Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space

EMER-
GENCE
From shared experience to new creativity

Living Heritage/Reframing Memory

EMERGENCE. From shared experience to new creativity.
Living Heritage/Reframing Memory.

ISBN: 978-80-7008-446-5
Publication number of ATI: 773
Publisher: Arts and Theatre Institute
Year of Publishing: 2021
First Edition

Emergence Project Manager: Michaela Buriánková

Editors: Sarah Bentley, Magdaléna Brožíková
Graphic Design and Typesetting: Jaro Dufek
Photo Postproduction: Adéla Vosičková
Cover Photo: Serge von Arx
Print: Helbich
 CONTENT ❬ 005
CONTENT ❬ 004

006 Introduction

Places and Memories

Propelling New Creativity
014 Norwayy
032 Cyprus
050 Latvia
064 Ukraine
080 Poland
100 United Kingdom
116 Czech Republic
138 Taiwan

156 Partners
 INTRODUCTION ❬ 006

TION
DUC-
INTRO-

INTRODUCTION ❬ 007

INTRODUCTION ❬ 008
markéta fantová and brad caleb lee
This book about the Emergence project,
supported by the Creative Europe program,
offers an account of the four-year collabo-
ration between eight major art institutions.
Emergence used the lens of performance to
examine different and often problematic in-
terpretations of memories in the context of
our European heritage. This project brought
together a range of “performance creators”
from across Europe and Taiwan to make
work that responded to the specific contexts
of selected heritage sites, organized a series
of workshops, masterclasses, artist residen-
cies, site performances, and symposia and
exhibitions.
The main focus of all outcomes was on for-
gotten or complex memories that served as
the main inspiration for new original works,
performances, and powerful audience expe-
riences, showing that heritage is an evolving
Working With Places Where the Memory of Past
Events Lingers On
Using performance, the project explored the
effect of past and recent memories on ways
we shape our current worldview. We brought
awareness to moments both current and
past, connected to a specific place, which
were slightly pushed back, purposely covered
up, or entirely erased from history books for
being politically uncomfortable.
INTRODUCTION ❬ 009
memories that people look at current events. ries of past events with the current socio-po-
To explore the gap between local memories litical environments through site responsive
and their official interpretations is a central performance and channelled persisting ten-
process of constant re-negotiation of con-
theme of our project: Living Heritage/Re- sions into art. This process enabled emerging
nectivity and relationships in today’s glo-
framing Memory. artists to become agents of positive change.
balized world.
We tapped into memory resources connect- We would like you to join us in the exploration
Emergence was organized by leading organ-
ed with various past hotspots across Europe of memories connected with places where
izations in the field of art and performance
and looked at what we call “national herit- memories still linger and can be experienced
design, including Institut umění – Divadel-
age” through the lens of performative expe- by all of our senses. We are revealing the sto-
ní ústav’s (The Arts & Theatre Institute’s)
riences. We chose these locations as a base ries and projects that already took place in
Prague Quadrennial – ATI/PQ (Czech
from which we created emotionally charged beautiful and interesting settings across Eu-
Republic), The Victoria & Albert Museum –
and responsive works. Performance based rope and Taiwan.
V&A (United Kingdom), IZOLYATSIA. Plat-
activities and workshops connected memo-
form for Cultural Initiatives (Ukraine), Insti-
tut Teatralny im. Zbigniewa Raszewskiego
(The Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute
(Poland)), Cyprus Theatre Organisation –
THOC (Cyprus), HOGSKOLEN | OSTFOLD About the Partnership
(Norwegian Theatre Academy/Østfold
University College (Norway)), Latvijas Jau-
na Teatre Instituts (New Theatre Institute of
Latvia (Latvia)), and National Kaohsiung In this project, already established and recog- rary organizations (such as IZOLYATSIA, ca-
Center for the Arts (Taiwan). nized organizations joined forces and created pable of putting art into the center of focus
a strong platform with wide international out- in an active conflict area of Donetsk) brought
reach capable of creating projects with both knowledge and access to some of the most
immediate local impact as well as resonating memory-rich places, stretching from active
long-term international influence. The com- conflict zones to layered cultural landmarks,
bination of institutions rooted in long-term and offered fertile grounds to for new artistic
traditions (such as the Victoria & Albert Mu- experiences.
seum in London) with progressive contempo-
Constantly changing socio-economic and
political currents bring forth situations, con-
flicts, and events that tend to form the iden-
tity of each generation and each locality. Yet,
the memories don’t always correspond with
what is written in official history books en-
dorsed by nations, and it is often these histo-
ry books that shape a new generation’s basic
views. It is through a variety of interpreted

INTRODUCTION ❬ 010
Collaborating Institutions
Institut umění – Divadelní ústav
(Arts and Theatre Institute)/
Prague Quadrennial, Czech Republic
pq.cz
The Prague Quadrennial of Performance
Design and Space is the largest internation-
al exhibition and festival event dedicated to
scenography, performance design, and archi-
tecture. Since 1967 PQ has been an exchange,
networking and educational platform explor-
ing the best works in scenography and design
for performance through exhibitions, festi-
vals, workshops, performances, symposia,
educational events, and residencies. The 14th
edition took place on the Prague Exhibition
Grounds premises and elsewhere in Prague
from 6th to 16th June 2019. During those 11
days, the PQ locations drew some 70,000
viewers. 8,005 professionals, students and
other active participants from 106 countries
accredited for the main part of the program.
Victoria & Albert Museum – V&A,
United Kingdom
vam.ac.uk
One of the world’s greatest resources of art
and design since 1837, where all works of art
are available to all, to educate the visitors
and to inspire designers and manufacturers.
V&A alone has 3.7 million visitors per year
including 15 million on-line. As one of the
world’s largest collections of cultural heritage,
the V&A actively questions its own imperial-
ist heritage while offering platforms to elevate
unheard voices in contemporary society.
IZOLYATSIA. Platform for Cultural
Initiatives, Ukraine
izolyatsia.org/en
A non-profit platform for multidisciplinary
cultural initiatives, its main mission is to sup-
port cultural and social change. This organi-
zation was established in the Donetsk region,
and has been affected by the fighting there.
Their work is an example of culture being
a catalyst of positive change as they seek to
react to an active conflict zone through art
and performance.
Instytut Teatralny im. Zbigniewa Rasze-
wskiego (The Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre
Institute), Poland
en.instytut-teatralny.pl
The institute broadens the perspective of re-
flections on the theatre, implements and sup-
ports research, and educational and publish-
ing projects. The Institute manages the largest
Polish theatre collection of documents and the
portal e-teatr.pl. The Institute coordinates and
co-organizes theatrical programs and com-
petitions of the Ministry of Culture and Na-
tional Heritage. In 2015, the Institute launched
the project “Placówka”, which is intended to
enable artists and creative groups with limit-
ed possibilities to conduct research on new
forms and new languages of the theatre.
Cyprus Theatre Organisation – THOC,
Cyprus
thoc.org.cy/index/en
THOC is engaged in promotion of the art of
theatre and cultivation of the theatrical sen-
timent of the people, as well as the artistic
relations between the theatre world of Cy-
prus, Greece, and other countries. THOC fos-
ters works from the ancient and new Greek,
Cypriot, and international dramaturgy in Cy-
prus and abroad, and education and training
in theatre. It also organizes performances in
the ancient theatres of the island and other
outdoor areas of Pan-Cypriot, Panhellenic,
or international character. THOC experts are
also advisers to the Minister of Education
and Culture on any matter relating to theatre.
HOGSKOLEN | OSTFOLD (Norwegian The-
atre Academy/Østfold University College),
Norway
hiof.no/english/
A top national and internationally recognized
school for drama. NTA has an extensive ex-
perience in organizing projects, bringing per-
forming arts professionals and students to-
gether from around the world.
INTRODUCTION ❬ 011
Latvijas Jauna Teatra Instituts
(New Theatre Institute of Latvia), Latvia
theatre.lv/eng/
New Theatre Institute of Latvia is the or-
ganizer of the International Festival of Con-
temporary Theatre Homo Novus, which is
the leading performing arts festival in Latvia
and one of the biggest in the Baltic region. It
takes place in Riga and introduces audiences
to both new and renowned artists that seek
ways of expressing their views and opinions
about the world and society. The festival of-
fers a range of performances, as well as sem-
inars, workshops, and other activities. Since
1995, there have been 11 festivals, showing
more than 100 different guest performances
and producing several new works.
National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts,
Taiwan
npac-weiwuying.org/?lang=en
With its vision to become a symbol of the
transformation of a once major international
harbor into a modern, diverse city with a rich
cultural climate, the collaboration with this
new and ambitious center will offer a non-Eu-
ropean point of view.
 PLACES AND MEMORIES PROPELLING NEW CREATIVITY ❬ 012

tivity
Propelling
Memories

New Crea-
Places and

PLACES AND MEMORIES PROPELLING NEW CREATIVITY ❬ 013

 NORWAY ❬ 014

WAY
NOR-

NORWAY ❬ 015

NORWAY ❬ 016
serge von arx, norwegian theatre academy/østfold university
The small island of Håøya is situated in the
Oslofjord, 40 km south of Oslo. In the sum-
mer, it is visited by many regional inhabitants
as a site of recreation. But during the long
months of winter, and even in spring, the is-
land can only be reached by private boats.
The lack of electricity and running water, the
Three Stories of Håøya
In 1915, the Håøen Fabriker A/S along with
A/S Nitedals Krutverk (Nitedals Gunpowder
Works), Norsk Svovelsyrefabrik (Norwegian
Sulfuric Acid Factory) and Nitroglycerinsel-
skapet (The Nitroglycerin Company) estab-
lished a large industrial area on Håøya, the
largest island in the Oslo Fjord. Within a short
period of time, 88 buildings were erected.
They were to accommodate more than two
hundred workers and staff. The buildings
were scattered around the south end of the
island. For security reasons, the industrial
buildings were built far apart from each oth-
er. At first, a mixture of trinitrotoluene (TNT)
and ammonium nitrate was produced; later
detonators were produced as well. Produc-
tion ended in 1918. An explosion in a labora-
tory at the factory and the end of the Russian
revolution – and thus the customer base – led
to production being discontinued.
Explosives had previously been produced at
the Nitroglycerin Company in Engene, Sætre,
on the mainland, about one kilometer west
of the island. This factory was built in 1875
under instructions from Alfred Nobel. Later,
NORWAY ❬ 017
remoteness in raw nature makes it, even to-
day, a wild and untouched environment. Its
complex and dark history is inscribed into
nature like scars. Some anthropogenic traces
reveal themselves to the curious and patient
visitor, others remain hidden in the memory
of the elders on the nearby mainland.
most of the production facilities merged into
what is known as Dyno Industrier. After a se-
ries of work-related accidents in Engene, the
men in the area, as the story is told, refused
to let their wives work under such dangerous
conditions. They had had enough of collect-
ing their dead wives’ bodies from the facto-
ry. Supposedly, the lack of manpower led to
the establishment of Håøen Fabriker A/S. An
agreement was made with the magistrate in
Oslo that workers would be provided for the
production of explosives on Håøya. Thus,
large numbers of prostitutes from Oslo, fe-
male prison inmates, and men from the pen-
itentiaries (tukthus) were sent out to Håøya.
Men on the mainland reportedly became
very skilled rowers because of the new temp-
tations on Håøya. The male officials also
abused and raped the female slave laborers. Small hands – Workers at the explosives factory at Engene, approx. 1916.
According to stories told by locals on both C FRA JUBILEUMSSKRIFT FOR NORSK SPRÆNGSTOFINDUSTRI AS
sides of the fjord, several children were born
on the site. Women were regularly sent to
the Oscarsborg Fortress just south of the
factory, and today, the building on the site is
called “the brothel” or “the henhouse.”

NORWAY ❬ 018
Villabyen – The dormitory building on Håøya with the workers’ housing in the background.
The women worked under life-threatening
conditions during the day. Outside of work-
ing hours, they were raped, abused, and
mistreated. Only fragments of their stories
remain among the locals today. It is a story
in which the government and one of Nor-
way’s key industries played a major role,
leaving very few traces of the tragic fates of
the people involved. The country’s need for
foreign currency, ours and others’ needs for
weapons, as well as the willingness and abil-
ity to dehumanize certain groups of people
led to an unknown number of young women
experiencing several unthinkable years on an
island a few miles away from the Norwegian
capital.
Twenty-seven years later, in the early morn-
ing of April 9th, 1940, the mighty Nazi Ger-
man battleship, Blücher, sailed into the Oslo
Fjord. It arrived at the Oscarsborg fortress
C FRA JUBILEUMSSKRIFT FOR NORSK SPRÆNGSTOFINDUSTRI AS
just south of Håøya, where the prostitutes
from the factory were taken in the evening.
Nobody knew where the ship had come from
or why it was there. The great hero in the
boat’s history, the commander of the for-
tress, Colonel Birger K. Eriksen, ordered the
ship to be sunk. Blücher sank to the north
of the fortress a few hours later. Over 800
young men drowned, burned, or froze to
death. Many of them were so young that
they hadn’t yet moved out of their childhood
homes. A home where mom, dad, and siblings
did not know where their son or brother was.
This incident is central to the Norwegians’
cognitive understanding of themselves. The
incident was one of the most important
things to happen during the Second World
War. Schoolchildren in the region travel out
to the fortress every year. The sinking of
the ship is marked every April 9th both on
national TV, in Oscarsborg itself, and at other
fortifications. The story of the Blücher con-
tains Norwegian heroes and “biblical para-
doxes.” There are two cannons at the fortress.
They are German-made and have received
Jewish names: Moses and Aaron. The first
shots were fired from them. Most Norwe-
gians are familiar with the dialogue between
Colonel Eriksen and the “cannon operators”.
The cannon operator asks “Should we real-
ly fire?” (as opposed to simply firing warning
shots) and Eriksen answers “Hell yes – fire!”.
And so, several shots were fired at a ship
with unknown nationality and intention. The
ship was almost two kilometers away. A few
hours later, 800 dead bodies floated in the
sea. During the turmoil, one of the soldiers
at the fortress fell into the fortress well. He
lay there during the worst hostilities. Children
in the area were later to hear the “funny sto-
ry” of this young man: he was saved, but he
missed the fireworks! Hundreds of dead bod-
ies were already in the water.
Among the surviving Germans, there is a sto-
ry of a young man for those who are espe-
cially interested. He swims ashore on the east
side of the fjord and breaks into a summer-
house. He steals some dry laundry in the cot-
tage and leaves his uniform and a note apolo-
gizing for breaking in. The young man knows
the place. A few years earlier, as a child, he
spent a few summers in the house visiting
the owners. The man deserted and fled to
Sweden. After the war, he returned with the
clothes he had stolen. A rarity: a sort of Ger-
man “hero” from the Second World War.
Most Norwegians know that the ship is still
leaking oil and is thus ruining this beautiful
landscape. The Nazis’ cruelty is limitless in
NORWAY ❬ 019
time and space. In the days, weeks and years
after the boat sank, fishermen in the Oslo
Fjord still found the dead soldiers’ remains:
remains that most treated with great respect.
The story of the Blücher is full of anecdotes
that attempt to remove the image of the dead
bodies from our memory.
On November 2nd, 1941, six Norwegian re-
sistance fighters were sent to the Oslo Fjord.
They had been imprisoned at Akershus For-
tress after hijacking the icebreaker, Polar Bear
(Isbrjøn), on Svalbard on May 29th of the
same year. They were captured and brought to
Tromsø and later to Akershus Fortress. Then,
they were brought by boat out to the islands
in the Oslo Fjord, likely to Håøya. There they
were, according to witness statements, shot
one by one and buried. The location of the
graves is still not known. The murdered men
all worked in the mines on Svalbard when they
decided to hijack the boat. The plan was to
join the resistance movement. These are the
only Norwegians executed in Norway by Ger-
mans during the war whose graves cannot be
located. It is suggested that the reason for the
lack of interest is that they planned to join the
communist resistance movement, a move-
ment that did not receive the same recogni-
tion after the war as those of other political
wings. Over the years, several archaeological
investigations have been carried out on Håøya
in the search for the young men. The story
of the six men lives among the locals on the
mainland. It is common to hear that “grand-
parents heard the shots and saw the mounds
of dirt over the dead” without even having
been able to find the actual graves. There are
also stories about horses that refuse to walk
over the place the men were buried and about
“blue dancing lights” on the site.

