Light and Sound at the PQ press release - Prague Quadrennial

The Prague Quadrennial shines a light on
LIGHT and listens to SOUND: two of the
fastest growing theatre disciplines
Five days dedicated to lighting and sound design will literally light up and
resonate the programme of this year’s Prague Quadrennial of Performance
Design and Space, the world´s largest event dedicated to performance design,
held in Prague every fourth year since 1967. Since light and sound are centrally
important disciplines associated with the art of scenography, it only makes
sense that one of Prague Quadrennial’s seven sub-projects is called “Light and
Sound”, which will bring Prague’s National Theatre to life from 19 to 23 June.
The Prague Quadrennial will occupy the city centre and public spaces around
town from 16 to 26 June.
The curators of the “Light and Sound” section will try to capture these two
rapidly changing disciplines in various forms in order to offer something of
interest for all festival visitors. The broadly conceived presentations should be
attractive not only for theatre professionals, but also for anyone fascinated by
star-studded musical shows or audiovisual projects. “Light and Sound” is being
organized by Prague Quadrennial’s general commissioner, scenographer Boris
Kudlička, and by sound designer Steve Brown. The section features an
exhibition, interactive presentations of the latest approaches to sound and
lighting, and panel discussions, with the personal participation of famous artists
such as Scanner, Tod Machover, Olaf Winter and Felice Ross.
“Light and sound have spent many years in the shadows. But this situation has
been changing as a result of constantly improving technologies and artists’ as
well as audiences’ increasing demand for ever more spectacular projects. The
two fields are especially attractive for musicians, graphic artists, and
designers… And this works in the other direction, too – people from the world of
theatre find themselves hired to create opulent mega-concerts or to come up
with the visual design for fashion shows,” says the Prague Quadrennial’s
general commissioner Boris Kudlička. More about the “Light and Sound”
section and about the Prague Quadrennial in general can be found at
www.pq.cz.
Unique artistic experiences will be created in the Sound Kitchen, a space for performative
audio installations that will be given an interactive character through the use of laptops and

other portable devices. Light speaks, the exhibition of lighting design at the New Stage will
present the work of leading world designers across all theatrical disciples: drama, opera,
installations, as well as the increasingly popular performances in public spaces. The
proverbial cherry on top will be a presentation of the new documentary film Theatre
Svoboda, about world-renowned Czech scenographer Josef Svoboda, whose innovative
work in the area of lighting design changed the field of scenography all over the world. The
film was directed by Svoboda’s grandson Jakub Hejna.
Discussions with leading lighting and sound designers promise a comprehensive and, in
terms of the range of important guests from all over the world, entirely unique programme
marathon. The question as to whether it is possible to see or even touch sound will be
addressed in a lecture by American sound designer Tod Machover, who has a clear
opinion on the matter: sound can affect a person so forcefully that it will change his life.
Machover, who has composed genre-defying concerts and robotic operas, and who has
created health-related musical activities and the Hyperinstruments software for music
composition, is recognized as one of the most important and innovative composers today.
Another lecturer, British artist Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner), works within the
experimental worlds of sound, space, picture, and form. He creates multi-layered audio
works that make inventive use of contemporary technologies. From his first controversial
works created using conversations from found mobile telephones, he has made it all the
way to the Tate Modern and the Science Museum London. Today, he collaborates with
renowned artists in many different fields, including London’s Royal Ballet, Radiohead,
Steve McQueen, and Douglas Gordon.
Berlin-based German sound artist Hans Peter Kuhn will discuss audio and theatre
experiences. Kuhn is one of the founders of the first private Berlin radio station, on which
he had his own weekly show dedicated to new music. The station was founded in 1985,
and also had many listeners in neighbouring East Berlin, where people eagerly listened to
music that they otherwise had no access to.
German lighting designer Olaf Winter will discuss the warmth of light, and Israel-based
American lighting designer Felice Ross will give a lecture entitled “Reflections.” Ross, who
has spent many years collaborating with directors Krzysztof Warlikowski and Mariusz
Treliński, works for theatre, opera and dance ensembles in Israel and in many countries
throughout Europe. Her lighting design is also associated with many classic and
contemporary works of art. The main subject for Dutch artist Arjen Klerkx is multimedia,
and Spanish audiovisual artist Francisco Aleu Riera, known for his works for La Fura dels
Baus, will offer audiences a tour into the world of 3D animation.
The professional quality of the Light and Sound project is guaranteed by the main
organizers, who are renowned professionals in their field. The section dedicated to lighting
design and multimedia is being prepared by scenographer Boris Kudlička, who regularly
collaborates with directors such as Dale Duesing and Keith Warner. Especially noteworthy
are his contributions to around thirty plays directed by Mariusz Treliński. Madame Butterfly,
King Roger, Othello, Don Giovanni and other works have been performed at opera houses
and at festivals throughout the world. Despite his success in this field, Kudlička does not

