OISTAT regrets the resignation of Al Cushing as a valued member of the EC and also as its treasurer.   As per OISTAT statutes, the EC candidate with the next highest number of votes, was asked to fill in the position vacated by Mr. Cushing.  Mr. Piironen is a distinguished architect from Finland and is an active and committed member of the OISTAT Architecture Commission. OISTAT is looking forward to his contribution to the organization. In addition, Šárka Havlíčkov has agreed to take over the position of OISTAT treasurer.

1.2             Call for the nomination of candidates for the Chairs of the History & Theory Commission and the Scenography Commission-- Nomination Deadline is Feb. 28, 2011.

Notice to all OISTAT Centers and Individual Members. In 2011, OISTAT will elect Chairs for the Scenography Commission and the History and Theory Commission. The elections are tentatively scheduled to be held at the commission meetings in Prague during the Prague Quadrennial. More information about the nomination can be found on OISTAT website. 

2.1            An OISTAT Executive Committee Meeting was held in Belgrade and Novi Sad, Serbia, on September 17-21, 2010. Thanks to S. Cen.--SerbianOISTATCenter for hosting the EC meeting and arranging the visit to Subotica.   

Hosted by OISTAT Serbia Centre, the EC, together with the Secretariat, held its annual meeting in September to review the organizational business including:  OISTAT membership and financial status, revision of the OISTAT statutes, as well as Commissions and projects status. In addition, the progress of the Technical Invention Prize (TIP), Theatre Architecture Competition (TAC) 2011, Scenofest2011, Digital Theatre Words (DTW), World Scenography, World Stage Design (WSD) 2013 and the new OISTAT website were reported-on and discussed during the meeting.

Thanks to the generous hospitality of the Dutch Ambassador, Mr. Laurent L. Stokvis, the EC was invited to a cocktail party hosted by the Embassy. The group was delighted to meet the Counselor of the Serbian Minister of Culture, Mr. Zoran Hamović, and they enjoyed a great evening with friends and colleagues from the Serbian cultural scene. 

The University of Novi Sad hosted two lectures which were delivered by OISTAT representatives, Louis Janssen and Michael Ramsaur. Mr. Janssen spoke about the  ‘Dutch Fly Tower: The Design of the Most Forgotten Space in Theatre’  and Mr. Ramsaur spoke about ‘Contemporary Crossroads of Theatre Design’. The presentations were followed by good discussions and received positive feedback from students and others in attendance.   

S. Cen also arranged a series of tours for EC members to explore important cultural and historical sites in Subotica and Novi Sad. The experience helped the group gain a better understanding of the cultural development and urban evolution over the last century.. In addition, the EC also visited the National Theatre-Nepsinhaz, a project currently under construction, in Subotica.  The National Theatre-Nepsinhaz is a complex which incorporates both an existing historic theatre space and newly designed spaces. The project is the major cultural investment in Serbia in last two decades. The theatre is anticipated to be an important performance and cultural centre for the area.

2.2             The Scenography Commission and History & Theory Commission held joint meetings and symposia in Amsterdam on October 22-24. It was organized by the Theaterschool Amsterdam. More than 50 delegates from approximately 20 countries attended the symposium on “the Scenographic Encounters: the moment at which....”

In cooperation with the Theaterschool Amsterdam, the Scenography Commission and the History & Theory Commission had joint meetings, symposia and a series of events in Amsterdam, October.22-24. At the business meetings, Reija Hirvikoski, Chair of SC and Kate Burnett, Chair of H&TC welcomed everyone and thanked Peter de Kimpe and the Theaterschool for their hospitality. The heads of the Scenography Commission Working Groups, Laura Crow, Steven Brown and Henk van de Geest, reported the latest activities of the groups and their projects. The project leaders also made their presentations: Jessica Bowles presented on the latest update of Scenofest in PQ 2011, and Sean Crowley also reported on the planning for WSD 2013. (Read more)

In conjunction with the meetings, an international symposium on the subject of “the Scenographic Encounters: the moment at which....” explored a range of interesting topics on the particularities of contemporary Scenography and its relation to the academic, theatrical and social practices. By exploring the theoretical model for analyzing Scenography, the studies of contemporary theatre designs, the relation between space and scenography as well as the challenge to contemporary scenography posed by the post-modern world, the symposium ’ Scenographic Encounters’ was very stimulating in terms of its diversity and depth.