NORWAY ❬ 020
The factory is gone, but several of the old main buildings on Håøya are being restored today. C Robert Simonsen
These three stories tell of cruel and violent
incidents on an island that is used as a recre-
ational place for thousands of people. The is-
land is an important destination for boaters.
There are places to go swimming, docks for
small boats, and park-like areas. The island
is a one-hour trip by ferry from Oslo. The
island’s cruel heritage is unknown to most
visitors. The murders of the six miners, the
screams of the raped women, and the panic
of the drowning young Germans are hardly
visible. Many of the stories are gone, many
have never been told, and many of the sto-
ries have been erased – as many stories from
all over the world are when the actions and
events are cruel enough. The work of com-
municating this part of our cultural heritage
is challenging and often met with resistance.
The customary or conventional narratives of
Norwegian cultural heritage work have little
to no room for such stories. It also doesn’t
have the tools or the methods to convey
emotions or to challenge today’s society in
the way that art and scenography can. The
three events are mainly looked at from ac-
ademic perspectives and others often look
at them in a descriptive way – methods and
tools that differ from and stand in contrast to
art or scenography. The term “zeitgeist” may
be useful in this context. The archaeological
field approaches the concept to a greater
extent than historical research in the 1980s
and 1990s did, especially through the Brit-
ish, French, American, and Nordic discourse
concerning archaeological scientific theory.
They do not use the term “zeitgeist” in the
way Goethe did in Faust; “Was Ihr den Geist
der Zeiten nennt, das ist im Grunde nur der
Herren eigner Geist” but still they make the
field aware that research objects are formed
and chosen by contemporaries on the basis
of several factors, including political and eco-
nomic ones, as seen in the stories of Håøya.
The economic interests underlying the de-
humanization of prostitutes and the impris-
oned women and men have kept posterity at
arm’s length. It seems too absurd and wrong
for a nation such as Norway. Especially in light
of the fact that the country started awarding
the Nobel Peace Prize, a bequest from Alfred
Nobel himself, as early as 1901. Slave labor
and abuse of women is challenging to any-
one wishing to tell the story of a nation built
on humanism.
The story of the Blücher is full of anecdotes
that attempt to “move” the dead and dying
away from one’s field of view. They are a lot
like the kinds of stories soldiers tell each oth-
er. It is a universal right to tell stories of war
in which the enemy, the villain, or the others
are not individuals anymore, but numbers,
NORWAY ❬ 021
Factory ruins. C Sissel Hoffengh
unlike the individuals on the Norwegian side.
The number of dead varies from story to
story: everything from four hundred to over
a thousand, depending on the country and
when the stories are told. The only German
soldier who becomes a person, and only five
years later at that, is the one who returns to
the scene with the stolen clothes. Except for
that, the nation has largely chosen to tell the
stories of heroes, about cannons and guns
and their caliber, the torpedoes and times,
and not least about Colonel Eriksen: “Hell
yes, fire!” Bang! Bang! Bang!
It seems the interest for the six dead resist-
ance men are influenced by their political
stance, their class background, and possibly
their regionality. Probably no one has inves-
tigated what class background or what ed-
ucation the most acclaimed Norwegian, or,
for that matter, other European resistance
fighters had when they joined the resistance.
It is a fact, however, that those who were de-
clared communists did not receive the same
attention after the war as others.

NORWAY ❬ 022
Reflections on Emergence Project series
“Our Gruesome Cultural Heritage”
The island Håøya in the Oslofjord was the
starting point for the three inquiries of the
Emergence student workshops under the
title “Our Gruesome Cultural Heritage”. The
Norwegian Theatre Academy of Østfold Uni-
versity College had undertaken investigations
on memorials as part of previous academic
agendas and could thereby gain knowledge
through the according experience. This
helped to sharpen the triangular workshop
series that unfolded as part of the “EMER-
GENCE. Living Heritage/Reframing Memory”
platform on Håøya, in Nicosia, and in Riga
over the four years duration of the whole
project. We expanded the method of sceno-
graphic deconstruction of national mythol-
ogies, which represents the basis of the in-
quiry into a methodology by interconnecting
participating students and teachers, as well
as by sharing experience between the three
locations. The Emergence Project series be-
came relevant in how different cultures and
nations relate to and identify with questions
of communal memories, how commemora-
tion is activated or hindered, and what physi-
cal form it takes. At each place, students and
tutors referred to three significant historical
contexts, which have given rise to biased nar-
ratives. In each workshop, the students be-
gan their investigation by carefully perceiving
the very places of scrutiny, often without be-
ing informed about the past events at stake
beforehand. Since all historical references are
C Serge von Arx
bound to political or cultural agendas, and of-
ten lack academic background examination,
we turned the common principle of the cre-
NORWAY ❬ 023
ation of a memorial upside-down: instead of
starting from “proven” facts to give shape to
a place of commemoration, we commenced
empiric examinations, steadily weaving phe-
nomenological and cognitive threads into
each other. The students’ task eventually was
to create memorials, which must be realized
on the respective sites with the available
means, and to close the sensory circle of per-
ceiving and giving back to perception.
The first workshop in Norway in 2018 was
distinct in its nature of immersion, as stu-
dents and teachers worked and lived togeth-
er on an island, where everyday procedures,
including the collection of food and cooking
were an inherent part of the investigation
into the very characteristics of Håøya. Work-
shop participants and teachers largely were
alone on the island, with only private boat
connection to the mainland. I believe that
dissolving boundaries of work/study, eating
together, and sharing spare time in the open
natural surroundings strengthened the de-
velopment of the concise projects, also in the
sense of a larger degree of mental freedom.
Being immersed into a place and its context,
day and night, appears to facilitate playful-
ness in creating work. As any insecurity to
work unrelatedly and beyond context grad-
ually vanishes, the art students did not start
and stop to work, but virtually remained in
a continuous process. This observation is of
importance for the education and the pro-
fession of a scenographer. According work
methods allow the artist entirely to trust their
 NORWAY ❬ 024

© Serge von Arx

NORWAY ❬ 025

NORWAY ❬ 026
sensory capacity at given moments, beyond
intellectual interference. Resulting interven-
tions have a greater chance to be impartial
and directly connected with the genius loci of
the place of inquiry. Recurrent re-contextual-
izations, when working in set shifts, seem to
result in circumstances comparable to mental
straitjackets in relation to creative processes.
However, these working conditions repre-
sent a great challenge, as reports and evalu-
ations of participating students have proven.
Many have struggled to engage in the topic
of memorials without initiating a sound sci-
entific historical analysis, which the lack of,
actually, was the very starting point for our
research, which is artistic and not scientific
in nature. The state of limbo while address-
ing sensitive historical and political contexts
can be discomforting, which was the core of
the workshop. Our specific goal is the forma-
tion of memorials that trigger a debate rather
© Serge von Arx
than being a part of it. Heightened sensitivity
towards social, cultural, and political parties
must be emphasized and accompanies the
workshops.
The workshop in Cyprus brought students
and teachers from Latvia and Norway to Nic-
osia. The above-mentioned cohesion ensuing
research immersion in a place was slightly less
strong as students would relate to a more
ordinary working schedule within an urban
environment. Final projects subsequently
disclosed the highlighted intellectual under-
pinning in contrast to the primary sensory
one in the Håøya works. While all three sto-
ries under investigation in Norway date back
at least to World War II, many of the referred
narratives are still relevant and active in Cy-
prus, which added an important new facet to
the research. A memorial relating to a past
occurrence, which persists as a conflict, has
significantly different demands than com-
memorating terminated incidents that carry
on covertly or risk reemerging. The students’
respective projects were more of an explicit
and symbolic character, in comparison to the
freer and rather abstract works in Norway.
The third exploration in Riga had to be post-
poned several times and eventually ended
up as a workshop that took place at all three
sites, Håøya, Nicosia, specifically Famagusta,
and Riga. The students developed projects
remotely, in groups consisting of participants
of the respective places. The focus lay on son-
ic memorials and to facilitate the exchange
of sensory accessible information among the
three places spread over Europe. It is difficult
to compare this last part with the previous
workshops, since it was of a very different
nature, and explored the creation and estab-
lishment of memorials, which not everyone
could access, but still relate to a sensory ex-
perience. Hence, the original method inevita-
bly took quite a different turn.
Although some memorials were tangibly
manifested, foremost on Håøya, the subtle
and precise interventions by the students
did not radically change the existing physi-
cal structures on site, but influenced the dis-
course around the topics at stake, as com-
ments by visitors have shown. The Culture
Attachée of the German Embassy in Oslo,
Frauke Silberberg, for example, posted im-
ages and a comment on the embassy’s Face-
book page highlighting the aspect of render-
ing those visible who had not become part
of the history books. The head for cultural
heritage in Oslo, Janne Wiberg, visited the
workshop both as a lecturer and as an ob-
server of the final projects. She supported
students in their processes in Norway, while
NORWAY ❬ 027
observing the future designers’ and archi-
tects’ approaches, as students beyond com-
mercial obligation, and returned to the third
and last workshop. Astrid Renland, head of
PION, the Norwegian sex workers associa-
tion, gave a lecture on contemporary condi-
tions and posted the students works on their
webpage to share their awareness of social
engagement.
Today, the island largely looks the same, but
perception and acknowledgment of it have
changed. This echoes the aim of our inquiry
into memorials that we do not conceive as
interceptions into natural or humanly shaped
remnants, often violent extraneous acts, but
rather intrinsic amplifications or disruptions.
Some traces remain on the trees, like the long
strings of mussel shells, which the students
suspended from branches high up in the
dense woods and have had as much a subtle
visual impact of human mimicry, as an aural
one, moved by the wind. Now, three years
later, some strings and fragments of mussels
remain, playing the echo of past days.
A key element of the workshop on Håøya
was collaboration. Students from different
parts of Europe would meet and spend two
weeks together, sharing experiences and ex-
pectations in an environment where every-
body depends on each other in terms of cre-
ative work, reflection, and subsistence. Only
by letting go of one’s own ideas, a joint work
can emerge, which is at the core of our un-
derstanding of scenography.
A concrete foundation, one of the many en-
during leftovers of the former barracks, re-
vealing different materials’ time-scales at
play when working with memorials, was the
silent protagonist for a project that inverted

NORWAY ❬ 028
© Serge von Arx
the natural cycles at play. While the wooden
construction made by humans did not with-
stand time, trees were growing from with-
in the concrete groundwork. The students
shortened all trees within the ground plan of
the former house to the level of the previous,
now only imaginary floor. The students hint-
ed at the repeated slow processes of natural
growth and human use of wood.
Petros Lappas, MA student in scenography
from the Norwegian Theatre Academy stat-
ed: “The creation of groups by people from dif-
ferent perspectives and fields was the special
feature of this workshop. As each member had
their own perspective, their own way of dealing
with and exploring the issues. Therefore, there
was no common basis, coming from similar
education (studies) or research areas, or from
© Serge von Arx
common fields of interest. This raised a difficul-
ty in communicating and developing ideas on
the one hand. This was increased by the fact
that we needed better facilitation of these di-
alogues and we did not have it on a relevant
level for our research since hierarchy structure
and roles/responsibilities was established only
on a basic level. In the end, it was such a chal-
lenge for us to develop a common method to
explore and represent the variety of issues, due
to the discursive environment.
Personally, from the beginning of the workshop
and according to the way it was organized, I did
not focus on the research or fulfill my person-
al expectations. For me, it was more like a re-
hearsal – a test. I think that the main goal of
the lab was not the creation of complete sce-
nographical works but our introduction to a
© Serge von Arx
different way of approaching and working in
the field of scenography. I wanted to focus on
the test outcomes and not focus on the out-
come of our work. Therefore, I made a distance
for the question about expectations and fo-
cused on the different cooperative processes
that took place every day and gave us a special
experience.”
Another group of students focused on me-
morials’ ephemeral nature explored with var-
ious small interventions in the form of mu-
sic, artificial liquids in the natural cycles, and
unreachable performative distortions in the
landscape. Toms Janson, a stage-design stu-
dent from the Art Academy of Latvia wrote:
“The concept of memorial let me look different-
ly to the historical as well as social aspects that
basically form the idea of the memorial – it can
NORWAY ❬ 029
be considered as illustration of objective fact.
One of the few ways to look at such a memorial
theme, at the same time trying to maintain ulti-
mate objectivity, is art, thus achieving ideologi-
cal directness through creative abstraction.”
“Love Pamphlet”, a love letter to Silence by
film student, Julie Olympia Cahannes, from
the Zurich University of the Arts, strongly
and poetically revealed the impression the
workshop, and specifically the island, have
made on her: “Beloved Silence. I have despised
you, I have hated you. We did not get along.
Well, maybe it was an ongoing misunderstand-
ing. I remember you. You were a beloved friend
for many years, when I did not talk to anybody.
My parents were told: this child does not talk
much. One was not sure why. Maybe because
of its insecurity. But this love pamphlet is not
 NORWAY ❬ 031
NORWAY ❬ 030

supposed to be about my childhood spent with in the fortress nearby Håøya. We replaced as a democratic tool to support freedom of structure of being more stable in its exist-
you. I want to describe to you how I fell in love the conference with a more open digital plat- speech, specifically for minorities, diasporas, ence than were it built of stone. “Mnemonic
with you again. It happened on an island called form, bringing the discourse around the fea- and other communal parties who risk remain- Societal Scenography” will firstly be imple-
Håøya. Norwegian air drenched my lung, un- tures of memorials to a broader audience. ing unheard within given social frameworks. mented as a platform offering sonic work de-
rest filled my heart.” (…) “What I have learned This component being a part of the “EMER- veloped by students and professionals dur-
with you and not just want to forget: one has GENCE. Living Heritage/Reframing Memory” I hereby strictly understand these sonic me- ing our workshop, accessible to everybody,
to stand still sometimes, be quite fish, to un- project will take shape as “Mnemonic Societal morials as tools to trigger, launch, or main- either by presence on site or by downloading
derstand that actually everything one needs is Scenography.” The web-app with the same ti- tain debates. In contrast to materialized 3D cloud models of the respective places in
there. With a brusque blink of the eye, you gave tle focuses on sonic memorials that will be in commemorative structures, the only digitally conjunction with the acoustic work. In a sec-
me the feeling of being a child again. And that dialogue with the very sites they belong to. existing creations on one hand will be in flux, ond phase, the platform will be publicly open
is probably the greatest gift I received in my 21 Bypassing issues and conflicts of economic in the way they can change their properties for contributions within the ethical underpin-
years.” (…) and political nature when intending to man- as well as further contributions can be added nings of the project. In this sense, the restric-
ifest commemoration, the contributions will to a compound or a sonic landscape. On the tions imposed by the pandemic resulted in a
The workshop series in Håøya-Nicosia-Riga consist of sonic works, spoken text, songs, other hand, as virtual as an Internet-based form of a wider dissemination that will gain
was built on a previous practice, which had music, field recordings, and compositions memorial will be, it inherently takes advan- and increase its capacity as it grows, and ac-
focused on one place, the largest island in the that can be played on any digital device by tage of the world-wide web’s redundant crue contributions.
Oslofjord. The expansion into the two other location-tracking. The platform will operate
sites with their respective histories, physical
imprints, and mental traces elevated the sin-
gular practice to a method. This collaboration
was proof of the relevance of the tools we
used to create memorials, being of gener-
ic nature. It eventually allowed us to further
conceptualize an entirely practice-based
method in a quality which we would like to
foster more universally. Having substantiated
scenographic interventions at various places,
it gave rise to a stronger theoretical founda-
tion for our questioning of the topic of me-
morials and their subsequent application. Fu-
ture workshops will build on the theoretical
knowledge and further enhance the study of
memorials as societal agency. We so far have
been developing the project in the environ-
ment of higher arts education; future inclu-
sion of professionals from within and beyond
the arts will deepen specific competences
within the artistic research. It may have been
© Serge von Arx

© Serge von Arx

accelerated through the limitations imposed

due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced us
to rethink the originally planned conference
 CYPRUS ❬ 032

CY-
PRUS

CYPRUS ❬ 033

CYPRUS ❬ 034
The Cyprus Question:
Turkish Military Invasion and Occupation
republic of cyprus, ministry of foreign affairs
The coup staged by the Athens junta against
the elected government of President Makari-
os on July 15, 1974 served Turkey as a pretext
to impose its divisive plans against Cyprus.
On July 20, 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus, vio-
lating all rules of international law, including
the Charter of the United Nations. The illegal
Turkish invasion was carried out in two phas-
es. During the second phase, Turkey took
the city of Famagusta under its control and
has illegally occupied over 36% of the ter-
ritory of the Republic of Cyprus ever since.
As a result of the Turkish military invasion
and occupation, 162,000 Greek-Cypriots fled
their homes, becoming refugees in their own
country.
To this day, the occupying forces impede the
return of refugees to their homes and prop-
erty. By the end of 1975, the vast majority
of Turkish-Cypriots living in areas controlled
by the legitimate government were forced to
leave their homes and move, owing to Tur-
key’s coercive policy, to the Turkish-occupied
territory of the Republic of Cyprus.
20,000 Greek-Cypriots and Maronites chose
not to leave their homes despite the Turkish
occupation. Most of those who remained,
mainly on the Karpasia Peninsula, were grad-
ually forced to abandon the area. The num-
ber of Greek-Cypriots and Maronites cur-
rently living in the area has plummeted to
300 persons. This dramatic decrease in the
number of enclaved people is striking consid-
ering that based on the agreement reached
in Vienna on 2 August 1975, the Turkish side
would have to provide the enclaved popula-
tion with “every help to lead a normal life, in-
cluding facilities for education and the prac-
tice of their religion, as well as medical care
by their doctors of preference and freedom
of movement in the North”. In breach of this
agreement, on a practical level, the Turkish
side subjected the enclaved to constant har-
assment, restrictions on movement, denial
of access to adequate medical care, denial of
adequate facilities for education, especially
beyond elementary education, restrictions
on the right to use their property, and the
free exercise of their religious rights. It was,
thus, a deliberate policy of national cleansing,
forcing the enclaved to flee their homes.
At the same time, Turkey has implemented
a systematic policy of settlement of the occu-
pied part of Cyprus since 1974 with the mass
transfer of more than 160,000 Turks from
Turkey in order to change the demographic
profile and alter the population balance on
the island. This policy, together with driving
the Greek-Cypriot inhabitants out of the re-
gion, the destruction of the cultural heritage.
It also aims to change the balance of power
and the social fabric in the occupied part of
Cyprus and to ensure that the Turkish-Cyp-
riot leadership conforms to the policies of
the Turkish government. With the mass mi-
gration of Turkish-Cypriots from the occu-
pied territories, the total number of Turkish
soldiers and settlers is now greater than the
remaining Turkish-Cypriots.
In full accordance with Turkey’s stated goal
of partition and national segregation on the
island, on 15 November 1983, the occupying
regime unilaterally declared the so-called
“Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”, an act
which was condemned by the international
community as legally invalid. In particular, the
United Nations Security Council, in Resolution
541 (1983), rebuked this declaration, declared
it legally invalid, and called for its reversal. The
Security Council called on all states to respect
the sovereignty, independence, territorial in-
tegrity, and non-alignment of the Republic of
Cyprus and not to recognize any Cypriot state
other than the Republic of Cyprus. Seriously
concerned by the further separatist actions in
the occupied part of the Republic of Cyprus, in
violation of Resolution 541 (1983), such as the
so-called exchange of ambassadors between
Turkey and the legally invalid entity and the
planned conduct of a “constitutional referen-
dum” and “elections”, as well as the threats
of illegal settlement of Varosha and other ac-
tions aimed at further consolidating the divi-
sion of Cyprus, the Security Council adopted
Resolution 550 (1984) reaffirming Resolution
541 (1983) and, furthermore, reiterated its call
on all states not to recognize the entity estab-
lished by the separatist actions. At the same
CYPRUS ❬ 035
time, it called on them not to facilitate or in
any way assist the separatist entity. The Se-
curity Council also described the attempts for
the settlement of any part of Varosha by any
persons other than its legal residents as un-
acceptable and called for the transfer of the
area under the United Nations administration.
From a humanitarian point of view, the most
tragic consequence of the Turkish invasion of
Cyprus in the summer of 1974 is the missing
persons. During and after the Turkish inva-
sion, thousands of Greek-Cypriots were ar-
rested and held in concentration camps in
Cyprus by Turkish soldiers and paramilitaries,
operating under the authority of the Turkish
army. Also, more than 2,000 prisoners of war
had been illegally transferred and held in pris-
ons in Turkey. Some of them are still miss-
ing today. Hundreds of other Greek-Cypriots,
both soldiers and civilians (including sen-
iors, women, and children) have disappeared
in Turkish-occupied areas and their fate is
still unknown. In all these cases, there are
well-documented testimonies that the miss-
ing persons were last seen alive at the hands
of the Turkish army or paramilitary groups
acting under the direction and responsibility
of the Turkish occupying forces.