limit himself just to opera. He also designs sets for film, theatre, and concerts, and has
recently worked on performances for opera houses in Berlin, Frankfurt, Strasbourg, Tel
Aviv, Warsaw and Lodz. In 2009, he received the Slovak Award for Best Scenography for
the opera Orfeo ed Euridice. He also contributed to the Polish pavilions for the world expos
in Hanover and Shanghai.
Steve Brown, the curator of the sound section, has been active in the field of professional
sound design and audio compositions for theatre, art installations, television, video and
interdisciplinary projects for more than twenty years. He also collaborated with the Prague
Quadrennial in 2007, when he headed the Scenofest sound design project. As the director
of sound design at the Royal Exchange Theatre Company in Manchester, he has been
involved in more than 85 projects. Brown has also collaborated with the Royal National
Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Hampstead Theatre, and the Piccolo
Teatro di Milano, among others.
Scenofest, educational project of the Prague Quadrennial and OISTAT, looks at more than
just sound and lighting design – it also presents workshops focused on the entire range of
performative and theatre arts. As with the PQ’s other project’s, interdisciplinarity plays an
important role, meaning that audiences can look forwards to novel approaches such as the
combination of sound and costume design in a workshop led by a team from Purdue
University (USA), headed by professor Richard K. Thomas. Another workshop, “Pop Up
Your Ears” (led by the réaltympanica arts group and Tania El Khoury) will be aimed at
uncovering the subjective perception of reality through sound. Sound compositions and
their relationship to the visual aspects of performance will be explored by Shannon
Scrofano from the United States and Gregoire Paultre from France.
Composer and sound designer Eric Powel’s workshop will focus on the physical
environment and the overall relationship between sound and space. Also emphasizing the
local environment will be the workshop by Nicola Singh and Tess Denman-Cleaver, which
will explore the manner in which stories are determined by sound. The workshops are open
to all interested individuals: students, professionals, and the general public.
All visitors can see original examples of the use of sound and lighting design at
Intersection: Intimacy & Spectacle, a live exhibition that will be open to the public from
16 to 26 June within an architectural labyrinth of 30 boxes on the piazzetta of the National
Theatre. Among other things, Intersection will present an audio installation by Jan Burian
and Jaroslav Hrdlička created for Ireland’s Abbey Theatre, a project by Societas Raffaelo
Sanzio involving musician and sound designer Scott Gibbons, a sound installation based
on a scene from Ingmar Bergman’s Cries and Whispers prepared by Finnish artist Hans
Rosenström, and a unique approach to working with light as presented by art theoretician
Caroline Evans and lighting designer Hansjörg Schmidt.

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For editors: What is the Prague Quadrennial?
The Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space is a leading world artistic
event – a presentation of contemporary work in a variety of performance design disciplines
and genres including costume, stage, lighting, sound design, and theatre architecture for
dance, opera, drama, site-specific, multi-media performances, and performance art.
Founded in 1967, the Prague Quadrennial has presented work from more than 70
countries on 5 continents. The exhibition draws thousands of performance and theatre
professionals, students, and spectators from all over the world. At the most recent
Quadrennial in 2007, 35,000 visitors came to enjoy installations, photos, videos, and live
performances of work ranging between theatre and visual arts, as well as more than 500
events, workshops, performances, presentations, lectures, and discussions.
Press contact:
Nathalie Frank
International Public Relations
Cell+420 774 255 867
E nathalie.frank@pq.cz
General Information:
Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space
June 16 - 26 2011
Celetná 17 | 110 00 Prague 1 | Czech Republic
T +420 224 809 102 | F +420 224 809 225
Follow us on www.pq.cz, Facebook & Twitter
The Prague Quadrennial is organized and funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech
Republic and realized by Arts and Theatre Institute.
Under the auspices of the President of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus, the Mayor of the
City of Prague Bohuslav Svoboda and the Mayor of Prague 7 Marek Ječmének.
With the support of the Culture Program of the European Union.
Supported by UNESCO, Trust for Mutual Understanding, the City of Prague, Czech-
German Fund For The Future. International Media Partners: Flash Art, American Theatre,
Mouvement.