Cover image (above): "Dark Continent" by Latai Taumoepeau and Zan Wimberley.
For PQAU19 we presented 36 performancs over 10 days.
Some of which were gifted to audience.
Like the beautiful "porcelain shards" (pictured).
As a finalé to THE RAPTURE Moira Finucane proffered these and divine "crow biscuits" to her enraptured audiences.
Along side the Australian Exhibit, as part of PQ's Site Specific Festival, THE HOLE COLLECTIVE...
DUG A HOLE.
with some help on the shovels from the PQ community.
And then, once the hole was complete.
People came together to fill it back in.
Until all was as it was before.
(Photos : Anna Tregloan).
We also hosted artist Clare Britton in her project "A RIVER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD".
A mirror version of which was also presented along the Cooks River (Sydney) a few weeks later.
Photo by Clare Britton.
Meanwhile Australian composer and sound designer Roger Alsop was curating Sound Kitchen combining short presentations with discussions all about the audible.
And over at PQ Talks Tanya Beer, M’ck McKeague,Tessa Rixon and other Australians presented papers disseminating their approaches and ideas.
Several Australian artists were also pleased to take part in the UK’s Round table discussions as well as a round table comprised solely of designers from across Australia and focused on the peculiarities of Australian scenography.
AND.....
Alongside performing 'THE RAPTURE' the unstoppable Moira Finucane also created a PQ edition of:-
INTIMATE 8.
Part guided-tour, whispered history and portal into worlds unknown; Finucane lead the audience through the forgotten stone works of the Lapidarian. It was the first time ever tours had been held in that space, and possibly the only time ever there will be tour like this.
the Impossible Project is ongoing and collects projects instigated by artists, designers and writers that that seemed like a good idea but eventually proved themselves impossible.
Included in the PQ edition of the project were works by 2019 and 2015 featured artists.
(PS Because they sold out in the PQ bookshop (pictured) we are printing more so contact us if you are interested!!!)
THANK YOU PQ AND EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED
None of this would have been possible without the support of our government funders:- The Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Victoria and Create NSW. It was also supported by the in-kind and financial support of Bureau of Works and The Association of Optimism. And, most importantly, it would not have been a success without the incredible team who gave their energy time and knowhow to make PQAU19 happen.
An additional big thank you to photographer Kate Bliss for capturing PQAU19 in detail. All photos of the event are by Kate unless noted otherwise.
Above Justin Shoulder performs CARRION for PUAU19.
Archived news updates follow:-
We are very proud to be including this inspired (and inspirational) work in the Australian exhibition at PQ :-
THE SECOND WOMAN
Hailed as ‘One of the finest examples of independent Australian theatre in years’ (The Guardian) THE SECOND WOMAN is an amalgam of theatre, film and social experiment and is a carefully constructed convenor belt of male participants each undertaking a ten minute scene inspired by John Cassavetes 1977 film OPENING NIGHT.
Nat Randall plays the character whom each of these men visit in a 24 hour marathon performance where this scene is repeated one hundred times. Each time with a different man.
We are also thrilled at the recent announcements that this genre-defining performance will be heading to New York City’s renowned Brooklyn Academy of Music as well as being recently announced as the first 2020 show for LIFT and The Young Vic, London.
Unlike these lucky venues we won't be presenting the full 24 hour project but still looking forward to sharing artefacts, never-before-seen video and intimate behind the scenes glimpses of this unique project.
LATAI TAUMOEPEAU, PUNAKE/BODY CENTRED PERFORMANCE ARTIST WILL SHARE HER WORK:-
STITCHING
(UP)
THE
SEA
WITH VISITIORS TO PQAU.
Latai activates Indigenous philosophies and methodologies; cross-pollinating ancient practices of ceremony with her contemporary processes & performance work to re-interpret, re-generate and extend her movement practice and its function in and from Oceania.
We will be showing artefacts and insights of this rarely seen work along with Latai's spectacular REPATRIATE.
The acclaimed performance shapeshifter Moira Finucane is bound to turn some heads for her total artwork THE RAPTURE which features as one of PQAU's key works.
And pass holders at PQ will be able get a little bit more intimate by taking part in a very special (bespoke to Prague) version of:-
INTIMATE 8
Part guided-tour, whispered history and portal into worlds unknown INTIMATE 8 was first performed at the National Gallery of Victoria but will be completely reimagined under the influence of Prague's exquisite and unique architecture.
"The Intimate 8 is an exhilarating, bespoke, hilarious but also intensely moving." Alison Croggon, Witness Performance
We are looking forward to the celebrated Moira Finucane leading us all on this arching adventure planned to travel from the Australian Exhibition through the Industrial Palace and culminate amongst the forgotten stone works of the Lapidarian. Hailed as viscerally enthralling; these tours are destined to be clearly stamped as precious experiences.