CYPRUS ❬ 036
Nicosia and Famagusta Boundaries, Walls,
or Impositions
marina maleni, thoc
The tragic events of 1974 in Cyprus and their
consequences were the canvas on which the
participants in the workshop in Cyprus cap-
tured their reflection.
The events of 1974, amongst others, led not
only to the forcible displacement of more
than a third of Cypriots from their homes and
ancestral lands, but also to the loss of loved
ones and to the still unresolved tragic issue of
the missing persons whose friends, relatives,
and families have yet to be informed of their
fate. It sparked the regional and communal
memory of people whose lifelines were cut
off forcibly and irrevocably.
The practical workshop investigating the
emergence of national mythologies and op-
posing them through reflections about me-
morials and realized works of scenography
took place in the transitional space dividing
Cyprus. Space and locations were specifically
The Venetian Walls of Nicosia and Their Great Story,
Dividing the Old City from the New
The Venitian Walls were commissioned to
Italian engineers Giulio Savorgnano and Fran-
scesco Barbaro in order to design new fortifi-
cations for the city of Nicosia, as the old-style
medieval fortifications were deemed inade-
quate to defend the city and its inhabitants
CYPRUS ❬ 037
© Markéta Fantová
chosen for their incredible connection with
history, conflict, and barriers. Walls, both lit-
eral and figurative, are built to protect, but
also to torment.
The Cyprus workshop, which took place in
Nicosia from March 30th – April 13th, 2019,
was an attempt to reflect on heritage and
memory, provoke mobility, encourage in-
depth interaction and collaboration between
different artists: emerging and established,
local and international, Greek and Turkish
Cypriots, professionals and art students.
The Ghost City of Famagusta
The Emergence Workshop included closed
group sessions, masterclasses and work-
shops, as well as a participatory installation Prior to the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus in try to the area is still forbidden to the public.
at the centre of the city, inviting audiences to 1974, Famagusta was one of the most popu- The complexity of a memorial of a city, rather
engage and interact. This creative exchange lar tourist destinations in the world. After its than that of people, along with the rich his-
has proved to be extremely valuable for par- inhabitants had fled, it remained closed. This tory and the monuments connecting it with
ticipants, organizers, and audiences alike. situation has deprived the city and the land of the capital, Nicosia, was the central theme for
life and the dialogue with its people, and en- this workshop.
The Missing Persons: The Human Side of The Story Without Politics
Human stories provide a background on both of the current flow of refugees taking place in
from Ottoman attacks. They are surrounded sides of the division of a “European state” an immense scale in relation to the displace-
by a moat. which is a unique stalemate in contemporary ment of Cypriots in the 1970’s. The enforced
Europe. The workshop addressed questions abandonment of a home, the loss of identity,
Participants were able to walk the walls from for common stories of both sides as a re- and the separation from one’s family, left in
both sides of the green line and experience sponse to local idiosyncrasies, while at the uncertainty, invokes the most radical in hu-
the barrier in its many levels. same time touching on the complex nature man behaviour and need.
 CYPRUS ❬ 039
CYPRUS ❬ 038

© Markéta Fantová © Markéta Fantová

 CYPRUS ❬ 041
CYPRUS ❬ 040

Famagusta

Nicosia
Maps of Famagusta and
Nicosia walls were given
to participants by Anna
Marangou, an archae-
ologist, who led a tour
of each city and gave
amazing talks with an
emphasis on the walls,
the history, the people,
and the traditions.
Nicosia
Famagusta

CYPRUS ❬ 042
Participants investigated the effects of cut-
ting off communication, either by the so-
called UN-controlled Green Line between the
north and the south of the island, or by walls,
such as the Venetian Walls in Nicosia and
Famagusta, and their history as “the cities
within the walls”.
The Cyprus workshop was an attempt to
reflect on heritage and memory, provoking
mobility, encouraging in-depth interaction,
and collaboration between different artists:
emerging and established, local and interna-
tional, Greek and Turkish Cypriots, profes-
sionals and art students.
In many aspects, the Green Line was chosen
as a barrier to be explored in all its various
meanings: an area heavily charged with emo-
tions, politics, military, religious differences,
culture diversities, and the antithesis of the
war-torn country with the wish of people to
communicate with their own. The Emergence
exploration caused everyone to realize how
barriers are only permanent if one accepts
them.
In order for the participants to be able to
form their own opinions, the work schedule
included many experiences to put them right
at the centre of the issues. Walks through the
old city of Nicosia, lectures and talks about
the issues and the places, short films on the
matter and discussions with their directors,
crossing the Green Line and travelling to Ri-
zokarpaso and the home of artist Toula Lia-
si. Liasi’s parents remained enclaved in their
homeland until their death, rather than be-
coming refugees. She shared her experiences
CYPRUS ❬ 043
and the story of her missing-in-action broth-
er and how that translated into her art. Per-
sonal tours of Famagusta and Nicosia, living
and creating in the old city, were only some
of the many activities participants enjoyed
and discussed:
“…amazed at how the people on the two sides
share so many things in common and yet are
divided apart…”
“…as sound and light travel through the di-
viding line, in the same manner stories, tradi-
tions, friendships and common histories imply
that there is indeed always common ground
for solutions, yet barriers are still standing be-
tween people…”
“We discovered that food and coffee is a shared
condition for communication, once more, here
more so, people seem to give special attention
to how they share these, how they allocate
importance to being hospitable and open to
guests coming to their country…”
“…but why do you accept the division and the
barrier? Isn’t this something you should resist?
I fail to see the differences, none of them seem
innate…”
During the workshop, participants got to ex-
perience local cultures, cuisine, and customs.
They also investigated the emergence of na-
tional mythologies and explored the complex
history and lasting conflicts of the divided
island. They then worked on original sceno-
graphic installations inspired by stories com- © B. Kjartan Fønstelien
ing from the participating countries.
 CYPRUS ❬ 045
CYPRUS ❬ 044

The workshops led by Dr. Yiannis Toumazis,

Sosse Eskidjian, and Marina Maleni produced
three installations under the general title Walls
and Barriers; Emergence Installations:

Walls: Listen
Paula Kalnina (Latvia); Resija Aditaja (Latvia)
The history of Cyprus has built many walls. People are still not able to break the border and
forgive the past. This installation is an attempt to encourage you to see, hear, and listen on the
other side of the wall.

© George Christoforou, Incognito Services Ltd

© B. Kjartan Fønstelien
© George Christoforou, Incognito Services Ltd
 CYPRUS ❬ 047
CYPRUS ❬ 046

Green Line
Anna Eglite (Latvia); Imge Hasoglu (CY); Petros Kourtellaris (CY); Toms Jansons (Norway)
The last divided capital of Europe, Nicosia, and its multifaceted sides of absurdity around
its checkpoints that are located along the Green Line, has been the centre of our artistic and
social research in creating this installation.

© THOC

© THOC

© THOC

CYPRUS ❬ 048
Missing People
Ingvild Isaksen (Norway); Kristina Revohh (Latvia); Nefeli Kentoni (CY);
Petros Lappas (Norway); Pia Lindstad (Norway); Refia Ors (CY); Stavri Papadopoulou (CY)
Cyprus Theatre Organization had the oppor-
tunity to host, curate, and engage in a pleth-
ora of activities throughout Emergence. As
a result, it successfully provided tools to help
nurture and develop local artists’ creative
skills, making a positive impact on their ca-
pacity to learn and grow professionally. It also
helped us develop new ways of exchange,
co-production, and organization of different
activities.
Cyprus-based performance makers benefit-
ed from international mobility and exchange,
reaching international markets, and familiar-
izing themselves with other artists’ working
environments.
Emergence placed emerging artists at the
centre of the work, acting as a platform for
the development and support of the next
generation of international performance cre-
ators: all activities were specifically designed
to encourage transnational mobility, create
links between international professionals,
and advance their professional development
within the international arts scene.
We feel the project has been immensely suc-
cessful in promoting all sorts of dialogue be-
tween ethnicities, between convention and
innovation, between the older, established,
© THOC
CYPRUS ❬ 049
successful generation of scenographers and
the younger, emerging, budding generation
of new scenographers to be.
What an amazing experience of exchange,
learning, discovering, working hard, solving
problems in unthinkable ways, enjoying the
work of other people, and acquainting our-
selves with artists and art workers from all
over the world, all in a superb setting!
Emergence has proved to be an inspirational
synergy, which helped us meet our goal to
support artists and arts professionals and to
enhance their international exposure and un-
derstanding. At the same time, participating
in such an important and complex EU pro-
ject imparted important skills to our internal
management, advancing our administrative
ability, as well as our artistic, educational, and
audience development processes.
Given the fact that we developed warm rela-
tions and ongoing contact with our partners,
we aim to keep relationships, interactions,
and exchanges beyond the conclusion of the
programme.
Arts and cultural projects can act as excellent
drivers for supporting local talent through
multinational creative exchanges.
 LATVIA ❬ 050

VIA
LAT-

LATVIA ❬ 051
 LATVIA ❬ 053
LATVIA ❬ 052

No Place
Is Empty
gundega laivina,
new theatre institute of latvia

“No place is empty” – with this thought we

have approached all activities initiated and
implemented by the New Theatre Institute
of Latvia during the Emergence project in
2018–2021. Another overarching aspect has
been understanding the place as being a col-
laborator, rather than being simply a stage or
a neutral platform. During the project, our
artists have built deep and mutually enrich-
ing relationships with several places and spa-
tial contexts in Latvia and abroad, many of
them empty or neglected for decades. Yet all
of them have contained memories, stories,
and layers of material culture that became
essential elements in the process of research
and creation.

Next to the place, our main collaborators at

Emergence project have been students and
emerging artists – those who have less op-
portunities to travel or to engage in inter-
national collaboration and extra-curriculum
professional development, at least in Latvia.
During those four years, we have involved
more than 30 young stage designers and oth-
er artists from Latvia and abroad in a num-
ber of residencies, training programmes, and
new creations, and have produced several
new artworks, all having novelty approaches
to space.
From 2018 until 202

© Didzis Grodzs

LATVIA ❬ 054
© Jim Stephenson
From 2018 until 2021, in collaboration with
Norwegian Theatre Academy/Østfold Uni-
versity and Cyprus Theatre Organisation, we
have been involved in the conception and
production of Our Gruesome Cultural Her-
itage, a collaborative student residence se-
ries in Norway, Cyprus, and Latvia. The third
and closing workshop of the series, originally
planned in Riga in the spring 2020, took place
in unprecedented conditions – during the
COVID-19 pandemic. In a situation where the
LATVIA ❬ 055
travel of students and mentors became im-
possible, we had to mobilise and re-imagine
the place-based international students’ work-
shop, finding new ways of bringing people
together with each other and with the place,
overcoming physical distance. Finally, the last
episode of the Our Gruesome Cultural Herit-
age series took place in three different sites
connecting students via zoom, phone con-
© Didzis Grodzs
versations, audio recordings, and other tools
of distant dramaturgy and artistic sharing.
 LATVIA ❬ 056

© Jim Stephenson

LATVIA ❬ 057

LATVIA ❬ 058
During the camp, Norwegian, Cypriot, and
Latvian students researched the histo-
ry, stories, and materiality of three sites –
Daugavgrīva Fortress in Riga, Håøya Island in
Norway, and Famagusta “ghost city” in Cy-
prus, all of them being abandoned territories
with nature gradually taking over their com-
plex history and filled with open and hidden
political conflicts. One of the novel aspects
of this gathering was the creation and testing
of innovative practices that can overcome
distance and transfer phenomenology of
place to someone who has never been there
physically.
Latvian participants – scenography, choreog-
raphy, visual arts, and film students from Art
Academy of Latvia and Latvian Academy of
Culture, worked with director Krista Burāne
and dramaturge Sodja Lotker in Daugavrgīva
Fortress. This military heritage site, in the pe-
riphery of Riga, where it borders with the Bal-
© Aivars Ivbulis
tic Sea, was a closed, autonomous unit from
its construction until the beginning of the
LATVIA ❬ 059
© Aivars Ivbulis
1990s, inhabited and used by military contin-
gents of different geopolitical formations. To-
day the place, once a masterpiece of military
and industrial architecture built by Swedish
Empire in the 17th Century, represents the
collision of natural evolution and humanly
erected structure, the uncontrollable and the
controlled, which stand at the core of perfor-
mance and scenography.
The workshop at Daugavgrīva Fortress was
based on two stories from the recent past
that are hidden under the wild beauty and
the state of oblivion of the site today:
Isolation
After WWII and Soviet occupation, more
than 150 families were displaced to provide
living facilities for military personnel. After
1945, the territory of the Fortress was divid-
ed into a closed military zone and a prison
camp. In the camp, people who did not sup-
port the new government were held before
being sent to Siberia.

LATVIA ❬ 060
Conflict
In 1975, a riot took place on the navy ship
“Storozhevoj” (The Guardian) protesting
against the politics of the Soviet power. The
captain was taken hostage and the ship nav-
igated towards the Baltic Sea border of the
USSR. The Soviet navy and air force were or-
dered to dump the ship, including its entire
crew. The damaged ship was brought back
and anchored next to Daugavgrīva Fortress,
but surviving rebels were arrested and sen-
tenced to death in Moscow for betrayal of
the country.
It also looked at the point of human / nature
interaction that is embedded in the site’s de-
sign and evolution over time. Designed in the
form of a six-ray star, the Fortress stands in
the territory where the city (today it’s sur-
rounded by one of the most densely pop-
ulated neighbourhoods) meets nature (the
mouth of Daugava River). Gradually taken
over by nature, the abandoned, half-vanished
structures still bear the names of stars, con-
stellations, and animals once given by its cre-
ators: Morning Star, South Pole and North
Pole, Ursa Major, Starfish, Sea eagle, Dol-
phins, Scotoplanes.
© Aivars Ivbulis
LATVIA ❬ 061
As a result, four audio performances were
created by Latvians in collaboration with
Norwegian and Cypriot students that speak
about power, historic traumas and scars,
ghosts, and frozen forms of survival from the
past that are still present and inform our per-
ception today.
Ideas and activities of the Emergence project
were in the centre of the 2019 edition of the
International Festival of Contemporary The-
atre Homo Novus that took place in Riga on
5–13 September. We delivered a special pro-
gramme, “Memory of Place”, containing an
exhibition, a festival school, and a series of
workshops, with an invitation to approach
© Aivars Ivbulis
place-based scenography as an autonomous
artistic practice that has the potential to
discover new dimensions in our relationship
with the place. Our chosen focus to work in
the territory between scenography, theatre,
architecture, and public space challenged the
professional horizons of young artists and
contributed to their capacity, knowledge, and
professional development.
© Aivars Ivbulis
© Aivars Ivbulis
 LATVIA ❬ 063
LATVIA ❬ 062

The Festival School, run by international art-

ist and architect collective TAAT (Theatre
as Architecture, Architecture as Theatre),
gathered 15 young artists from different dis-
ciplines and countries. It took place in the
long-abandoned school building in the centre
of Riga, proposing a spatial dramaturgy for
a deserted site that was based on the mem-
ory it contains, and exploring school as an
artistic practice. The group of artists inhabit-
ed the former school building and practiced
scenography as a collective effort. Inspired
by the memory and texture of the building
and its surroundings, artists created a spatial
installation called HALL07 – a theatrical ex-
perience for two people who haven’t met be-
fore and were invited to encounter each oth-
er through a sequence of spaces and senses.
The School was facilitated by the members of
TAAT collective – architect Breg Horemans,
artist Gert-Jan Stam, dramaturg Sodja Lotker,
and scenographer Dominic Huber.

Parallel to the School, an exhibition of newly

commissioned works by eight students and
recent graduates at the Scenography Depart-
ment at the Art Academy of Latvia was in-
stalled on the upper floors of the same build-
ing. Those works looked at the concept of
school as a continuous process of learning/
unlearning.

