Content below has been taken directly from documents provided by Sandy Bonds. Proper citations are still needed here.
- https://scenicandlighting.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Description-of-PQ-Joel-Rubin-ABB.docx
- https://scenicandlighting.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/PQ-USAparticipation.doc
- https://scenicandlighting.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/USITT-PQ-designers-for-National-Exhibits.docx
Timeline
1967
1st PQ, September 22 – October 15, 1967
The founding of the Prague Quadrennial recognized stage design as a specific type of art, deserving of the attention of the public and professionals. The exhibition consisted of three competitive sections: scenography and costume design (divided into an international section and a section for Czechoslovak scenographers), a thematic section, and a section of theatre architecture. The exhibition also included a non-competitive section for Czechoslovak laureates from the São Paulo Biennial. Exhibitions focused on set and costume design, with an emphasis on visual rendering. Thematic section: Stagings of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Selected accompanying events: the start of the tradition of so-called national days as an opportunity to present countries’ exhibitions and theatre culture—and their representatives—through special events; guided tours of theatre workshops and visits to DAMU; and a symposium on cooperation between directors and stage designers and the influence of modern drama on the development of the theatre stage and building. Golden Triga: France.
USA involvement:
The first PQ had 19 countries participating without any attendance or participation by the USA.
1971
2nd PQ, June 8–27, 1971
Thematic section: Stagings of dramas by William Shakespeare. Photographic documentation started to replace renderings; first indications appeared of the change in the function of performance design and the rise of so-called action stage design. Selected accompanying events: an exhibition of theatre costumes; a visit to the Baroque theatre in Český Krumlov; 2nd OISTT congress and two symposia (theme: Theatre in Multipurpose Auditoria and New Elements in Theatre Expression and Stage Design). Golden Triga: German Democratic Republic.
USA involvement:
A delegation of USA designers attended the PQ to see what it was all about.
1975
3rd PQ – December 22, 1975 – January 28, 1976
Thematic section: Schools of stage design. Stage design proclaimed the abandonment of its representative character, and action stage design came to the fore, placing emphasis on the presence of the actor, teamwork between theatre makers, improvisation, and the authenticity of everyday objects. Exhibitors sought new spaces for theatre in their works. Selected accompanying events: 4th OISTT congress and international symposium on stage design education; screenings of documentaries and recordings of productions, and a display of scenographers’ medallions in the cinema of the Brussels pavilion. Golden Triga: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
USA Involvement:
1975 was the USA’s first participation in the PQ where 250 individual designs were exhibited in the National Scneography forum and Peter Fink prepared an Architectural Exhibit with a catalog published by USITT, Theatre Design 1975. Both exhibits received an “Honorable Mention” by the PQ.
1979
4th PQ, June 1 – July 1, 1979
Thematic section: Puppets. Following the success of the thematic section in the previous edition, the exhibition of schools of stage design became a permanent, non-competitive exhibition program section. The first examples appeared of an emphasis on playfulness as a means of provoking the viewer into activity and involving them in the performance. Selected accompanying events: OISTT congress and international symposium on the impact of contemporary visual arts on stage design; an exhibition of Czechoslovak puppet theatres; a non-competitive Swiss exhibition of the works of reformer Adolphe Appia; the first exhibition for non-professional stage designers; Masks and Mobile Structures exhibition from Italy. Golden Triga: United Kingdom.
USA Involvement:
In 1979, the USA exhibit was a retrospective of American Designers from the Robert L B Tobias collection called “An American Collection.” Designers represented in the exhibit included Robert Edmond Jones, Norman Bel Geddes, Eugene Berman, Oliver Smith and their contemporaries.
1983
5th PQ, June 13 – July 3, 1983
Thematic section: Stage design for opera works by Czechoslovak authors. Scenography was becoming an independent statement, and exhibitions started to resemble scenographic installations. Audiovisual recordings came to the fore as an objective document of productions. Selected accompanying events: OISTAT congress and international symposium entitled Theatre Today and Tomorrow; a non-competitive Italian exhibition of reconstructions of historic theatre buildings; an exhibition of photography by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz; an exhibition for non-professional stage designers; an excursion to the Puppet and Theatre exhibition in Liberec. Golden Triga: Federal Republic of Germany.