Performances will begin at the Australian Exhibit in Right Wing of the Industrial Palace.
11.45am and 4pm daily
from Friday the 7th to Monday the 10th of June.
This is FREE event with limited capacity. Bookings will be opening soon.
“Enthralling; a synesthetic artwork that immerses one in the oral, aural, visual and visceral to awaken the power of art art across milennia and unleash the imagination” DR TED GOTT, Senior International Curator NGV, Order of Arts & Letters (France)
Photography by Jodie Hutchinson.
FROM 10AM TO 6PM ON THE 13th/14th/15th OF JUNE BRON BATTEN AND THE HOLE COLLECTIVE WILL BE DIGGING.....
THE HOLE
AS PART OF THE PQ SITE SPECIFIC FESTIVAL.
The Hole is a participatory live art performance in which a team of artists, assisted by the audience, will excavate a large round hole in a public place then fill it in again, exerting a huge amount of physical labour while essentially accomplishing nothing.
VISIT THEM. HELP THEM. DIG THEM.
The Impossible Projects
Projects that have been developed, pitched and loved by artists but never before managed the transition into the public realm - are now live.
Follow us on instagram as more an more from these artists who have achieved so much (but couldn't achieve this) are revealed.
Let us know about your own projects that were never to be by tagging our instagram name or email theimpossible@pqau.com.au
PUNCTUM’S COOLING HOUSE
This flat pack portable performance, meeting and cooling place will be part of the The Prague Quadrennial’s Architecture section ‘Our Theatre Our World’.
An ambitious project the exhibition will bring together ‘making of’ videos from hundreds of new performance spaces from around the world and it is great to see two Australian projects in the mix.
Prompted by conversations between scientists and artists concerned by our ‘water future’, the flat pack Cooling House has been designed and built as a flexible, demountable structure to reconsiders nomadic desert architecture; it combines collective wisdom on traditional bathing practices such as the Australian ‘Coolgardie Safe’ cooling systems with multiple art forms and stories of culturally diverse connections to water. It aims to strengthen our collective affinity with water and our universal ‘water future’.
Drawing from simple and ancient evaporative cooling techniques, and presenting ‘water works’ by exceptional artists, Punctum’s Public Cooling House includes performances and conversations with enlightened professionals managing ‘bodies of water’, to encourage us to consider how we might contend with a water tight future.
FLowstate
Also being presented as part of Our Theatre Our World, FLOWSTATE is designed by Tobhiyah Stone Feller and Daniel Stukel Beasly (formerly Stukel Stone) Flowstate to blur the distinctions between artistic disciplines, public space, landscape and the built environment. Spread over 3,000sqm of parkland it allows for a multiplicity of audience and performer relationships and launched in 2018 with a year long program of contemporary dance, installations and community workshops showcasing emerging and established artists.
The Impossible Projects
We are searching out those projects that were imagined but never became more than a sketch, an outline or a model. The ambitions that were too expensive, too impractical, too fantastical. The ones that simply landed in the wrong time or place. Or on deaf ears.
Follow us on instagram @theimpossleproject_
Announcement.
PQAU offer congratulations to authors Thea Brejzek & Lawrence Wallen for being selected for The Best Performance Design & Scenography Publication Award by PQ for "The Model as Performance Staging Space in Theatre and Architecture".
Thea and Lawerence have had a long history with PQ and the Australian exhibit. As exhibitors, through their association with UTS and the student section as well as via their many published works. We look forward to seeing more of them at PQ19.
Open Call for 36Q˚ Augmented/Virtual Reality Installations.
PQ seeks proposals from of VR/AR designers, artists and collectives, makers, modellers, technicians and programmers to contribute to the creation of a series of interactive projects that will be presented as part of the 36Q° in a large scale performative installation.
Deadline for Submission: 16 November 2018Selected Projects Notified: 10 December 2018
WORKSHOPS AND MASTERCLASSES:- Applications closing on the 31st OCtober, 2018.
For the next PQ there are two types of workshops on offer. All workshops are open to participants at any stage of their career.
In the first half of the festival (7-12 June), PQ Studio will present a series of “Results Driven Workshops”. These will be intensive, multi-day experiences that will have a public showing (such as a performance, installation, etc…) on the evening of 12 June. Participation in these workshops is by application only, with applications due on 31 October.
In the second half of the festival a further broad range of workshops will also be on offer. These, which PQ have titled EXPLORATORY WORKSHOPS, run from one to several days but will not require a public presentation. The full list of workshops will be available from early November and tickets available via PQ.
Image: During the opening of PQ15. Photo credit: Kate Bliss.