© Sandra Lapkovska
 UKRAINE ❬ 064

INE
UKRA-

UKRAINE ❬ 065

UKRAINE ❬ 066
oksana sarzhevskaya-kravchenko and
mykhailo glubokyi, izolyatsia. platform
for cultural initiatives
IZOLYATSIA is a non-profit, non-governmen-
tal platform for cultural initiatives, founded in
2010 on the site of a former insulation facto-
ry based in Donetsk. The foundation takes its
name from the original manufacturer.
In June 2014 the territory was seized by
armed representatives of the self-proclaimed
“Donetsk People’s Republic” forcing the foun-
dation to move to Kyiv.
The 9th of June, 2014, was the day when the
premises of IZOLYATSIA in Donetsk were
seized by the separatists from the so-called
“Donetsk People’s Republic” and the Founda-
tion’s site was turned into an appalling prison
in the occupied Donbas.
From the moment of its creation until 2014,
IZOLYATSIA worked in Donetsk and strove to
create systemic changes in local communities
through artistic practice. From the first events,
which only attracted a few dozen volunteers,
to large-scale projects, which were visited by
thousands of people from Donetsk as well as
guests of the city from different countries,
we tried to go as far away as possible from
the phenomenon characterized by the Foun-
dation’s name: the social, economic, cultural,
and mental isolation of the Donbas.
The continuity of this process was disrupted
by Russian aggression resulting in the loss
of IZOLYATSIA’s home in Donetsk. Much like
other displaced people, the Foundation was
forced to change residence and to transform
its work. Based in Kyiv, we undertook research,
realized projects, organized residencies, and
UKRAINE ❬ 067
opened exhibitions both in the farthest-flung
corners of Eastern Ukraine and global capi-
tals. We continued to work with the idea of
isolation, which had taken on new meaning
because of the war, which, in part, was due
to the isolation of Ukrainian politicians and
opinion makers from a balanced and complex
peace process.
For the sixth anniversary of the seizure of
the Foundation, which we named IZOLYATSIA
Day, the Foundation decided to return to the
Donbas. The city of Soledar in the Donetsk
region became our new location. From there
we work with both local activists and with in-
ternational artists and researchers, who study
anthropocentric processes. Through study of
local praxes of the Anthropocene in the con-
text of the global changes which have befallen
modern humanity, we encourage local com-
munities to work out new visions for coming
out of isolation: visions of personal life, devel-
opment of communities, and a future for the
Donbas.
Our return to the East is a logical progression
of the constant motion and changes that have
always filled IZOLYATSIA’s life. In our new jour-
ney, we pick up the symbols of our past that
are connected with the Donetsk plant “Izol-
yatsia” and remember one of the last projects
realized there. In late 2013 the Foundation
presented Pulse Room, Rafael Lozano-Hem-
mer’s interactive installation which, shortly
before the occupation of Donetsk, allowed us
to unite the hearts of many Donetsk residents
in a rhythm of freedom and harmony.
Our comeback to the region is a tribute to
the memory of those times and to those res-
idents of the Donbas who have supported us
and maintained contact all these years. Izolyatsia Factory, approximately 1960 © Izolyatsia archive

UKRAINE ❬ 068
Izolyatsia Factory
The historical genesis of the “Izolyatsia” plant
dates back to the 5th of March, 1955, when in
the outskirts of Donetsk (at that time – Stal-
ino), a factory for the production of raw min-
eral cotton was built. It all started with two
technological lines and eighty employees.
Next, two steam locomotives were moved to
the main building, in order to power fan slag
fusion. Waste products from the coal mine
12 (Yevdokievka) were used as raw materi-
als. Later on, the enterprise started using the
domain slag of the Azovstal plant. The first
reconstruction of the Izolyatsia plant took
place in 1960, when two Lancashire caldrons
and a furnace room were built. Mazut fuel oil
Izolyatsia Factory, approximately 1960 © Izolyatsia archive
was used to produce energy needed for pro-
duction. A line for the production of mineral
cotton slabs on a bituminous basis was thus
launched. The output of products was about
100 thousand cubic meters (60s). In 1964,
the technology of the production of stitched
mineral cotton wool was introduced.
The subsequent reconstruction of the plant
was carried out in 1972, allowing it to imple-
ment new technologies. New buildings for
the production of mineral cotton slabs were
built and three new technological lines were
launched. A workshop for the production of
super-thin basaltic fiber had been opened,
and, on the basis of its products, the assort-
ment of heat-insulation materials was pro-
duced: basaltic cardboard, basaltic mates,
and slabs on basaltic basis.
“Izolyatsia” clients included all thermal pow-
er-stations in the USSR, as well as military
industrial complexes, aviation, shipbuilding,
and space industries. The plant’s products
were exported to Finland, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Bulgaria, the GDR, and Vietnam,
amongst other countries. At about the same
time, many other ancillary facilities were built:
domestic complexes, a cultural centre, a din-
ing hall, a recreation base at the Azov seaside
and in Svyatogorsk, a dwelling-house, a hos-
tel, and a kindergarten. By this point, around
one thousand people were working at the
“Izolyatsia” factory.
Izolyatsia Factory, approximately 1960 © Izolyatsia archive
UKRAINE ❬ 069
The breakdown of the USSR triggered a se-
vere crisis. The volume of production was
greatly reduced due to the decrease in the
supplies formerly provided by the republics
of the former Union. Productivity was great-
ly reduced as a result of the bankrupt rail-
way station, Glasna, cutting and dismantling
the railway to the plant that had allowed the
plant to transport raw materials and produc-
tion. Consequently, the plant had to use road
vehicles, which were considerably more ex-
pensive, greatly affecting the product cost.
The International charity foundation IZOL-
YATSIA Platform for Cultural Initiatives was
created in hope to jump-start new life in the
plant.

UKRAINE ❬ 070
Revitalization of Donetsk, Kyiv, Mariupol, and Soledar
In 2010, “Izolyatsia” insulation materials facto-
ry territory had been used to establish a new
platform for cultural initiatives. The platform
inherited the name of the factory to preserve
industrial legacy and build a new foundation.
From 2010 until 2014, numerous projects
were implemented by the IZOLYATSIA Foun-
dation in Donetsk and other cities in Ukraine,
Europe, and the United States of America.
IZOLYATSIA became a member of various in-
ternational cultural networks. Its aim became
the development of the culture and creative
industries in Ukraine.
In Donetsk, IZOLYATSIA was organizing par-
ticipatory projects, residencies, workshops,
and educational programs. IZOLYATSIA host-
ed the first digital fabrication laboratory in
Ukraine, a cinema, library, canteen, as well as
numerous exhibition spaces.
In 2014, IZOLYATSIA was forced to move to
Kyiv. A new creative hub was established on
the premises of Kyiv Shipyard. The new place
in Kyiv was called IZONE and hosted a num-
ber of creative workshops, aiming to develop
a creative economy in a time of war. IZOL-
YATSIA used IZONE to implement its cultural
activities in Kyiv, too.
The main activities of IZOLYATSIA are dedi-
cated to systemic change in Ukrainian soci-
ety through the agency of cultural projects.
The foundation is developing an institution-
al environment, which promotes network-
ing between cultural agents and creates the
necessary conditions for the emergence of
new players. Through artistic practice, the
foundation aims to change public opinion
on politically sensitive themes and margin-
alized communities. IZOLYATSIA works with
themes of memory, conflict, internally dis-
placed people, ecology, the Anthropocene,
and more. IZOLYATSIA realizes projects that
lie on the boundary between modern art and
civil society, and works in the following areas:
research, site-specific projects, exhibitions,
and residencies.
IZONE became a pioneering space for emerg-
ing cultural and creative start-ups, educa-
tional programs implemented with interna-
tional partners, competitions, festivals, and
art production.
Cultural decentralization has become an
important topic for IZOLYATSIA activities.
Since 2011, IZOLYATSIA has been developing
projects in small cities around the Donetsk
region. Since the start of the war in 2014, it
became much more important to implement
cultural and educational activities in those
cities. IZOLYATSIA started a capacity building
program for emerging organizations in the
region, did a number of research projects,
and supported local activists.
One of the activities of the Emergence Pro-
ject was implemented in Mariupol. Mariupol
is a large city in the Donetsk region. It lies on
the shore of the Sea of Azov and hosts two
large steel mills and three universities. Mari-
upol is situated 50 km away from the contact
line with Russian army.
UKRAINE ❬ 071
Our partner organization, “Tyu” Platform, has
been chosen to host these activities. “Tyu”
Platform is an organization and venue that
was established by internally displaced peo-
ple from Donetsk. The Platform works with
human rights topics, supports creative youth,
and implements various arts and culture pro-
jects. “Tyu” Platform organizes educational
programs, exhibitions, performing art pres-
entations, movie screenings, etc. They also
work a lot with topics of memory and indus-
trial legacy.
Another important location of IZOLYAT-
SIA’s attention is Soledar. Soledar is a city
located in the eastern part of the Donetsk
region. It is built around salt mines that were
established in the late 19th century. The city
has great touristic and creative potential,
but, unfortunately, has a horrible connection
to the “mainland”. It is a very promising lo-
cation that IZOLYATSIA plans to develop as
a center of culture in the region. Soledar was
chosen to establish a permanent space in the
region due to a number of strategic, cultural,
and even sentimental factors. It was in the
salt mines of Soledar in 2011 that IZOLYAT-
SIA’s project created by the world-famous
Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang, titled 1040M
Underground, began. This project, as well as
other cultural interventions, formed the local
community’s perception of the potential of
culture in the process of structural transfor-
mation of industrial heritage and revitaliza-
tion of the region. IZOLYATSIA, in turn, by its
own example, and with the help of realized
art projects, has consistently researched and
implemented various practices of post-indus-
trial revitalization, always emphasizing the
decisive role of creative industries and con-
temporary art in the process. © Martin Kfieta
 UKRAINE ❬ 073
UKRAINE ❬ 072

Cai Guo-Qiang – 1040m Underground, Donetsk, 2011 © Dima Sergeev

Pascale Marthine Tayou – Make up… Peace!, Donetsk, 2012 © Ruslan Semichev

Izolyatsia territory in Donetsk drone shot, 2011 © Oleksander Kalenyak

 UKRAINE ❬ 075
UKRAINE ❬ 074

Prison

On June 9th, 2014, the IZOLYATSIA com-

plex was seized by “Donetsk People’s Re-
public”, a paramilitary group. The group
claimed to need the territory for storing
“humanitarian aid” that was arriving from
the Russian Federation and as a bomb shel-
ter. DPR immediately installed a sniper on
top of IZOLYATSIA’s slag-heap (terrikon).
The self-proclaimed “DPR” militia looted the
foundation’s premises, vandalizing property,
and removing equipment and the contents of
the foundation’s safety vault. Since July 2014,
the media has repeatedly reported that hos-
tages and illegally detained persons are being
held on factory territory by the militia of the
self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic”.
The hostages’ relatives have confirmed this
information. IZOLYATSIA’s space had been
turned into an infamous illegal prison. There
were more than 100 prisoners in this illegal
facility in 2014 and up to 70 prisoners in 2019.
According to the Office of the UN High Com-
missioner for Human Rights reports on the
human rights situation in Ukraine, Izolyatsia
prisoners have been tortured and exposed to
sexual violence.
Izolyatsia illegal prison, Donetsk, approximately 2014–2021
photo from anonymous telegram channel – Donetskyi traktorist

Izolyatsia illegal prison, Donetsk, approximately 2014–2021

photo from anonymous telegram channel – Donetskyi traktorist

UKRAINE ❬ 076
The Art of Memory
lina romanukha, izolyatsia. platform for cultural initiatives
Memory is a process, and what we are trying
to forget, we remember the most. The crea-
tion of Ukrainian history resembles the con-
stant hard drive reformatting. In this context,
it is impossible not to mention the process of
de-communisation, which has now received
another impulse in Ukraine. New builders
“reconstruct” historic streets in Kiev, and
demolish old buildings, destroying dozens of
historical monuments that were deliberately
brought to a hazardous condition. According
to curator Lucy Lipard, “Cultural amnesia is
dictated not so much by the loss of memory,
but by intentional political strategy.” In 1995,
Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Roitburd men-
tioned that “we are living at the traditional
Soviet system of cultural imitation. The sad-
omasochistic habit of living in an ideologized
society has turned into a physiological need”.
Therefore, what we call “de-communisation”
is rather symbolic revenge.
Memory is a multilayer structure. At the
beginning of 2016, IZOLYATSIA Foundation
hosted the exhibition “Reconstruction of
Memory”. Its participants were artists and
photographers who had been forced to leave
their homes as a result of the Crimean oc-
cupation and military confrontation in the
Donbas region. As a part of this exhibition,
the Krolikowski Art duo made an installation
called Decomposition of Memory. 300 pho-
tographical images were placed like a carpet
collage on the wall, where some of its parts
fell off, like tiles in old houses. Artists hinted
that memory is a grid of mathematical ma-
trix, which we fill with different images. It was
remarkable that the photos were not made in
Donetsk. Often our memories can be manip-
ulated, and we can be made to feel nostalgic
even for events that never took place.
The scientist Wilder Penfield compared the
memory to tape recordings. The more in-
tense the electric impulse, the more memo-
rable events. Often powerful shock affects
not only the mind but also penetrates to the
physical level.
The Body Formed by History
choreography workshop led by Sibrig Dogger
Performer and choreographer Sibrig Dog-
ger conducted a five-day workshop for 15
Ukrainian dancers and performers as a part
of the Emergence Project. Sibrig describes
the theme of the workshop in this way: “The
body is formed under the influence of our
history, the way of thinking about it and our
ideas about what we can do and what we
Mariupol Residency
The post-Soviet society is saturated by the
imposed conventions of behaviour. Interac-
tion with the city’s space is the basis of the
project: walk-shops by artist Alisa Olieva. She
was a participant of the IZOLYATSIA residen-
cy program. Her residence was in Mariupol –
a city located near the front-line zone of the
military conflict with Russia. Alisa works with
psycho-geography and audio-walks. The city
is her studio, where she examines the per-
sonal and public boundaries, urban chore-
ography and archaeology, emptiness, and si-
lence. Using the genre of walks as an artistic
strategy allows her to propose alternative ap-
proaches to such everyday activity as moving
within the city. Her works can take the form
of performances, city interventions, walk-
UKRAINE ❬ 077
cannot. The environment in which we live,
the immediate surroundings of our family
and friends, as well as the state in which we
grow – all of this has a profound effect on
our behavior. All intangible and material cul-
tural heritage plays a role in how we think of
our bodies, how we manifest ourselves, and
how we see our relationship with others”.
shops, audio-walks, and sound and photo-
graphic essays.
The primary impulse behind Olieva’s work is
an intention to give the participants of her
performances an opportunity to see the
usual and mundane through a new filter, to
become misplaced and lost, let the banal
and quotidian (infra-ordinary) get mingled
with the imaginary and fictional. A walk as
an artistic strategy allows for alternative ap-
proaches towards everyday actions, like wan-
dering around the city. The artist’s works are
always a response to a place and emerge
from the urban environment and interactions
with citizens.

UKRAINE ❬ 078
Invisibility
A certain reaction to the traumatic events
and the military situation in Ukraine was the
master class of the German painter and stage
designer, Andrea Riedel. Andrea shared her
experience with theatrical artists and per-
formers during a five-day workshop called
Invisibility. The contents of the workshop she
described as follows: “Chaotic and destruc-
tive situations that challenge our lives require
quick reactions and intuition. In moments
when conflict is near, we hide, freeze, or try
to be invisible. In dangerous situations, we
Permanently Temporary Solutions
Another participant of the Emergence Pro-
ject is Martin Kufet, a German photographer
with Polish roots. His photographic studies
were concentrated around the visual study
of the city as a part of his residency at IZOL-
YATSIA. Particularly, Martin was interested in
stairs and homemade designs of fixing “prob-
lem areas”. Often, the local government’s re-
action to the small repair needs at the city
(pipes, parts of stairs, holes in the road),
takes a long time and local people try to
find a temporary solution. But there is noth-
ing more stable than a temporary one and
these weird constructions become part of
UKRAINE ❬ 079
have to decide which strategy will save our
lives. In the animal kingdom, many animals
have no other choice but to escape to avoid
danger, to hide in the thickets of the jungle
or dissolve in the environment by using cam-
ouflage as a chameleon would do. Another
way of protecting oneself is a certain posture
of the body that simulates death”. These sur-
vival strategies were an idea-encouragement
to develop or create costumes that would
merge with Kyiv city’s landscape.
the city architecture. Martin Kufet’s photo-
graphs capture this inherent tendency in the
post-Soviet society to not solve the problem
in a comprehensive way, but to look for tem-
porary preventive actions that stay for years.
Memory, it is an experience. According to
some theories, humanity exists as a biolog-
ical being through the ability to convey in-
formation, to find various media, and to fix
it. Memory has a tremendous impact on our
vision of the future. By forming canons, we
are partially trying to protect ourselves from
forgetting.
Izolyatsia illegal prison, Donetsk, approximately 2014–2021
photo from anonymous telegram channel – Donetskyi traktorist
 POLAND ❬ 080

PO-
LAND

POLAND ❬ 081

POLAND ❬ 082
Heralds of a New Order
In the period […] after 1918, new countries in
Central-Eastern Europe regained independ-
ence, having only just determined their state
and national identities –
In the newly established European states,
artists joined political parties in an equally
conscious manner with an aim to influence
social change through artistic activities and
become constructors of an emerging new
order. Political activism was […] an important,
transnational phenomenon characterizing
nearly all avantgarde circles in pan-Europe.
[…] the practices of progressive artists from
Central and Eastern Europe also embraced
activism, setting for itself the important goal of
artistic influence on society, and the implemen-
tation of radical programs for modernization.
Central and Eastern Europe are regions
marked in particular by constant revision
along geographic and political lines, with their
maps seemingly drawn by the will of anoth-
er. The recipient of clever subterfuge by the
drafting of map lines in backrooms and there-
after, the clever subterfuge in backrooms of
how to erase them. Certainly, independence
is a pinnacle achievement, yet these nations
upon which their unique “national identity”
was defined, had in fact arisen from other
forces, other cultures, other kingdoms: dis-
criminate and remote. These were not short-
lived conquests made by an occupying force,
but a tenancy which spanned generations.
Even with clarity of hindsight it was a strange
POLAND ❬ 083
time, as if history skipped, making the jump
from kingdom to the modern age.
As the lines shifted one way and another,
there remained a common wish for lasting
stability, to sit comfortably within one’s bor-
ders – to have the home one always wanted.
However, there had also been a homesick-
ness for a home one never had, a home that
hadn’t been lived in yet. It was a strange case
of being an immigrant, a re-immigrant, hav-
ing re-immigrated to a land they never left. It
was a place familiar and unknown. A collec-
tive memory legend. And there was an inher-
ent necessity to acquire all the memories of
a people to try to fill the void of homeless-
ness. Surprisingly, one found the ground is
still under their feet – the settling and closing
of borders no doubt gave the sensation of fi-
nally being able to close the door, having now
a key to one’s own home.
But regardless of mindset, these are not is-
lands; while one can feel content within their
own border, the border of the neighboring
country may be viewed as suspect. The lib-
erty of one ends where the liberty of another
begins; interchanging democracy and geogra-
phy: where a country’s borders shrink, anoth-
er country’s grow. Humans are space-con-
suming. A re-imagined Russia, an expanded
Romania, a shrunken Hungary, Prussia unde-
fined, Austria obliterated, Poland re-pieced.
While perhaps sympathetic towards a com-
promise to avoid (impending) future catastro-
phes, in that there should be an agreement