USA Involvement:
In 1983, funding was not forthcoming and debt was still being paid off for the 1975 USA exhibit, so there was no scenography exhibit from the USA at this PQ. However, an architectural exhibit of George Izenour’s work was at the 1983 PQ and received a “Special Citation.” A large delegation from the USA led by Eric Fielding attended the 1983 PQ and was disappointed that USA scenography was not represented and resolved to have the USA represented at the next PQ.
1987
6th PQ, June 8–28, 1987
Thematic section: Productions of plays by Anton Chekhov. Exhibitions and installations showed an effort to stimulate the viewer and challenge them to participate directly in performative events. Selected accompanying events: an exhibition of live performances of studio theatres in the Parallel Quadrennial; OISTAT congress and international symposium entitled Are Electronics and Computer Technology an Aid or Hindrance in Artistic Work in the Theatre?; ASSITEJ seminar on theatre scenography; Young Czech Scenography exhibition; American Theatre of Today exhibition, including participation of Actors Theatre of Louisville. Golden Triga: United States of America.
USA Involvement:
In 1987, PQ preparation for the USA involved a great deal of effort from a wide range of interested parties who raised funds, conceived, designed and built the USA scenography exhibit for the PQ. That USA exhibit received the highest recognition of all the exhibits at the 1987 PQ wining the prized “Golden Triga, Grand Prize.” That exhibit also traveled to other sites including Amsterdam, New York, Milwaukee, and other sites in the USA. Many contributed to the success of this exhibit including Joel Ruben, Randy Earle, David Hand, Patricia MacKay, Doug Schmidt, John Lee Beatty, Roger Morgan, Sam Scripps, John Conklin, Jennifer Tipton, Carrie Robbins, John Lee, Michele LaRue, Stan Miller, Roberta Foscia, David Ramsey, North Carolina School of the Arts Scene Shop and others.
1991
7th PQ, June 10–30, 1991
Thematic section: The Operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This was the first edition of PQ held after the collapse of the communist regime. For the first time, Czechoslovakia did not stage a separate exhibition but presented among other countries and regions. Return of the documentary method of exhibiting—scenic designs, models, and photography. Selected accompanying events: OISTAT congress and international symposium entitled Mozart in Contemporary Theatre; an exhibition of the life’s work of leading Czech stage designer František Tröster; an excursion to Slovak theatres in Bratislava, Trnava, and Nitra; a seminar and panel discussion on issues surrounding the teaching of stage design; and an exhibition on major Polish stage designer Andrzej Majewski. Golden Triga: United Kingdom.
USA Involvement:
In 1991, the USA exhibit followed the PQ theme of showing productions of Mozart Operas and received a “Gold Medal” for best theme exhibit. Also this year was the first exhibit of student work at the PQ and the USA participate.
1995
8th PQ, June 26 – July 16, 1995
Due to spatial restrictions, the traditional division between scenography, thematic, and architectural sections was replaced by a single national section on the theme of Seeking a Production Space. A new competitive section devoted to publications on scenography and theatre architecture was established. Selected accompanying events: OISTAT congress and international symposium entitled Three Decades of the PQ and OISTAT; a representative exhibition on the works of Josef Svoboda. Golden Triga: Brazil.
USA Involvement:
In 1995, the USA exhibit was designed by Eric Fielding and produced by Arnold Aronson. A student exhibit was also produced by Arnold and Sarah Nash Gates. Gabriel Berry’s work was recognized at this PQ by receiving a “Silver Medal” for costume design.
1999
9th PQ, June 7–27, 1999
A new concept for the PQ as a festival of live art and a meeting space with installations, workshops, and seminars. Return to the previous model with three competitive sections (performance design and theatre costume; thematic; theatre architecture), supplemented with a student section. Thematic section: Homage to Scenography. Selected accompanying events: Lightlab; the Le Campement festival as a meeting place at which five theatre groups presented their shows; an exhibition of the works of Ralph Koltai; a discussion entitled Three Visions of Scenography featuring Ralph Koltai, Josef Svoboda, Ming Cho Lee, and Pamela Howard. Beginning of PQ for Children. Golden Triga: Czech Republic.