INTERNSHIP CALL OUT:-
PQ, in partnership with World Stage Design, has launched a new internship program to give student and emerging artists valuable experience running complex international performing arts and exhibition projects.
Helping bridge the gap between academic theatre and the international professional world by providing additional training and experience to those individuals who are serious about careers in performance design and realisation and technical/event and production management.
INFO:
Congratulation to Bron Batten and The Hole Collective for being selected for the PQ site specific festival.
The Hole is a participatory live art performance in which a team of artists, assisted by the audience, will excavate a large round hole in a public place then fill it in again, exerting a huge amount of physical labour while essentially accomplishing nothing.
CALL OUT:
One hundred people contributed to our 2015 project 'THE COLOUR OF THE SKY TODAY' and for 2019 we will again be reaching out. Check back in early 2019 for invitations to contribute to 'IMPOSSIBLE THEATRES: ideas that never saw the light’.
Photo of'The Colour of the Sky Today' at PQAU15.
MEMORY:
Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey’s sublime floating world ‘FIVE SHORT BLASTS’. Experiencing the beauty of the Vltava through the stories of locals and the lens of these artists was a highlight of the 2015 Architecture Program and one which all those who arrived via the deserted streets of Prague for the 5am starts will never forget.
This was the first time that the project was presented outside of it home town of Melbourne and launched several international excursions for the project.
(photo by Kate Bliss)
CALL OUT:
Prague Quadrennial is asking architects/space creators and performance designers to participate in a competitive exhibition by sending us short videos about projects realized in past 6 years. All submissions need to show the space as well as how it is used in performance. All submitted videos must include a dialogue between the space creator (architect) and the performance designer/s or performers using the space. The documentary video can be made on a smartphone and shouldn’t exceed 5 minutes.
Deadline for Submissions is Extended until 31 August 2018.
CALL OUT:
If you run a design course or studio workshop this one may be of interest to you.
The PQ Studio: Common Design Project explores the process of creativity and its resulting products through a curated exhibition of student designs that develop out of design-course work/assignment.
PQ Studio: Common Design Project celebrates the practice, craft and artistry of performance design.
For PQ 2019, the Common Design Project will serve as the catalyst for a global discussion between students and educators around the world as they explore and create designs for Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry. The project also includes organised critiques and discussion of the exhibited works.
Deadline for Institutions to Register Intent: 1 October 2018
• Deadline for Institutions to Submit Projects: 31 January 2018
• Successful Submissions Notified of Inclusion: 28 February 2019
Photo: Section of Countries and regions, Mexico. Courtesy of PQ.
CALL OUT:
The award seeks to recognize new and groundbreaking findings on underrepresented figures and themes in performance design (scenography) and space, and/or employ innovative methodologies in documentation, analysis, and (re)presentation in the broadest sense of the discipline.
The Best Performance Design & Scenography Publication Award during the Prague Quadrennial 2015 received wide-spread public recognition, expanding the visibility of a diverse range of publications created about and around performance design and scenography.
Published works released since 1 January 2015 are eligible for submission.
Works in any language are welcome.
Photo of Julian Day as part of PQAU15 by Kate Bliss
INFO:
For PQ19 Student and Emerging Artist's Section we are pleased to be announcing a new collaboration between the students of NIDA, VCA and WAPPA. The design faculties have begun this year long collaboration and we are all looking forward to what emerges.
(photo: UTS, NIDA and VCA's exhibition in 2015, photo by Kate Bliss).
CALL OUT:
PQ Talks is an exchange of presentations, forums, and discussions exploring all aspects of performance design. PQ Talks will follow the main themes of PQ2019 connected with the cyclical phases of the creative process: Imagination, Transformation, and Memory. Through these areas the curators seek to explore “scenography” in its broadest sense, investigating what scenography is, what scenography could be, and what scenography was.
Important Dates
Deadline for Proposals: 31 August 2018
Announcement of Selection: 31 October 2018
Image: Renae Shadler and collaborators' YAWN as featured at PQAU15
MEMORY:
We loved this PQAU15 moment. It’s the one where we blew our balloons up until they entirely filled the room & the expression on this young person’s face added the final flourish to an exceptional ten days.
….. and then, not long after, there was this moment.
In the final moments of PQAU15 we also loved finding new homes for all the PQAU furniture.
The desks are now in a Prague artist’s studio and the stools are supporting coffee drinkers in a café. We gave the lamps to friends and helpers & returned everything borrowed to its home and managed to find a new home for our helium tanks:- they went on to fill balloons for children in need.
EMAIL : PQAU@PQAU.COM.AU
MAILING: 63 NICKSON STREET, SURRY HILLS, 2010, NSW , AUSTRALIA.
Credits:
Created with an image by Martin Sanchez - "VIRTUAL SELFIE"