POLAND ❬ 084
for a larger responsibility, an idea of Pan-Eu-
ropeanism, with the recent emergence from
a time of horrors and a past century’s expe-
riences to the contrary, one may feel hard-
pressed to trust in new allegiances.
I lift the curtain from your eyes
Let me put nickel in the nickelodeon
Brr-nyek-poot
You can start laughing! […]
“I”, an American, “J”, a Frenchman, “K”, a Russian,
“L”, a Czech, “M”, a German, “N”, a Hungarian: all
wearing their respective national costumes, seated
around a table, eyeing each other suspiciously with
distrust; now they all stand in unison, bow toward
each other, and resume their seats. […]
“G”, the worker: Proletarians unite […]
The international table illuminated by bright light.
A voice: Gentlemen! The concept of the sovereign
state…
“I” the American: Yes yes yes
“J” the Frenchman: Oui oui ouis
“K” the Russian: Da da da
“L” the Czech: Ano ano ano
“M” the German: Ja ja ja
“N” the Hungarian: Igen Igen Igen […]
“G” the worker: Proletarians of the world…
jános mácza, “a fekete kandur”
(the black tomcat), ma (today), 1921, no.9
Where war creates in itself nationalism, there
is a certain degree of nationalism necessary
as a prerequisite to wage war. With each na-
tion harboring its own collective memories,
its own local legends, there is more than
enough material to be used, reshaped, and
coerced into this hardened form.
However, if one engages in global conflict,
could one openly engage in, or wage, glob-
al-peace? Whether offered an opportunity
to rebuild the nation as it is, or to further
a larger ideal encompassing a society beyond
set borders, each is an alignment, and each
a vision of utopia. Mankind performs a ma-
jority of its actions with a sense of ordering
the world around it. This sense of order and
logical choice could even be proclaimed as
a basis for war, or rationale for war. For con-
flict and war and all its machinery could be
terrifyingly viewed as an alignment, imagined
equally to be a utopia. Both conflict and war,
utopia and peace, become closely, and dis-
turbingly, related.
On this precipice, the call to action held a du-
ality of language: that of a violent brandish-
ing of war as a means of peace, even when
waged on an artistic front:
Oh, independent hypocrisy! Freedom of masturbation!
How does it fail to disgust you, poets, such verbal
onanism?
Look! In Europe the wind already blows…
Hurl the firebrands into the keg of the powder magazine!
It’s time to blow up the Parises and Londons
Let the red rooster loose in our sweet Warsaw
Disinfect Europe with clouds of smoke. Fire is healing.
witold wandurski, “do panów poetów”
(to all those gentlemen poets), 1925
Nations do not fight battles on their own soil
for the benefit of another. Yet as an idea, the
situation could differ. The avant-garde em-
braced a Pan-European vision, even one of
globalism, and if the fight was for all, then
it was a war waged on one’s own ground,
to blow open the borders, in an attempt at
a larger peace.
War is an abstract idea until it is lived. And
the proponents of the avant-garde had lived
it. Foundational words as concrete as “home”
or “nation” had been inverted – art, often
viewed in abstract terms, was put into play
for actual social programs. Therefore, what is
left as abstract?
An attempt was made to hold for a moment
an image of the world, illustrating its possi-
bilities, embodying its far-spun legends, per-
forming some future song. It was a blending
of the abstract with the necessary: of art, of
theatre, “to paint a picture,” to make visible
the mystic and mythic. This was in a sense an
ordering, and a beautiful order with its ide-
as for use in daily life, displaying the worth
and creativity in people. These were initia-
tives encouraging self-determination which
would lead to aversion from future conflict.
It was a comprehensible vision of utopia that
promoted aesthetic sense and gave purpose,
and, through its construction, a global home.
why theatre?
because theatre is the creation where-from
the largest number of feelings stem:
it occupies our eyes and ears,
it stretches nerves,
it drives imagination,
it gratifies the instinctive sense of collective-ness
and, by unveiling the mysticism of life,
it gives hope.
bourgeois theatre pays attention to all these
factors and uses them, more or less successfully,
for mankind’s well-being,
for mankind to ignore the grief of life;
bourgeois theatre aims only to amuse.
józsef ligeti (hu) / iosif ligheti (ro),
[program-manifesto of the gtm group],
bucharest 1931-1933
POLAND ❬ 085
With all of the hands being inserted into the
nation-building, and all of the desires and am-
bitions, the cultures, and needs, and peoples,
such readily comprehensible monolithic pil-
lars: nation, government, inside, outside; even
in a liberated and functioning world these ap-
pear more easily to make sense. Push back all
the more – even calls for unity had to include
a call to “erect the barricades”. Again, there
are two sides of a fence, and watching with
distrust through it. The air is gone. The build-
ing of a “new order” became orders within
orders within orders, party structures to sup-
port, comprehend, manage, govern, organize.
This mosaic of humanity and of ideas.
Perhaps the region as a whole has always
existed as an imagined and floating map.
Floating and flowing are the base ingredients
for utopias. To the myths of the past? Leg-
ends? To rebuild what (never) was? Utopia
has its threatening side: to reach for it above
all else is to be doomed to quite a fall. After
all, we are human. For all these tried for and
heavy structures implemented, perhaps the
most stable element and base foundations all
along were imagination itself.
JESSE LARNER
POLAND ❬ 086

POLAND ❬ 087

POLAND ❬ 088
Reclaimed Avant-Garde. Utopias of Social Change
Reclaimed Avant-Garde. Utopias of Social
Change, was envisioned to bring attention to
the historical role of activism within art dur-
ing the interwar period in Central and Eastern
Europe, and to examine connections between
images and words of historical avant-gardists
which had often been erased from history
by the governing politics, of democracy re-
gained in the region, and the overall status
of art. The presentation was inspired by the
Reclaimed avant-garde research project initi-
ated by Dariusz Kosiński, and organized by
the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute;
it coincided with the Prague Quadrennial
2019 EMERGENCE exhibition.
The exhibition was comprised of video,
mounted collage, wallpaper, and an art-
book – titled respectively: Implemented
Programs 2 video loops, 2019; Believing
in Utopias collage series, mixed media,
2019; Consciously Participated wallpaper,
Interview 2019, Prague
KAMA SOKOLNICKA
I am a visual artist and am not usually in-
volved in theatre. However, the results of the
4-year research conducted by Przemysław
Strożek, the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre In-
stitute, and other friendly institutions in Cen-
tral and Eastern Europe have yielded some
very impressive material which I received to
POLAND ❬ 089
2019; Heralds of a New Order book object,
mixed media, 18 x 24 cm, 2019.
The art-book, Heralds of a New Order, was
printed as a sole copy and affixed to the ex-
hibition display. It has been made available
digitally for download in PDF format. A sub-
sequent version was printed in a short-run
edition. Further information can be found
here in the end credits.
In furtherance of the presentation itself, the
original material has been expanded here
with contemporary and reflected views in in-
terviews with visual artist Kama Sokolnicka,
and Przemysław Strożek, researcher and cu-
rator of the ongoing project. The interviews
were originally conducted in 2019, and again
in 2021, thereby providing commentary and
discussion as to how the relation of art and
politics is being shaped within the immediacy
of our times.
arrange in this space and to create a visual
abstract of the research.
The exhibition consists of my original col-
lages, the art-book (Heralds of a New Order)
presenting biographic entries of the artists
studied during the research, revolutionary
artists from the 1920s, among whom there

POLAND ❬ 090
are many excellent stage designers and ideal-
ists of Central and Eastern European theatre
stages. There is the art-book, several collag-
es, wallpaper, and video loops presented on
two CRT (Hantarex) monitors. The exhibition
presents both the manifestos of these art-
ists, and quotations that display the idealistic
and astonishing approach, so charming and
touching in the context of what came after,
and where we have ended up today. Some
of these artists were very radical. Some were
absolute romantics.
The exhibition intends to emphasize the po-
litical commitment of the researched artists.
Many of them later became disillusioned with
the system, or even semi-consciously harmed
by it. It was this romanticism, and sometimes
tragic idealism that guided me in organizing
the exposition.
To emphasize the role of women artists of
the avant-garde, I had to find a formal way to
present this. I came up with a flag made from
a pleated skirt. The skirt appears in the collag-
es, the art-book, and on the wallpaper that is
about to be assembled right now. It has been
my visual guide throughout the project. The
skirt conveys the quality of both innocence
and flagship. This intimate, inner engagement
in collectivity, in a political party, and at the
same time in theatre – this resonates with me
in quite a unique way, and I hope it shows in
my works.
I also replaced the revolutionary red with
gold, which is present throughout the exhi-
bition, because I found the red too obvious.
Besides, the entire Prague Quadrennial has
“memory” as a general theme, so I thought
that replacing red with gold would play well
with it since the distance of time makes the
past more “legendary”. Also, the gold invokes
the idealism that shines through.
The art-book exists in only one copy; this
will probably be destroyed with its viewing.
It will be available also online, which makes
it a non-contemporary form that becomes
modernized and digitized. The matter will dis-
integrate, but a file or a scan will remain. The
paper itself is essential for the book, as well
as for the research, and printing. I pay very
close attention to it in my work. I have always
been captivated by paper; I have my personal
collection of sheets – I used some of them in
the art-book. The book is a samizdat printed
copy on specially selected papers, including
some which are vintage.
Because I worked with scarce source mate-
rials, and of a poor quality, my mission was
to make them more attractive visually, or to
enhance their archival or theatrical character.
This was addressed similarly in my collages,
which, I think, interweave a lot with what you
can find in the book. Although there is more
source material in the book, which I also ap-
proached in a specific way. It is not pure doc-
umentation. It might be a margin of contribu-
tion from the visual arts.
PRZEMYSŁAW STROŻEK
The question posed by the Emergence exhi-
bition is: how to revive our heritage, rethink
the vitality of heritage in our contemporary
times, and above all, reflect on the idea of so-
cially engaged art. This issue constitutes the
theme of the exposition. For this reason, we
decided to reach out to the legacy of Cen-
tral and Eastern Europe, specifically to the
history of avant-garde theatre. We invited the
lecturers, professors, and teachers specializ-
ing in avant-garde theatre in countries such
as Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Ukraine, Ro-
mania, Czechoslovakia and Poland. We asked
them to consider what these avant-garde art-
ists from each country have in common, and
what could be attached to the idea of socially
engaged art.
We started to jointly contemplate how to ap-
proach the idea of reviving our heritage. We
noticed that when it comes to the history
of the avant-garde, most of the artists who
wanted social change, and were considering
the idea of political art, were members of po-
litical parties. Whether they were artists from
Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, or
Hungary, they felt that belonging to a politi-
cal party could be the basis for implement-
ing political change. And of course, as some
of their biographies show, they often ended
very tragically, and this political involvement
was also in a way, reflected in their subse-
quent personal tragedies. However, we were
primarily interested in utopia, in utopian
thinking, especially in their projects from the
1920s.
We chose 13 lesser-known artists from Cen-
tral and Eastern European countries who be-
lieved, to a large extent, in the power of social
and political change during those years. This
transnational perspective appears to be es-
pecially relevant here, as it exposes certain
common elements present in the thought of
the avant-garde artists of the 1920s, in all of
these countries.
POLAND ❬ 091
The first part is an academic project in the
sense that we selected artists, their biogra-
phies, and their texts about utopian social
change. The project is, on one hand, scien-
tific, as it gathers research on these less-
er-known avant-garde theatre artists who
believed that social change was possible. The
second part of the project involves visual
responses to this issue by the artist Kama
Sokolnicka, which represents, in some way,
the connections between art, politics, and
the biographies of these avant-garde artists.
Supplementary to the project is the art-book
which gathers all of the artists’ biographies
and selected manifestos, and has translated
them into English so as to allow everybody to
read them.
The artist Kama Sokolnicka was also the de-
signer of this art-book. In a very avant-garde
way, referring to avant-garde books, and to
artist’s books, she created a single copy. Every-
body can download the digital version from
the Internet. The only physical copy is present
for the whole duration of the exhibition.
The combination of scientific research
and artistic practice is appealing for many
reasons, mainly as it refreshes science and
the academic approach to given topics in the
history of the avant-garde, thus making it
more accessible. When it comes to thinking
about science digested by the visual thought
of an artist, in this case by Kama Sokolnicka,
it also illuminates how relevant these ideas
are today, and how we can compellingly relate
to them within contemporary artistic experi-
ments.

POLAND ❬ 092
2021
Since the exhibition took place in 2019, the
search for utopia has exploded diametrically
between public street and private room with
history playing the role of an immediate pres-
ent. Directed from within our private spaces,
grievances gave on to stronger reply and re-
buke. Taking to the empty streets of the pan-
demic, they explode in protest, and again are
abandoned. Across Hungary, Poland, Belarus,
Czech Republic, Russia, and Georgia, demon-
strations were launched for women’s rights,
human rights, and ecological rights. All con-
nected, intertwined, sleepless, governed, and
viewed from private spaces.
Before your window, there’s a faint light. […]
You’re falling into sleep with your eyes closed, but
from the subconscious the memories are growing
around the words and the songs you’ve seen today
here, and tomorrow there. Perhaps you read them
in exhilaration, singing in an overwhelming enthu-
siasm, perhaps they have never wounded you with
their ruthless sharpness. You have accepted them
yourself, you will not escape them, and when-
ever you close your eyes, they follow, persecute,
quench, and comfort until you know that they
have been long transformed into rhythms, move-
POLAND ❬ 093
ments, physical expression. Day after day you
leave your room, walk among people, watch them
in action, and forget about this vast universe of
your silent dreams and of yourself. You see naked,
cruel reality, you have to see it when you open
your eyes, your soul accessible. And this reality
touches you with the same power as a dream in
a small room. The multiplicity of life rises up and
spreads into you, in a form of a live dance gesture.
Man, the word, and color are the fundamental
movers of […] creativity…
katja delak, “človek, beseda, glas” (man, word,
voice), jutro (morning), january 1938
Is there a continuing thread in a fight, even
artistic, for a just and equal society today?
Can change be measured within ourselves to-
wards these extremities of nature and social
dynamics?
One such basis for the 2019 exhibition’s art-
work was an exploration of color, highlighting
both a known revolutionary red, with a re-
placement in gold. This gold held some purity
of idealism and representation of past glory of
an ideal. Is it possible during transition or exit
from any period in time to remain idealists?