USA Involvement:
In 1999, the special focus was to showcase designers who were members of USITT, as the long time the sponsor of the USA exhibits to the PQ. This version, designed and curated by Bruce Brockman, Dick Durst, and Arden Weaver, included 40 diverse designers from established Broadway and Regional Theatres to young designers just beginning their craft. USA student work was also exhibited.
2003
10th PQ, June 12–29, 2003
Motto: The labyrinth of the world and the paradise of the theatre. Growing emphasis on the PQ as not only an exhibition, but a meeting place. PQ included The Heart of PQ: A Cardiac Arrest to the Conventional!, an international project and exhibition/performance, which replaced the thematic section. The non-competitive section for schools was enriched with the OISTAT Scenofest project. The National Exhibitions section included the so-called Crowds of Characters (costumes placed within a space). Selected accompanying events: retrospectives of the works of Tadeusz Kantor, Dionysos Fotopoulos, and Otakar Schindler; an exhibition of costumes from Japanese Noh theatre; and the Czech Theatre Architecture exhibition. Golden Triga: United Kingdom.
USA Involvement:
The 2003 USA exhibit displayed over 60 productions from a wide range of performing arts producing groups, and focused on the collaboration of all the various designers involved in each of the productions. Robert N. Schmidt and Ursula Belden designed this exhibit. Sound design was introduced for the first time in a USA exhibit. There were over 300 items from more than 200 designers represented with photographs, models, renderings, and electronic media. American design was defined as any design produced on American soil or an American designing any place in the world. This USA National Exhibit received a Special Honorary Mention for “its inclusivity and internationalism.” The USA also presented a Student and Architectural Exhibit.
2007
11th PQ, June 14–24, 2007
Curators in the Exhibition of Countries and Regions chose their own themes. This freedom was intended to present performance design in its diverse forms and highlight its ability to reflect the world around it. The PQ continued to act as a meeting place, presenting performance design as a living art form. The PQ included performances on the streets in the center of Prague and other projects on the boundary between theatre and the visual arts. Live performances and events formed part not only of the accompanying program but also of competitive exhibitions. The Student Section—Scenofest, co-produced by the PQ and OISTAT—became one of the three main sections. The wide-ranging live program consisted of approximately 500 events (performances, installations, fashion shows, workshops, and critical seminars). For the first time, the PQ adopted a uniform visual concept (graphics, web presence, architecture, video, prizes). Golden Triga: Russia.
USA Involvement:
Reference: “The Prague Quadrennial & the U.S.A.” by Joel Rubin, TD&T, Fall 1995, pages 26-29.
The 2007 USA National Exhibit, designed by Nic Ularu and Madeleine Sobota, combined innovative exhibit techniques with digital media to express the theme of the designs selected, “New Voices, New Visions: Out of the Box.” The curators sought productions that examined contemporary themes in American culture and politics, or expanded existing trends in theatre design. The exhibit featured ground-breaking and inventive designs that provided alternative insights to the world of the play, and to life within our borders in today’s world. The designs selected range from Broadway to regional and academic theatre productions, from established award winners to students. The work of four designers was highlighted, Madeleine Sobota, Paul Steinberg, George Tsypin, and Paul Steinberg. Mr. Steinberg and Ming Cho Lee were designated as Honorable Designers from the USA.
“Performance Spaces for a New Generation” was the theme for the architecture exhibit, showcasing the best of American theatre architecture intended for education and training in the performing arts. The widespread field of education-for-the-arts is one that particularly distinguishes the USA in the international arena. Projects shown included university and college facilities, theatres, schools, and performing arts centers that include specific training programs.
The 2007 USA Student Exhibit was entitled “New Visions, New Voices and Beyond to a New Vocabulary.” Students of scenography are the “newest” new voices. While some follow in the style that their mentors taught them, others elaborate on current practices and a few break the rules, bringing new visions to the art of stage design. In addition to models and renderings, this exhibit featured a stage space for live examples of design as performance, and viewings of DVD of story telling through visual imagery moving beyond text and tradition.
