but also the role of major general themes are included in the production. For me, this story is the embodiment of absurdity, incomprehension and polarity of the present day. “

 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“I’m interested in the line between the unreality of scenography and the reality of space. I do not approach architecture or stage design as professions but as disciplines. So my starting point is the question of what used to be considered architecture until the present day and I act on the edge of what is meant by this discipline. I observe historical discourse and media and find forms that are necessary for the existence of concepts. “

 

* 1993, student of stage design

 

Karolína Srpková studied Polish Language and Literature at the Masaryk University in Brno. Since 2014, she is a student of Stage Design at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, in the studio of Jan Štěpánek. In 2014, she showed her work at the NOISECAT exhibition of performance costumes. She creates graphic designs and attends many specialized workshops (e.g. Stage lighting basics, 2014 / Using technical materials, 2014 / Workshop with Martina Zwyrtek – ROLE, 2016 / Costume workshop with Simona Rybáková, 2016 / Lighting design workshop, 2016). As a graphic and stage designer she collaborated on the following performances: Vávro, vidíš hvizdu? (Orlí Street Theatre, Brno, 2014), The taming of the shrew / Zkrocení zlé ženy (DIFA JAMU, Brno, 2016), Princess Hamlet / Princezna Hamlet (Feste Theatre, Brno, Specific 2016), Dog cemetery / Psí hřibitov (DIFA JAMU, Brno, 2016), God is a DJ / Bůh je DJ (Orlí Street Theatre, Brno, 2014) etc.

Learn more: http://lettresdecaroline.wixsite.com/portfolio

 

 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“For me, today’s scenography is a possibility to “manipulate” the audience in the desired direction. Each spectator should think about the topic and ask questions. Such scenography should provoke questions and create tension between the form and the meaning. Contemporary stage design is a polemic between history and the present. Between the precision of meaning and the visual precision.”

*1979, scénograf, doktorand v ateliéru scénografie na DAMU

 

Dragan Stojčevski was born in former Yugoslavia. He studied Stage Design at DAMU in Prague, in the studio of Jan Dušek and currently continues his studies in the Doctoral programme. Other than this education, he also completed an internship at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, in the studio of Vladimír Kokolia. Other than theatre stage design, he also implemented several installations and artistic interventions in public space. He is intensively preoccupied with site-specific projects in the Czech republic and abroad, often with the artistic group Mamapapa. He created projects in archeological localities, museums, abandoned industrial zones or rural environments (Pergamon set, Pergamon museum Berin/  Bergama Turkey 2010/15, Pokoj, National museum in Pančevo, Serbia 2013 and In S(P)ite of Fire Belgrade, Serbia 2005). His latest theatre stage design work include: Dynasitie: Lehman Brothers (Husa na provázku Theatre, Brno 2017), Oresteia (Ostrov Štvanice, Prague 2016), The Mouse Paradise Experiment / Experiment myší ráj (The National Theatre, 2016), etc.

 
 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“A space that has the performative potential to evoke the situation or the narrative potential to tell stories. “

 

* 1998, stage designer, student of landscape architecture

 

Anežka Vonášková completed her studies of stage design at the Higher Professional School of Applied Art and Secondary Professional School of Applied Art in Prague in 2017. She currently studies Landscape Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture at the Czech Technical University in Prague. She was raised in theatre environment, where her relation to scenography was built since she was young. Her inspiration was her grandfather Miroslav Melena and his artistic approach to theatre.

 

 
„What artwork did you find interesting in the past few months?“

„Recently I’m most interested in the Macbeth movie, by an Australian director Justin Kurzel. I have to say, I was absolutely stunned. The way the film was shot is incredible. The story of Macbeth is old and very dark, but it never happened to me before that I would have goosebumps and would have to think about it so much after seeing it. Beautiful scenography is emphasized by stunning camera shots. Pure, unedited Shakespeare’s text. Those are the feelings that theatre should leave the spectators with! I strongly recommend it – raw, simple ancient story.”

 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“Scenography is a field that stunned me. It has all kinds of possibilities – it works with space, materials and above all fantasy. Theatre, unlike film, approaches the spectator directly, not indirectly, and I like that. Media attacks us with so much information, excitations and impulses. Everyone tries to draw attention to himself in any possible way. The fact that theatre also does this is beyond my comprehension. I personally cannot connect to the prevailing aesthetics of provocation and shock. In my opinion, theatre should be beautiful. For me, the most beautiful scenography is landscape. Theatre came out of open air. Maybe I will manage the connect them again one day. “

 

* 1970 stage designer and an artist

She studied Stage Design at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre at DAMU, Prague. In 1991 she was an intern at Filmhuset, Sweden. She collaborates with directors such as J. A. Pitínský, J. Nvota, H. Burešová, J. Pokorný, D. Drábek a A. Petrželková. Three theatre productions that she took part in with the director J.A. Pitínský in the 1990’s were awarded with the Alfréd Radok Award (Sestra úzkost / Sister Anxiety – 1995, Jób / Job– 1996, Dido a Aeneas / Dido and Aeneas– 1998). In 2000 she attended an exhibition of Czech scenography in the USA: Metaphor and Irony: Czech Scenic and Costume Design 1920 – 1999. In 2005 she was awarded with the DOSKY award for the Best Costume in Slovakia for the theatre production of J.A. Pitínský Ignorant a šialenec / Der Ignorant und der Wahnsinnige (The Slovak National Theatre Bratislava).

 

„What does today’s scenography mean to you?“

“For me, today’s Czech scenography is a place for work and confrontation.”