POLAND ❬ 094
Interview February 2021
kama sokolnicka, przemysław strożek in conversation with jesse larner, edyta zielnik
JESSE LARNER: This direct question about
color (red and gold), is a bit of a false ques-
tion, because I’m asking everybody, if your
personal visions of utopia have remained the
same after this time that we have just gone
through… You could almost ask: was it ob-
jective to have your viewpoint, based on what
we’ve actually lived through, or, are living
through? We’re trying to see what time and
place we’re living in now. Would the project
be put together in the same way? Have we
changed enough that we can actually envi-
sion ourselves, or envision the past as it was?
PRZEMYSŁAW STROŻEK: For me, first of all,
it was an academic project, so I believe that
it would remain the same. Of course, 2019
and 2021 are different, because of everything
that has happened during these two years;
we are living in different times. Everything
has become even more digital – there are not
so many personal contacts between people.
But, for me, the project itself didn’t change
much. I don’t think that what is happening
now would affect the topic. Returning to
the question: why in the 1920’s were artists
so keen to join political parties? We need to
keep in mind that the artists included in the
book didn’t know how, or what, communism
actually looked like as a state of politics after
1945. Therefore, I think that for this project,
Kama’s selection of a golden color is justified
since these countries were not ‘red’ at that
time. What then happened after the war was
a totally different story: more a dystopia than
a utopia… at the time when those countries
were just becoming communist.
JL: I still would stay on with this same ques-
tion, because it’s not only about the pandem-
ic that we’ve lived through; there has been
a lot of political upheaval. Therefore, even if
we objectively read about the past – even if
this is an academic work – we haven’t lived
through communism, as you said, and these
artists hadn’t yet at the time actually experi-
enced the communism that arose later. Now
we can read back onto, not just the events,
but can somehow project ourselves into the
feelings of these artists of the time, which,
I think, was not as possible to imagine before.
PS: I had been so focused on the global pan-
demic in my previous response that I com-
pletely forgot to mention the importance of
the global civil rights movements. So yes, you
are absolutely right especially when we think
about what is going on in Poland – and of
course in the United States, which I think is
a different story, with Black Lives Matter –
with all that has happened politically dur-
ing the last years. In Belarus there has been
a constant fight for freedom. People are out-
raged, for their liberty. In my country there
is a stronger voice now from younger gen-
erations who’d like to express their liberty,
as well as the movement fighting for wom-
en’s rights. And here you are absolutely right:
this kind of a connection with Kama’s work
and the skirt, is more than justified.
KAMA SOKOLNICKA: I think that today,
with all of these social movements, and all
the social disobedience, these activists, the
people who are really visible and have some
voice to be able to speak in the name of
a larger group of people, for their rights, as
with women’s rights in Poland, are exactly on
the opposite side as those during the times
of the avant-garde. The artists we have been
talking about were pro-party and pro-pol-
itics, and in this regard, today, we operate
from much more disillusioned positions.
Everything is political, of course, but wom-
en’s rights activists don’t want to go to the
political parties structured as they are now.
In this sense, everyone is political. There is no
explicit political current aside from democra-
cy for the protesters to concur with, howev-
er, there is a clear stance to be against. This
is a major difference between now and the
pre-WWII era. Also, it’s more ingrained inside
of society now, whereas before, the path to
engagement only existed from within politi-
cal parties.
PS: …when I think for example about the
Women’s Strike (Strajk Kobiet)… and about
their postulate, I believe they are very close
to creating a certain political organization to
demand change…
KS: It would be great!
PS: …I am not sure how many artists are sup-
porting…
KS: Come on!
PS…how many artists are in the organiza-
tion itself. But I think it is a self-organized
POLAND ❬ 095
protest, or movement of women, which, I think,
has never existed on such a scale before in
Poland.
KS: For me as a female artist, and Polish,
I never forget about all of these women who
spoke in the name of feminine minds. Thanks
to them I can, for example, have my profes-
sion – 100 years ago it wouldn’t have been so
easy. I’m always conscious of this, and may-
be that’s why I made this flag with the skirt.
It’s an attempt to highlight the presence of
female artists in Heralds of a New Order. This
is a connecting thread between then and now
I would detach it from the motive of being in
the party or not… It’s more about civil rights.
EDYTA ZIELNIK: When listening again to the
manifestos from the exhibition, now in this
post-pandemic and current political reality,
the skirt in a way seems to be a prophet-
ic symbol. Originally, the texts for me were
academic, as Przemysław said, and via Ka-
ma’s work I could connect with them. Now
I have the impression that they don’t seem so
theatrical anymore. In today’s reality they’ve
become more natural. And this color, red, we
have as a symbol of protest here in Poland.
This revolutionary, theatrical, core of the ma-
terial became part of our reality. I lost the dis-
tance, and I lost this gold-layer…
“The progress of civilization and technology
has changed man and altered his optic.”
teresa żarnower

POLAND ❬ 096
KS: The skirt-flag is in a meaningful gray-
scale. The red used currently in protests
means: this is now. The red used a century
ago was a then-now. For the project we were
researching that era, the distance of time.
The golden color used in a few works stress-
es the utopian character of the avant-garde.
It was thought of to visually help prevent
mixing too much then with now. One collage
with women and flags, links the skirt-flag
with the appearance of a golden-greenish
piece of fabric. This green color marks to-
day’s needed direction. So this gold color
might be the definition of the avant-garde
utopian approach: as an artist, as a believer
in “pure communism”, through a party, and
through politics, you can change something.
Their position is almost unthinkable for me,
from today’s perspective…
JL: Do you believe this personally?
KS: No. I’m too realistic…
JL: That’s quite a statement…
KS: What I believe in personally is passive
resistance, and civil-disobedience. Society
pressing on politicians can achieve some-
thing. I also think that in global times, which
are so different from those of the revolution,
I don’t believe in the way through political
parties. Politics today are a commercial thing,
there’s too much business in it, and too much
money. However, as a society, and as individ-
uals, we can still do a lot. We can take the
voice from politicians, ignore them, and start
to live our lives. As far as I can remember in
the biographies of these artists, only a few
of them made a real “party career”. Just one
or two guys of course were prospering well
in the communist parties, or under dictator-
ships. But most of them were leading rather
shy lives. Some of them had to flee to oth-
er countries. I think Teresa Żarnower’s case
stayed with me, as the sad one, because she
ended up in the USA trying her best to find
her place in this super capitalistic, super mon-
ey-centered society of the 1950s or 1960s.
She became close with Peggy Guggenheim…
Przemysław, tell me if I’m wrong… but even
this connection couldn’t help her. And as
I remember she died very lonely, and rather
poor. The story is significant.
PS: Yes, when she came to the US, she was
not making political art at all. Her works were
completely different from those in Poland
while a member of a communist party. I think
what Kama is saying here is very important,
but also, we talk about political upheaval, we
talk about collectives, about local and global,
but also what is important, and is visible in
Kama’s artworks, are such personal stories.
The people who were driven by this utopian
vision. It ended badly for most of them.
The will to explore the unexplored has been,
and will be, the motor of creative practice.
It can take on various forms of human inquiry
(religion, science, social movements, art) by vari-
ous means. […]
Today’s era of living through continuous social
change resulting from the immeasurable develop-
ment of
CIVILIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY
HAS CHANGED THE MAN
AND
HIS
FIELD OF VISION […]
teresa żarnower, chęć zbadania niezbadanego (the
will to explore the unexplored), katalog wystawy
nowej sztuki w wilnie (catalogue of the new art
exhibition in vilnius), 1923
PS: Returning to the manifestos, I found
them in some terms both radical and roman-
ticized. Especially when we think about the
working class as defined then, which was
very much romanticized in those manifestos.
For instance, as Wandurski at that time was
envisioning a way to create a new proletarian
culture, for him, this so-called “new culture”
should be created by workers. The worker
didn’t need to only work in the factory, he
should also be a creator of “new” cultural
specific phenomena such as the workers’
theatre, workers’ poetry, workers’ photogra-
phy, or workers’ choir. I think this kind of shift
is incredibly important. That “The Worker” is
a creative personality – he co-creates culture,
and, according to Wandurski, is the only true
“artist”. I found it very fascinating on one
hand…
POLAND ❬ 097
KS: That these claims, or statements by Wan-
durski sound so harsh, that workers are the
only ones who can create art, real art…
EZ: Yes, in fact I feel it even more today, this
mix between romantic, utopian, and realis-
tic concepts, radical planes, and also, in the
end, an act of converting ideology to reality
in a way; a way of creating this new reality.
We are constantly saying now that we have
to re-invent our reality, we have to find new
tools for communication, new tools for artis-
tic expression. It is this act of changing ideol-
ogy and idealistic utopian visions into reality.
But in the end, what seems utopian, is not
utopian from other perspectives.
PS: Kama gave a good example of Wandur-
ski being harsh with his concepts, because he
was about a total revolution of the working
class that would suppress the Bourgeois. So
we need to have it in mind that they were
thinking about armed revolution, about pre-
paring workers to revolt against the Bour-
geois in a bloody way. We have to keep this
in our minds.
KS: That was not romantic.
PS: That was not romantic at all…
 POLAND ❬ 099
POLAND ❬ 098

Credits
The event was part of the international three-year project
“EMERGENCE. From shared experience to new creativity.
Living Heritage/Reframing Memory” that connects 8 part-
ner organizations from Europe and Asia; organized by
the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute. The project is
co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the Eu-
ropean Union.
Przemysław Strożek, PhD, Institute of Art Polish Academy
of Sciences, Associate Researcher and Curator at Archive
of Avant-gardes – The Dresden State Collections
culture.pl/pl/autor/przemyslaw-strozek
Jesse Larner, theatre director and dramaturg,
freelance writer and translator

Reclaimed Avant-Garde. Utopias of Social Change, Edyta Zielnik, producer, Zbigniew Raszewski
exhibition 2019 Theatre Institute.
Curator: Przemysław Strożek
Artistic concept, design and artbook Graphics
Heralds of a New Order: Kama Sokolnicka Page images (1), (2), (3)
Believing In Utopias
Academic cooperation: Martin Bernátek, Alexandra Chiri- collage series
ac, Anca Hatiegan, Anna Hejmová, Zoltán Imre, Jan Jiřík, mixed media, 2019
Suzana Marjanić, Tomaž Toporišič, and Hanna Veselovska
Editors: Krystyna Mogilnicka, Jesse Larner Page image (4)
Original sources of texts: Scarlat Callimachi, Irina Deeva, Work detail of:
Ferdo Delak, Katja Delak, Sandu Eliad, Nina Košická, Consciously Participated
Miroslav Krleža, József Ligeti, János Mácza, Ödön Palasovsz- wallpaper, 2019
ky, Iacob Stenberg, Witold Wandurski, Teresa Żarnower and
Believing In Utopias
Audio: Jaśmina Polak collage series
Production: Maria Bogdaniuk, Edyta Zielnik, the Zbigniew mixed media, 2019
Raszewski Theatre Institute
Research founded upon: Reclaimed Avant-garde – Map detail
a project initiated by Dariusz Kosińki on behalf of the A.J. Nystrom and Company. The new
Zbigniew Razewski Theatre Institute in 2017, and involving Europe and the new world. Map. 1919.
collaboration between scholars and theatre centres from Norman B. Leventhal
the countries of Central-Eastern Europe. Map & Education Center,
https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/
The art-book Heralds of a New Order was printed as commonwealth:4m90fn773
a sole copy, though available for download in PDF
format (www.instytut-teatralny.pl/upload/files/ Texts
heralds_of_a_new_order.pdf). Strożek, Przemysław, and Sokolnicka, Kama, et al.
A subsequent version was printed as a short-run Heralds of a New Order. Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre
edition and available by request from Instytut Teatralny. Institute, Warsaw, 2019.

ed. by Zoltan Imre, Dariusz Kosiński, Reclaimed Avant-

Essay, and Interviews 2019, 2021
Kama Sokolnicka, her practice is based in montage as
a conceptual process. It stands in for the movement of
thoughts. Observing what happens between the transmit-
ter and receptor, her works are uplifting remarks on
imperfection, and layperson’s mistakes in reading,
listening and understanding. kamasokolnicka.net
garde: Space and Stages of Avant-garde Theatre in Cen-
tral-Eastern Europe. Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute,
Warsaw, 2018.
All excerpts of the original manifestos taken from Heralds
of a New Order. Additional quotation of Teresa Żarnower
from Reclaimed Avant-garde: Space and Stages.
 UNITED KINGDOM ❬ 100

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UNITED KINGDOM ❬ 102
Making The Invisible Visible…
kate bailey, v&a
Emergence invited curators and practition-
ers to make the invisible visible, and to create
new platforms, perspectives and places for
scenography.
The V&A Department of Theatre and Perfor-
mance developed three projects in response
to the PQ Emergence Brief. This article de-
scribes this work in greater depth and con-
siders the opportunities activated by the PQ
Emergence project to encourage discourse
and collaboration with European partners.
The V&A welcomed students from the Emer-
gence partners to participate in a series of
site-specific workshops across the muse-
um’s spaces. Led by Sophie Jump the stu-
dents considered the stories and the context
of the museum’s objects as a trigger point
for innovative performative and scenograph-
ic creative responses. The students’ ideas
challenged perceptions of the museum’s cul-
ture and heritage, providing new contexts to
objects and spaces.
C V&A
UNITED KINGDOM ❬ 103
Picking up on emerging trends from PQ 2019,
the V&A hosted a symposium on Digital Per-
formance Design which provided a platform
to explore how new ideas and technologies
are pushing the boundaries of scenogra-
phy to create immersive experiences across
physical and virtual space. The programme
included international speakers working at
the cutting edge of sound, image and virtual
and mixed realities to share their practice and
consider future possibilities.
A film installation on the Edinburgh Festi-
val captured the impact of an international
festival as an expression of porous borders.
Curators considered the festival as a stage
to capture different perspectives on cultur-
al exchange across cities, countries, cultures
and regions. This included gathering views on
Brexit, a focal point for discussion across the
UK cultural sector, from theatre practitioners
to audiences. Unframed, a multi-layered ka-
leidoscopic film directed by Emily Harris was
presented at PQ 2019 and will be an extraor-
dinary record of this moment in time.
C V&A
C V&A

UNITED KINGDOM ❬ 104
Design Heritage Workshops
The V&A museum was founded in 1852 as
a museum of manufactures but with edu-
cation at its core. Henry Cole, the first Di-
rector, declared that the Museum should be
a “schoolroom for everyone”. Its mission was
to improve the standards of British industry
by educating designers, manufacturers and
consumers in art and science. Since its incep-
tion the V&A has acquired and displayed the
best examples of art and design, but the crea-
tion of the museum itself was also intended to
demonstrate exemplary design and decoration.
As part of the Emergence project, the
V&A hosted groups of European students
to participate in design heritage workshops.
Turning the designed museum spaces into
a stage for creativity and debate. Over five
days, the students participated in workshops
led by V&A curator Helen Gush and theatre
designer, Sophie Jump. They visited the Thea-
tre and Performance collections and archives
and were given the opportunity to work to-
gether in mixed groups to create new work in
response to the museum galleries and space.
The students discovered stories behind ob-
jects and created thought provoking perfor-
mances that transformed the museum into
a stage as part of the late Friday Opening.
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These contemporary, bold interventions in-
cluding a re-framing of Trajan’s Column for
visitors; a moment of reflection in front of an
image of Notre Dame; and site-specific per-
formances in the Medieval and Renaissance
galleries. The installations experienced by
museum visitors were powerful and engag-
ing, questioning the relevance, provenance,
meaning and interpretation of objects.
These creative provocations by a range of
international students were extremely rele-
vant and highlighted some issues which are
reflected in the wider post-colonial discourse
taking place across many European muse-
ums. The V&A is a museum born from an im-
perial past with an extensive collection that
has expanded in line with the growth of the
British Empire. As a 21st century museum, the
V&A is constantly considering how to share,
interpret and collect objects, and to provide
opportunities for contemporary and diverse
perspectives and voices. As the V&A con-
tinues to tackle and make visible challenging
parts of history and collections, the student
responses using creativity and performance
introduced some interesting ideas and ques-
tions – triggering new perspectives and visi-
tor experiences within the museum galleries.
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Friday Forum:
Performance Design in the Digital Age
PQ 2019 revealed a plethora of new, digital
work from VR to soundscapes. This sympo-
sium engaged an audience of emerging, cre-
ative practitioners and students to consider
the digital in performance from the body to
the stage, from the virtual to the physical.
The first session focused on 36Q˚, an ongoing
art-technology project of the Prague Quad-
rennial. Its second edition was showcased at
the Prague Quadrennial of Performance De-
sign and Space in June 2019. 36Q˚ 2019 was
an experimental, interactive environment
that filled the entire space of the Industrial
Palace Small Sports Arena in Prague. The
project brought together designers working
across lighting, video and projection, sound,
creative coding, virtual and augmented re-
ality and tactile environments and sought
to experiment with the shifting boundaries
between the “non-material”, the “virtual”
and the “real”. Speakers included Markéta
Fantová – Artistic Director, PQ, 36Q˚ project
initiator and Co-Curator of 36Q˚ 2019; Rob
Kaplowitz – Sound Designer for both 36Q˚
2016 and 2019; Jan Rolník – Co-Curator of
36Q˚ 2019; Tereza Stehlíková – Tactile Envi-
ronment Lead Artist, 36Q˚ 2019
A second session explored Staging Places:
a series of case studies presented by the
Society of British Theatre Designers (SBTD)
coinciding with a display in the V&A Theatre
and Performance Galleries. Chaired by the
exhibition curator, Fiona Watt, this session
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explored recent work across different types The presentation led by Jenny Melville, de- interdisciplinary team shared the process
of places made by leading designers based in signer of Invisible Cities and Head of Archi- of designing new models of experience that
the UK. Speakers included Simon Daw, set, tecture at 59 Productions reflected on the integrate technology within challenging, his-
costume and video designer; Nina Dunn, Vid- process of building a performance venue in toric spaces and creating installation based
eo and Projection Designer; Kate Lane, inter- the vast, industrial Mayfield Depot, part of narrative worlds for live performance.
disciplinary artist and scenographer; Tupac Manchester’s historic railway stations. The
Martir, multimedia artist, visual designer and
creative director.
The third session focused on the Digital and
the Body, chaired by Daniel Felstead, London
College of Fashion. The interdisciplinary talks
prompted a range of innovative discussions
by artists and fashion designers pioneering
approaches to technology in their work. The
session demonstrated the potential of Aug-
mented Reality as a medium for scenography
and as a device for mixing realities; creating
the bridge between the individual, the real
space and the virtual. A presentation by Da-
mara Inglês, Creator of Fashion Media and
Wearable Digital Experiences described how
the future of fashion is a symbiosis between
biological bodies and virtual environments.
And in the final session 59 Productions pre-
sented their ambitious work on designing
Invisible Cities, a site-specific performance
premiered at the Manchester Internation-
al Festival in May 2019. A spellbinding mix
of theatre, choreography, music, architec-
tural design and projection mapping, In-
visible Cities imagined a succession of
alternative worlds – and reimagined what is pos-
sible in live performance outside of theatres.
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Unframed © Emily Harris