2011
12th PQ, June 16–26, 2011
Motto: at the still point of the turning world. The title of the event in English was changed to Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space. The emphasis was placed on exploring points of intersection between performance and visual art; performance design was conceived as a broader cultural activity and complex performative environment that exceeded the boundaries of the theatre building. Exhibiting was understood as the creation of new contexts for performances, of which the viewer is an integral part. A new competitive section entitled Extreme Costume was added. Non-competitive projects included Intersections: Intimacy and Spectacle; the Light and Sound project; Scenofest (co-produced by the PQ and OISTAT); and a wide-ranging accompanying program with dozens of workshops, performances, seminars, and artist presentations and discussions. Golden Triga: Brazil.
USA Involvement:
2011 Artistic Director-Susan Tsu, Designer- Bill Bloodgood
(statement under development)
2015
13th PQ, June 18–28, 2015
Theme: SharedSpace: Music Weather Politics. The edition took place in numerous venues across the Prague center (i.e., Clam-Gallas Palace, Colloredo-Mansfeld Palace, Kafka’s House, and St. Anne’s Church); dozens of performances, installations, exhibitions, and parades in the center of the city opened PQ to the general public. Exhibitors in the Exhibition of Countries and Regions, the Student Exhibition, and the Performance Space Exhibition (reimagined more broadly from the former Theatre Architecture Section) were able to choose the location of their presentation during a symposium held one year ahead of the edition. Additional program included Objects (exhibition of items, objects, and props); Makers (exhibition and cooking program aiming to capture the act of making); Tribes (a series of performance-parades in public space); PQ Talks; PQ for Children; Best Scenography Publication Award; workshops; student performances in cooperation with the DAMU festival Zlomvaz; and installations Music and Space, Cloud, and No Man’s Land that elaborated on the three aspects of the edition’s theme. For the 2015 edition, a new comprehensive visual identity of the Prague Quadrennial was introduced, including a logo and typography that are still used today. Golden Triga: Estonia.
USA Involvement: (statement under development)
2019
14th PQ, June 6–16, 2019
Theme: Imagination. Transformation. Memory., reflecting stages of an artistic process. The theme served as a key for structuring the broad program scheme, while exhibitors in the Exhibition of Countries and Regions, the Student Exhibition, and the Performance Space Exhibition worked without a set inspirational theme. PQ was again concentrated in one location (Prague Exhibition Grounds), with a continuous stream of live performances and interventions animating the venue and its surroundings. The educational program of PQ was reimagined as PQ Studio, expanding into a platform for both emerging artists and professionals. 36Q° was launched to comprise programming in the area of advanced technologies, including workshops on sound and light, and a major experimental, interactive environment installation, Blue Hour. Non-competitive sections included PQ Talks, PQ Youth and Family, Fragments, the Site-Specific Performance Festival, and Formations. For the first time, the PQ catalogue was released only after the edition, to provide a factual record of the event. For the first time, the PQ+ was part of the accompanying program, presenting Czech performance work with an emphasis on scenography. Golden Triga: North Macedonia.
USA Involvement: (statement under development)
2023
15th PQ, June 8–18, 2023
Theme: R A R E. The last Prague Quadrennial was held in the Holešovice Market, an industrial area of a former slaughterhouse. Preparations for the edition were affected by lockdowns and travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to limited space, the Student Exhibition was held outdoors, showcasing scenographic presentations by emerging artists in an open-air setting for the first time. Upcoming and during the edition, Prague Quadrennial was communicated as a live arts festival again, rather than an exhibition. Projects in the Exhibition of Countries and Regions and the Student Exhibition featured live, often participatory programming, presenting scenography as a sensorial experience as well. The program structure of the 15th PQ was built on the previous edition, with sections PQ Talks, PQ Performance, Performance Space Exhibition, Best Publication Award, Fragments II, PQ Kids, the educational PQ Studio, and the technology-focused 36Q°+H40; all prepared by the PQ curatorial team. The PQ+ program, organised in collaboration with the PerformCzech department of the Arts and Theatre Institute Prague, introduced contemporary theatre, performance, and scenographic work by Czech-based artists. Golden Triga: Cyprus.
USA Involvement: (statement under development)