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UNFRAMED/Emerging Dialogues
at the Edinburgh International Festival
by emily harris
In 2018, curators from the V&A went to the
Edinburgh Festivals with the aim of captur-
ing the historical and contemporary signifi-
cance of the festival city. Since its founding
in 1947, Edinburgh has been a locus for the
UK’s engagement with international theatre
and performance cultures, a platform for the
circulation of ideas on an international scale,
a place where people travel to from around
the globe.
Edinburgh Festivals is also a place where
aesthetic borders are tried, tested and trans-
gressed – borders between art forms, be-
tween the stage and its audience, the show
and backstage, the streets and the venue.
Performers fill the streets and audiences are
often part of the show. The city itself be-
comes the stage – a veritable kaleidoscope of
theatrical expression from across the globe
all meeting, interacting and exchanging in
one place.
To represent the spirit of these porous bor-
ders and the richness that arrives from com-
bining manifold points of view, the film team
captured spaces, performances and inter-
views from multiple perspectives, using vary-
ing lenses, frame rates and shot sizes. The ed-
iting process gave a distinctive shape to the
film through the use of collage, a technique
that subverts the frame of the screening
and disrupts the idea of borders within the
cinematic construct. Each image becomes
dependent on its relationship and juxtaposi-
tion to the other images sharing the screen
real-estate.
This creates a network of borders across the
screen, with images sitting side by side and of-
ten overlapping. The brain visually permeates
these borders and identifies a composite sin-
gle image. Within each collage something –
a person, a car, a hat – traverses across the
borders and travels across the screen.
In the final installation presented at PQ 2019,
the film spills into the physical space in the
form of the set model, crossing from 2D to
3D. The two are linked as the film spills into
the physical space in the form of a set mod-
el. Visually the two are linked by continuing
action and setting from the film but also in
form as the construction of the set model it-
self which resembles the film’s collage effect
with its cut card assembly aesthetic. The fin-
ished set model is woven back into the film,
bringing it to life with light, shadow, move-
ment and a perspective only possible with
the use of macro lenses. The results blur the
borders of creation adding into the conver-
sation the question of what was conceived
first, the film or the set.
The content focuses on the work of two art-
ists whose work was being showcased at the
Edinburgh festival – Akram Kahn and Rob-
ert Carsen. Both creative practitioners were
chosen for this installation not only because
they were performing or directing produc-
tions at the Edinburgh Festival but specifi-
cally because the subject matter they were
tackling on stage with their shows Xenos and
A Beggar’s Opera reflected the very theme
of borders that we were exploring within this
exhibition/film. This was particularly poign-
ant against the backdrop of responses to
Brexit expressed at the 2018 festival.
Sound plays a huge role in all of this. Sound
not only gives context to the visuals but was
presented in a way that defies the frame in
line with the visual concept. The sound was
designed so that individual elements from
the film were on separate speakers so that
depending on the physical orientation of the
viewer, the sonic perspective changes. There-
fore, unlike viewing a normal film, a viewer
would not get the full composite sound from
a single vantage point and was encouraged
to seek out multiple perspectives experienc-
ing the film and the set model.
Collaborating with European Partners on the
Emergence project over the last three years
has been inspiring and thought provoking. It
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has been great to listen, to observe, to share,
to reflect, to question and to imagine, col-
lectively, at a time when the world has seen
enormous change. Our specific scenography
projects have encouraged research, dialogue
and creativity around issues relating to bor-
ders, identity, heritage and technology. Dur-
ing the conclusion of this project, we have
witnessed how the invisible Covid-19 virus
has visibly impacted all our lives. In particular,
its devastating impact on the performing arts
and on our opportunities to come together in
real life. We have deeply missed the physical
encounters felt when humanity gathers but
have had to adapt to survive and found crea-
tive and scientific ways of collaborating virtu-
ally. The Emergence project has helped make
the invisible visible, strengthened global net-
works and encouraged our solidarity across
borders, cultures, countries and regions.
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LIC
CZECH
REPUB-

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Prague Exhibition Grounds
markéta fantová, arts and theatre institute/prague quadrennial
The Prague Quadrennial of Performance
Design and Space is the largest internation-
al exhibition and festival event dedicated to
scenography, performance design, and the-
atre architecture. Since 1967, PQ has been
an exchange, networking, and educational
platform exploring the best works in scenog-
raphy and design for performance through
exhibitions, festivals, workshops, perfor-
mances, symposia, educational events, and
residencies.
At the very heart of PQ are exhibitions ex-
amining the current state of performance
design and theatre space. But it is the festi-
val that brings life, vibrant new inspiring mo-
ments, and career changing opportunities.
The Emergence project touches both areas,
the Emergence exhibition shows how the
places across Europe inspired new works and
the festival shows new works created by the
Emergence concept.
PQ 2019 took place at the Výstaviště Indus-
trial Palace and Prague Exhibition Grounds.
This place and the surrounding areas have
a rich history. Covering an area of 35 hec-
tares and dominated by the Industrial Palace
designed by renowned architects Friedrich
Münzberger and František Prášil. The Ex-
hibition Grounds were created and opened
for the 1891 Great Exhibition, went through
many changes, and are now a kaleidoscope of
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exhibition architecture from various eras.
Some chapters of the history of this place
are well known, such as its celebratory mo-
ments of the opening, countless fairs, and
important trade shows, while some memo-
ries seem to have been purposely forgotten
and disappeared just like the left wing of
the Industrial palace after the unfortunate
2013 fire. During the Second World War, in
a place nearby, where the Mama Shelter ho-
tel currently stands, was a deportation sta-
tion inside wooden pavilions of the so-called
Radio Fair to gather Jewish families awaiting
transport to Lodz and Terezín from a near-
by train station, Bubny. Since 1941, at least
45,513 people went through that place to the
concentration camps. Under Communism,
the palace and its surroundings were used
for political meetings of the Communist Par-
ty and in 1949 the space of the central hall
of the Industrial Palace witnessed a meeting
that added Czechoslovakia on the map of
countries with a totalitarian government.
This location hosted the first PQ in 1967 and
all following editions, with an exception of
1991, 2011, and 2015. PQ utilized many of the
available spaces and dug into the grounds,
rich with memories of both joy and dark mo-
ments. Many of its projects fully engaged
with the space and saw them as a new sce-
nographic opportunity.
PQ 1971 Opening, Expo 58 Czechoslovak Pavilion © Vilém Sochůrek
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Prague Exhibition Grounds, 1938

Prague Exhibition Grounds, 1956 Jewish Transportation © Jaroslav Čvančara


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The Central Hall of the Industrial Palace,
a place that witnessed the dark era of com-
munist meetings where the censorship of
art was decided upon, became the main hub
of all PQ 2019 activities and an open forum
where the atmosphere was made not only by
performers, but by everyone who came to
spend their time in this shared space. Young
emerging designers had an opportunity to
seek guidance, ask questions, and discuss the
newest trends with established professionals,
each other, and/or members of the public in
the morning Practice Exchanges. Anyone
wishing to see even more of performance de-
sign or looking for a collaborator, spent some
time at the Portfolio Library, where designers
were eager to share their work with others.
The Central Hall of the Industrial palace was
designed to be the main meeting space and,
like in 2003, the beating “heart” of PQ. It was
a space where designers, artists, performing
arts professionals, students, and the public
shared thoughts and ideas, forged new friend-
ships, looked for new inspiration, and found
future professional connections. It was the
main space where we celebrated the creative
process of performance design: the power of
human imagination, the ability to transform
ideas into tangible reality offering a unique
ephemeral moment of immersive experience,
and moments of reflection through sharing
of gained knowledge.
Two Central Hall Performance Space and
Best Publication exhibitions provided food
for thought and drew the passers-by to linger
in the space. A fleet of parked vans, an exhi-
bition designed by the Okolo Collective, ex-
posed precious cargo coming from many dif-
ferent places around the world. Films of new
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performance spaces that grew in the past six
years even in the most unexpected of places
such as a dangerous street in Bagdad, under
the Thames River, in the middle of the woods,
or on the roof of a building in Israel proved
how inventive and diverse the work of per-
formance space architecture can be.
The field of red blocks held the best perfor-
mance design publications, available for an-
yone to flip through its pages. PQ was also
very proud to host a series of book signings,
offering PQ audiences the opportunity to
meet authors of major publications, such
as Olivia Lomenech Gill or the winner of the
best publication award Donatella Barbieri.
The Central Hall was also the main space for
PQ curated performances, costume fashion
shows, workshops, and debates with exhi-
bition curators. Taboo Collection, a perfor-
mance and a fashion show in one, introduced
forbidden topics in an openly provocative
way. Body, sex, gender, blood, sickness, death,
horror rhymes for children, and other sensi-
tive topics inspired by internal and external
taboos were a feast for the eyes and the im- Central Hall © Jan Hromádko
agination. The spectacular fashion concert
that combined the works of costume design-
er Fruzsina Nagy and music conducted by
Dóra Halas conquered the space of Central
Hall three times, each time attracting a larger
audience. Emergence: Festival was followed by a 2-day between the designer and the maker. The
Costume Live! open forum style workshop hands-on participation by the workshop at-
On 12 June, the PQ Studio: Results Driven dedicated to the designer-maker collabo- tendees uncovered the most common chal-
Workshops moved from DAMU to the Cen- ration organized by renowned costume de- lenges faced, and triumphs achieved, during
tral Hall and installed their work in an “open signer Simona Rybáková. The two-day activ- the process of creation. All costumes that
workshop presentation” format during the ity featured maker-style hands-on costume were the result of the workshop became an
day leading to an evening of public perfor- prototyping, introducing different creative installation, changing part of the Central Hall
mances, costume shows, and installations as approaches and demonstrating collaboration space into a live gallery.
part of the Emergence Festival.

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Emergence Exhibition © Alžběta Jungrová
Emergence Exhibition © Alžběta Jungrová
Site Specific Performance Festival © Jan Hromádkó
Taboo Collection © Kryštof Kalina
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The action from the Central Hall was also
meant to spill over to the space of the Emer-
gence Exhibition by showing results of two
space-changing actions based on two work-
shop projects.
The first was called “The Quest – Performing
with the Ghost” This project showed photo-
graphs of a projects examining and mining
abandoned sites in a quest for the illusive,
mystified, and highly layered spirit of the
place (aka genius loci). The second project,
called “Scaling-Up! Transfer Your Production
from the Studio to a Larger Theatre”, took
designers through guided studio work and
site visits as part of a workshop and exam-
ined the process of transferring their work
from smaller to larger spaces.
All of these Emergence workshops and pro-
jects inside the Central Hall connected art-
ists with the international and local visitors,
reaching 70,000 audience members from 82
different countries.
Similarly shared were all the outdoor land-
scapes of the Exhibition Grounds, adjacent
to Stromovka Park where Site Specific Per-
formance Festival was a showcase for de-
sign-led, site-specific performances by new
and established international artists and
companies.
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Site Specific Performance Festival © Alexander Dobrovodský


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Curator of the Site Specific Performance
Festival Sophie Jump wrote:
“Ranging from intimate or participatory expe-
riences to large spectacles, the packed Festival
schedule incorporated theatre, dance, perfor-
mance art, storytelling, costume, music, sound,
installation and new technologies from around
the world. The work chosen reflected the diver-
sity of site-specific performance with the crite-
ria of responding to or highlighting the site in
some way.
Site Specific Performance Festival © Kryštof Kalina
Although the ways that they were presented
and encountered varied enormously, each piece
of work in the Site Specific Performance Fes-
tival encouraged audiences to experience the
complex, interlocking layers of the sites; wheth-
er historical, political, social, aesthetic, man-
made, natural, tangible or intangible. Through
very different means they all suggested new
ways to behave in the space, new ways to look
at it and new memories to have about it.”
Fragments was a new exhibition dedicated to
scenographic memories and to artists who
spent most of their life shaping the profession
of performance design in different countries
around the world. This exhibition showed
the memories of performances through ar-
tefacts such as models, drawings, costumes,
and other design works. We could encoun-
ter part of important memories that help us
understand the essence of the environment
and the eras in which they were created. Par-
ticipating countries have selected only one
artist and one item showing the most iconic
or breakthrough set, costume, lighting, pro-
jection, or sound design by one of their most
celebrated “Living Legends” of performance
design whose work keeps inspiring new gen-
erations of artists and audiences.
Curator of Fragments Klára Zieglerová said:
“In our busy professional lives, we tend to focus
on our own work, our own process, working in
our own regions and so what inspired my work
on Fragments was a curiosity to find out about,
and get familiar with the work of the most in-
fluential living designers from countries all over
the world. Not only to see their work, but to
hear and try to understand their motivations,
inspirations and their struggles.
I had two goals for the Fragments exhibition.
One was to exhibit the work of these influen-
tial designers in the best possible way. This
was challenging as we decided to only exhibit
a single fragment of their work but the natural
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tendency is always to do the impossible: to try
to recreate the past, to try to exhibit the actual
experience, to exhibit as much from the cho-
sen production as possible. By choosing to only
display a fragment we sidestepped the desire
for a full explanation. I was curious what kind
of dialog there will be not only between the
performance fragments and the looming sand-
stone sculptures at the Lapidarium. What hap-
pens when you place the best work by the best
artists in one space? The pieces we received to
exhibit were so diverse that it was hard to see
a common thread. What I realized was that
when taken out of their context, these frag-
ments from past performances take on a new
life, in their new shape and in their new environ-
ment. They are observed as objects and the ex-
hibition visitor created their own, new context
for them. They morph into a new art form, they
become sculptures, installations.
My other goal was to give the artists who were
able to come to Prague in person a platform
to speak about their work, to recognize them
and celebrate them. This happened in the form
of Gallery Talks, where each artist was given
a space to speak about why they chose that
particular object for the exhibition and about
the context of the performance the exhibit-
ed fragment was a part of. With the mind of
handing over the baton to the next generation,
we also conducted audio recordings where
a young artist is able to ask questions about
the various landscapes, be it political, social or
even geographical that influenced the work of
the selected performance design legends. “
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Site Specific Performance Festival © Kryštof Kalina


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Site Specific Performance Festival © David Kumermann
The Prague Quadrennial, in connection with
the Fragments artists, participated in an
on-going project that is reaching beyond ac-
tivities of the Prague Quadrennial 2019 and is
called the Disappearing Visceral Landscapes.
The project is concerned with preserving
memories of renowned artists, curators, art
directors and art managers whose work in-
spiration is traceable to a specific location.
During PQ 2019 Jiles Rodgers conducted a se-
ries of interviews with participating legendary
artists. Jiles, being one of PQ participants of
the Internship program, had an opportuni-
ty to lead 13 discussions with scenography
legends during the Fragments Exhibition
that preserved precious memories, views,
thoughts, and ideas in the artist’s own words.
Those interviews are now part of a shared da-
tabase accessible to researchers and young
emerging designers. After 2019, the activity
continues with interviews turned into pod-
casts, where PQ team members (Markéta
Fantová, Michaela Buriánková, and Barbora
Příhodová) look for important people and
places where art makes a positive change in
the society.
To continue the idea of connecting young
emerging artists with experienced pro-
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fessionals, PQ keeps organizing projects
through its educational platform, PQ Studio.
Through this platform, we offer both physical
and mental space, support, mentorship, and
non-traditional educational methodologies.
In June 2019, PQ Studio offered a program
Fragments Exhibition © Adéla Vosičková
of multi-day intensive workshops and short-
form masterclasses with places for over 500
participants. PQ Studio: Performance Festival
showcased 52 interdisciplinary works, involv-
ing 300 artists, performed in the heart of
Prague. PQ Studio Common Design Project,
with the participation of 35 design courses
from around the world, was an exhibition
of student performance designs and organ-
ized critiques around Alfred Jarry’s play, Ubu
Roi. And the after-hours program, PQ Studio:
#Chill, presented unique events in a social
atmosphere.
This educational platform continues to stay
alive with various projects and helps stu-
dents and pedagogues especially in times
of the pandemic. The results of various ac-
tivities are periodically shown in an on-line
gallery and through other media to keep the
discussion and dialogue across generations
of creatives open and active. Site Specific Performance Festival © Alžběta Jungrová

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Celebrating the elusive and alchemical ingre-
dients of theatricality, PQ Studio presented
a festival of 52 carefully curated, visually-driv-
en performances. PQ Studio: Festival, a pro-
gram of interdisciplinary work presented at
5 unique venues in the heart of Prague, was
a sharing of theatrical languages, technolo-
gies, and techniques in performance. It was
a learning experience for both audience and
artist, having given new companies formed
by students and emerging artists an inter-
national platform to showcase their work.
All selected works had at their core a clear
and distinct scenographic language that
was inseparable from the performance it-
self – connecting these performances to PQ
2019’s guiding artistic principles of IMAGINA-
TION, TRANSFORMATION and MEMORY.
PQ Studio: Festival also represents an ex-
traordinary opportunity for students and
young artists to examine their work against
that of their peers from different cultural
backgrounds, while the audience attending
the festival will experience a rare opportunity
to see a wide range of contemporary work
from around the world. The festival also of-
fered a unique environment for participating
artists to find mutual inspiration and forge
new creative relationships, ultimately leading
to future artistic collaborations.
PQ Studio: Festival is a collaboration between
the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Per-
forming Arts in Prague (DAMU)’s Zlomvaz
Festival and the Prague Quadrennial.
There was no better place to step into a qui-
et thinking mood, and get immersed in the
complex landscape of memory than the
Emergence Exhibition where the in-depth,
interwoven collaboration was very clear and
visible. The Emergence Exhibition present-
ed as part of the Prague Quadrennial 2019
was set as the middle point of all activities,
where all partners collaborated on an overall
presentation of the project shown in a varie-
ty of formats from visual materials, talks and
discussions, films, to live performances and
workshop results. This exhibition was the
true overview of the partnership up to this
point in the process. The reflection on past
activities and performances that were creat-
ed at other locations across Europe were ei-
ther the subject of documentary work or an
inspiration for a new work of art or a discus-
sion topic. This Exhibition was fully integrat-
ed into the exhibition and festival activities of
the latest edition of the Prague Quadrennial
and its multidisciplinary projects stretching
from performance design to many disciplines
of arts and sciences.
All 850 square meters of the Křižík Pavilion
were dedicated to show, teach, inspire, and
immerse artists, theorists, emerging crea-
tors, and the general public in works of art
inspired by sites of Living Heritage. Many vis-
itors found the exhibition eye-opening, learn-
ing about chapters of our history and places
of heritage in a new light, awakening curiosity
and a hunger for more knowledge. The exhi-
bition had a profound impact partially thanks
to its timing, opening discussions about our
current political climate and dangers of pol-
itics affecting interpretations of various his-
torical moments.
To complement the exhibitions and festi-
val activities, in the adjacent pavilion a daily
schedule of PQ talks offered its rich program
for 8 days non-stop. The talks ranged from
CZECH REPUBLIC ❬ 135
short 15-minute presentations to 90-minute Team
key notes, and became a safe and open space Project Manager: Michaela Buriánková
for critical discussions and creative thinking. Project Artistic Leadership: Markéta Fantová
Presentations and round table discussions PQ Studio Manager: Viktoria Schmoranzová
were divided into thematic panels that fea- Curators of PQ Studio: Patrick Du Wors,
tured works and thoughts of prominent art- Michal Lázňovský
ists, makers, creatives, academics, emerging Curator of the Student Internship Program:
designers, and theorists. The PQ Talks dis- Sean Crowley
cussion and lecture series looked at contem- Curator of Fragments: Klára Zieglerová
porary trends in scenography and engaged in Curator of Site Specific Performance Festival:
a critical reflection on artistic collaboration Sophie Jump
in performing arts, including techniques, pro- Emergence Film and Publication Manager:
cesses, and sources of innovation. Curators Magdaléna Brožíková
Pavel Drábek and Barbora Příhodová invited Program Coordinator: Brad Caleb Lee
not only stars from the various fields but also
artists who had only recently begun their
careers.
The Prague Quadrennial of Performance De-
sign and Space, which took place from 6 to 16
June 2019 at the Prague Exhibition Grounds
was the platform for Emergence activities
organized by PQ/ATI. Over the course of 11
days, the PQ Exhibitions and Festival offered
expositions from 79 countries, more than
800 artists from around the world, and over
600 performances, workshops, and lectures
offered as PQ Talks. The PQ Talks lecture se-
ries is now available online, together with fo- PQ Studio © David Kumermann
rums where the dialogue from the PQ Talks
presented international artists from a variety
of disciplines.
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CZECH REPUBLIC ❬ 136

PQ Studio © Kryštof Kalina PQ Studio © Alexander Dobrovodský

 TAIWAN ❬ 138

TAI-
WAN

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EUREKA!
Fearless Experiment in the Performance Space
national kaohsiung center for the arts (weiwuying)
Taiwan’s National Kaohsiung Center for the
Arts’ (Weiwuying) vision is to become a sym-
bol of the transformation of a once major in-
ternational harbor, into a modern, diverse city
with a rich cultural climate. The multi-func-
tional art center opened in October 2018 in
Southern Taiwan and is the world’s largest
performing arts center, with many perfor-
mance spaces and possibilities under one
roof. The arts center embraces the interac-
tions with communities and has an aim to
become “the art center for all.”
Weiwuying is the incubator of innovative the-
atre-makers. It values the talents and ideas of
emerging art makers. To establish a long-last-
ing partnership and continuing collaboration
with artists, it calls for young artists with
fearless spirit challenging existing framework
and hierarchy to partner with Weiwuying. By
providing the space and resources of a newly
opened national art center, Weiwuying sup-
ports young artists to experiment within the
theater architectural space, arousing the un-
known potential of creativity in performance
design.
When the creative arts are applied to public
spaces such as squares, parks, or cafes, these
spaces undergo qualitative changes that
transform them from mere places of gather-
ing into performance stages. These venues,
originally defined as public spaces, undergo
constant change due to the intervention of
the works, resulting in a space and time that
exist only in the moment and, regardless of
the participating audience and the creators/
performers, open up limitless possibilities for
imagination and dialogue. Through cross-dis-
ciplinary collaborations, different forms of
creative arts collide with one another in these
spaces, fusing the ordinary and extraordinary
elements of public and private spaces. Life
becomes theater and aesthetics becomes an
indispensable element of life.
Weiwuying possesses a wide range of spaces;
some are public and open, while others are
personal spaces or spaces that meet theat-
rical norms. When visitors enter an ordinary
public space to find its physical appearance
artistically altered by creators, their curios-
ity is piqued and they become an audience
as they explore, observe, and question what
they see. If they spontaneously step into
a piece of situational art and participate in
that piece’s intended performance and ac-
tions, the audience members are turned into
performers, thus actively reversing their roles
and perspective through their participation.
Through the intervention of artistic action,
the physical behavior and mindset of the au-
dience and creators in the public spaces of
Weiwuying give these spaces a new meaning.
Theaters are born of society and theater-mak-
ers are crucial drivers of critical thinking in
contemporary society. The artistic creators
came to Weiwuying, observed the public
performance spaces, and deliberated over
the many possibilities for entry into these
public spaces. With Weiwuying’s organic
TAIWAN ❬ 141
architecture, artists can directly communi-
cate with the visitors who cross their path
and engage creators from different fields in
discussion and speculation, thus pushing for
social change and boosting the public value
of artistic creation.
Weiwuying is also an international cultural
hub sited in Asia, connecting theater makers
globally and aiming to facilitate a younger
network of theater-makers in Asia and Eu- © National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)
rope to leap into an international collabora-
tive scene. Weiwuying participated in Emer-
gence as a project-associated partner, having
offered a non-European point of view. The
juxtaposition of Emergence projects has also
brought the possibility to find commonali-
ty and diversity of aesthetics, methodology,
and the creativeness of using space among
cultures.
Over the course of the project, Weiwuying
opened up new opportunities for long-term © National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)
collaboration between Asia and Europe—in-
cluding exchanges among emerging design-
ers/creators, intern training, and exhibition
exchanges—and fostered the development
of a network of young theater-makers from
Asia and Europe.
© National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)
 © National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

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© National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

© National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)


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EUREKA
“EUREKA” is an interjection used to celebrate
a discovery or invention in ancient Greek
times. To create an arena for generating new
sparks, “EUREKA” gathered theater makers,
artists, producers, designers, and creators to
stimulate new thoughts and generate fresh
practices through experiments and work-
shops on the grounds of National Kaohsiung
Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), which have
a rich history connected with military activity
and trade.
Eureka artists and Weiwuying generated
more collaborations, which lead to a site-spe-
cific performance in Prague during the
Prague Quadrennial 2019. Weiwuying invited
the artists, as a collective, to re-navigate the
public space and atypical performing space
in the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts
(Weiwuying), to question the definition and
dig into the unknown possibilities within the
space.
© National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)
The performance we brought to the Prague
Quadrennial captured how the architectural
space and public space of a theater invoked
the imagination of emerging artists through
creative work. The performance provided
a taste of the spirit of Eureka.
After the Prague Quadrennial 2019, the
Emergence Exhibition and Performance was
re-curated and traveled to Weiwuying in Tai-
wan. Once again, the EUREKA 2.0 in Taiwan
brought talented designers and theatre mak-
ers from Taiwan, Asia and Europe together.
It offered a different point of view at cultural
TAIWAN ❬ 145
connections and diversity and formation of individuals, groups, and in society itself
cultural identities. through artistic creation and dialogue.
The EUREKA! 2.0: Rediscovering Weiwuying In May 2020, “Lift Me Up” at Weiwuying
Exhibition was focused on the three indispen- was unveiled as a reimagining of the original
sable core values of space, people, and theat- live exhibition first presented at the Prague
er-makers. As a design medium for a better Quadrennial in 2019. After its premiere in the
life, Weiwuying created a once-in-a-lifetime Prague Quadrennial, the performance, which
opportunity for creative design exchanges, has been revamped to incorporate the local
experimenting, and matchmaking. By bring- cultural context and social issues, met the
ing audience, performers, creative designers, people in Taiwan.
and venue operators together in its unique
architectural space, Weiwuying set this group At first glance, democracy and divine will are
of people on an experimental adventure that two parallel planes. But if a presidential can-
began within the building of the art center didate announces that he is running for office
and extended to the Weiwuying Metropoli- as a response to divine revelation, who do
tan Park outside, having opened their imagi- those ballots, with his name checked, count
nations to the idea that “life is theater.” towards and under whose will do we serve?
In 2020, the Creative and Experimental Lab
of EUREKA!2.0 Project at Weiwuying was our
experiment with all makers, to explore new
possibilities and revisit existing ideas. The
six-day workshop allowed theater-makers to
experiment with their ideas with or without
concrete outcomes, make new connections,
and use the one-year-old Weiwuying as lab
grounds to break out and try wildly or mildly
different ideas.
Inspired by a Taiwanese political event in
© National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)
which a presidential candidate attributed his
running for office to divine revelation, the
artists of Weiwuying’s EUREKA Project cre-
ated “Lift Me Up”. The live exhibition was an
attempt to understand the complex relation-
ship between religion and democracy among

TAIWAN ❬ 146
Rediscovering Weiwuying’s Architectural
Space—the EUREKA! Project from 2018 to 2020
huang ding-yun, eureka! project participant and co-founder of co-coism
Exploring the Unknown In a New Space
My first visit to the Weiwuying venue was
in May 2018 for the first EUREKA! Project.
At the time, the venue was not yet opened
to the public and its empty space was sur-
rounded by glass curtain walls covered in
protective film, patiently waiting for the final
acceptance and launch. Several areas of the
space were yet to be assigned specific uses
and were awaiting further development. To
ensure construction site safety, we had to
wear safety helmets in many areas. With the
helmets on, we felt like giddy presale home-
owners who worked hard to witness our new
home slowly coming together and now can’t
help but let our imaginations run wild as we
attempt to define our future home. The dif-
ferent areas—be it the existing theater spac-
es, fragmented spaces, open spaces, and
in-between spaces—were full of potential
and were waiting to be given purposes and
brought to life. Everything about the venue
felt so unfamiliar yet so exciting at the same
time. Within roughly a week’s time, we active-
ly explored the future possibilities of the at-
the-time “unborn” venue of Weiwuying and
eagerly gave it a name filled with promise.
The first EUREKA! Project was mostly par-
ticipated in by Taiwanese performing artists
(most of which were from Taipei and some of
which were local artists based in Kaohsiung),
while a small portion of participants were
also artists from Weiwuying’s partner organ-
izations in a project headed by the Prague
TAIWAN ❬ 147
Quadrennial. However, not long after the ven-
ue tour, the short-lived harmony was disrupt-
ed, as artists began to blurt out criticisms,
commenting on the venue’s “impractically
large size that does not meet actual needs,”
and “enormous and out-of-place presence in
Kaohsiung,” and the “lack of audience in Kao-
hsiung to fill seats,” etc.
Even before its launch, the venue was her-
alded with great expectations yet steeped in
even greater criticism and blame. We echoed
each other’s thoughts in expressing our con-
fusion regarding the cultural policy and imag-
ination of the past two decades. As changes
occur in the international performing arts
environment and the nature of performing
arts in Taiwan, so does people’s imagination
toward urban planning, cultural facilities, and
theater architecture, along with artists’ and
audiences’ vision for performing arts. We
had no idea to what extent this giant venue
could carry and achieve our future expecta-
tions in performing arts. However, this was
not something that could be resolved at the
time, as no matter how much we debated,
© National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)
the construction of this venue that cost over
$10 billion in funds was nearing completion.
Merely a blueprint twenty years ago, Wei-
wuying is now a fully constructed building
that found its home right here in Kaohsiung
and shall be a part of citizens’ shared memo-
ry for generations to come. Is it not our mis-
sion, as artists, to figure out how to use it,
imagine it, and give it meaning?
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© National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)


TAIWAN ❬ 150
For the first EUREKA! Project, these ques-
tions and confusions became the core top-
ics of discussion. Our determination to face
these challenges was also held by most
of the participants. In fact, the artists had
the opportunity to take part in discussions
through an exchange platform in the venue
before it was opened to the public, which
was itself a special experience that allowed
us to explore the development of artistic
works in conjunction with the future of the
venue itself. We were not purely participants
of workshops, nor were we merely commis-
sioned artists discussing and making plans.
This mixture of different roles allowed artists
to project their needs and imaginations—be
it criticism or blessing—before the venue was
completely ready, and take part in the birth
of Weiwuying. To what extent should artists
participate in the venue’s operation? To what
degree can the venue meet the artists’ crea-
tive needs? These are the questions to which
we seek the answers in the process of repeat-
ed practice.
In the fall of 2018, the massive venue was
finally open to the public. Although I’ve had
the occasional chance to travel south to see
performances, the opportunities have been
© National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)
TAIWAN ❬ 151
scarce. One and a half years later, the EURE-
KA! 2.0 Project was launched in 2020 despite
the challenges of the pandemic, although it
was a shame that our international partners
could not participate. Half of the participants
of this year’s project were participants of the
previous project in 2018; the other half was
composed of newly invited artists. Although
the majority of the participants were per-
forming artists from Taipei, this year’s project
also saw the addition of more local creators
from Kaohsiung, Hualien, and Taitung. From
the composition of the project’s participants,
one sees the fruits of past government pol-
icies and resource allocation decisions. The
development of performing arts had long
been centered in Taipei, whose ample re-
sources and opportunities attracted artists
to stay in Taipei to develop their careers. This
long-term imbalance in development caused
by government policies cannot be resolved
immediately and requires a comprehensive
approach to gradually bridge the gap in de-
velopment. Nevertheless, we can feel this “gi-
ant machine” gradually being set into motion
as it devotes a greater percentage of energy
to strengthening the performing arts net-
work of southern Taiwan.

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Memories Begin with Establishing
Relationships
This year, we not only participated in the
workshops but also brought with us the per-
formance of “Lift Me Up” that was produced
by Weiwuying for the Prague Quadrennial in
2019. Having to simultaneously prepare for
performances and take part in workshops
in this two-week event was both exhausting
and fulfilling. I was always tempted to steal
a glance inside Weiwuying’s Time Gallery
whenever I passed by, yet I could never re-
ally stop to see the venue’s history since we
were always busy with work and could only
rush by its entrance. Our limited time did not
permit us to stay, as we could only see the
present; meanwhile, those vague memories
that are seemingly connected to me failed to
find their ways into my heart.
This year’s workshops were led by four ex-
perts in different fields of profession and
focused on the topic of public space. In the
workshop led by LING Tien, we used collec-
tive images to create responses that explore
what Weiwuying is. Soon after we started
practicing, the images of Faye WONG’s “The
Last Blossom” flashed across my mind’s eyes.
Most of the workshop participants probably
never saw the music video nor experienced
the time when music videos and concept ads
pushed the envelope in mainstream video
media. In the unfamiliar space of Weiwuying,
the connections that we could establish were
at best a limited linkage of our own person-
al memories and life experiences. Stacked on
top of one another, the defined and rede-
fined images in the space accidentally evoked
a vague image of Faye WONG, who no longer
sings with a megaphone today. Although
TAIWAN ❬ 153
I misremembered the name of the song as via repeated interactions and exchanges, and and is no longer the complicated geometric
“A Century of Solitude” at first, the compari- we develop feelings for a place through the structure waiting to be given a purpose. The
son was similarly apt. repeated shifting of imagination and recon- many spaces both large and small (planned
struction of identity. Of course, this task spaces, transitional spaces, idle spaces, in-be-
In actuality, I did not forget the song or video could not be completed in the one-week- tween spaces) have been given functions and
and had merely got them mixed up with one long workshop. Our four guides took differ- meanings and have all been left with traces
another. However, memories are not always ent approaches to gradually imprint these of habits and use. Not all visitors of Weiwuy-
reliable nor accurate and are subconsciously moments into our memory so that they can ing’s public spaces come for arts; some vis-
altered a little with each retelling. My memory be remembered at some other points in life. it for recreational purposes, others come to
of the song is in the aspect ratio of 4:3 and the In my second participation in the EUREKA! read or exercise. Nevertheless, these visitors
warmer colors of CRT displays (also fabricat- Project, I noticed that Weiwuying is now are also creating special memories that con-
ed, of course) while my memory of Weiwuy- more humanized than it was two years ago nect them to the space.
ing is still quite delicate and requires careful
nurturing. The workshop led by CHOU Ling-
Zi and KUNG Yu-Yi further opened another
window for us. We were given a chance to
stroll through the nearby Fongshan District
and passed by Huangpu New Village and the
Former Japanese Navy Fongshan Communi-
cation Center. Through these on-site visits
and with the tour given by our two guides, we
slowly put together a geographical profile of
the neighborhood. Though Weiwuying may
seem enormous and out-of-place, with my
various visits to the venue also consisting of
movement from one point to another, in my
memory, I slowly established its connection
to its surroundings so that it became an or-
ganic structure with a chronological latitude.
The two guides encouraged us to rethink the
composition of memory and history, re-ex-
amine the relationship between the dimen-
sions of time and space, and explore the con-
nection between local communities and art © National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)
production.
The last guide, Fangas Nayaw, drew from his
experience as an Indigenous Taiwanese and
guided us to reimagine the space of Weiwuy-
ing from an Indigenous viewpoint on territo-
ries. We establish a connection with a space
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Rethinking What Publicness Is

How can this extensive space capture the

public’s imagination for arts? What kind of
view can the public nature of arts create?
What is the meaning of a people’s theater?
These were the questions that occupied my
mind in those two weeks. As I was exerting
myself carrying a sedan chair in the Banyan
Plaza, I walked past visitors lying down on the
ground along the structure’s perfect curves.
As we sweated and toiled, the visitors ignored
our performance and invitation to participate
in this “pretentious” artistic experience. In-
stead, they chose to enjoy the “ergonomic re-
cliner” that they created for themselves and
the laid-back atmosphere of the weekends.
As they lazily glanced at us and waited for
a miracle to happen, I suddenly realized that
this was the creative miracle they themselves
produced in the public space, which may re-
quire no explanation at all. Even if they do not
attend performances in the theaters, they are
interacting with the space and sharing an ex-
perience with each other in their own way.
All of these experiences are made richer and
more unforgettable as they slowly accumu-
late through interactions. Whenever I look
back on these moments that I experienced,
I see the Weiwuying that is unique to us.

© National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying)

 PARTNERS ❬ 156

NERS
PART-

PARTNERS ❬ 157
 PARTNERS ❬ 159
PARTNERS ❬ 158

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement
of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors and the Commission cannot be held responsible
for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

EMERGENCE. From shared experience to new creativity. Living Heritage/Reframing Memory. The Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space is organized and funded
was co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, and realized by the Arts and Theatre Institute.