With the arrangement of the Theaterschool, the group was also invited to see the results of the Triadisch Ballet project, a 21st century version of this famous Schlemmer ballet co-created by the Scenography department and Modern Theatre Dance department of the Theaterschool. 

2.3           The Architecture Commission Meeting was held in Berlin through the courtesy of DTHG, GermanOISTATCenter on October 22-26.  Also included was a fantastic tour to characteristic theatre architectures (information available on OISTAT Website) around Berlin and Potsdam.  

The Architecture Commission in cooperation with DTHG held its annual meeting in Berlin on 22-26 October. The main topic for the AC meeting was the concept and the timeline of the upcoming Theatre Architecture Competition (TAC) 2011. The Commission, responding to the current interest in ’found space’, decided to focus the competition on one of the famous cultural and historical landmarks of Prague—‘St Anna’s Church’. The TAC2011 encourages participants to be creative in converting the church into a performing space. More information about TAC 2011, such as the invitation of jury, the sponsorships, the budget as well as the schedule and events in the TAC ceremony were also discussed at length.(Read more)

In addition to the business meeting, a wonderful tour of six remarkable theatre buildings was arranged by the Chair of Architecture Commission Reinhold Daberto and the DTHG. Each of the theatre building was built with a distinct idea of design that established the building’s cultural and social story. The detailed information of those buildings is incorporated into OISTAT Theatre Building Database for online review.

The Theatre Building Database is cordially inviting OISTAT activists, theatre architects and the larger theatre community for contributions. For those interested, please visit the online gallery and download the blank template for your contribution on the OISTAT website.

2.4             The Education Commission, EduCom, had its Meeting in Beijing hosted by The Central Academy of Drama China on November 3-7. The International Symposium on the “Contemporary Design Education--Between National Tradition, Innovation and Globalization” was presented by both OISTAT and Chinese delegates.

In the Beijing meeting, the Education Commission Chair Marina Raytchinova together with the delegates reviewed the business of the commission, the related organizational issues, and the schedule and agenda of future meetings. The 2012 EduCom meeting will be held in Maastricht, the Netherlands and the theme of the symposium will explore the avant-garde trends in contemporary theatre design and in particular on ‘experience design’. In addition, overview reports of on-going OISTAT projects, namely, Scenofest 2011, the new OISTAT website and WSD 2013, were presented for discussion by OISTAT Executive Director Wei-Wen Chang and Scenofest leader Jessica Bowles .

The Education Commission and Central Academy of Drama China (CADC) also co-organized a symposium titled ’Contemporary Design Education--Between National Tradition, Innovation and Globalization’. The symposium focused on the impact of globalization and internationalism on design education and theatre practice and the importance of retaining local traditions. A total of 9 papers from 4 countries were from the following fields: the theory of contemporary pedagogy, the teaching approaches in design education, and the training and practice of theatre technicians.

The participants also visited the Forbidden City in Beijing, as well as design exhibitions, including the teachers’ works of the CADC and the production designs for the National Center of the Performing Arts. The group left with a better understanding of traditional Chinese culture and the significance of contemporary artistic trends in china.

Upcoming OISTAT Meetings in 2011

2.5             The OISTAT Governing Board Meeting will be held in Cardiff, UK in March 25-28, 2011. The OISTAT leadership will take the opportunity to visit the site of WSD 2013 and to the preview of the UK Exhibition for PQ 2011.

The 2011 annual meeting of the OISTAT Governing Board will be held in Cardiff, UK, March 25-28. Aside from the business sessions, the meeting is expected to focus on the strategic planning and organization for the coming years. The Executive Committee together with the Executive Director and the Chairs of the Commissions will begin to develop OISTAT's goals for the next 5 years as well as ideas and questions that will be put before OISTAT members at the 2011 World Congress in Prague.

The meeting will coincide with the UK exhibition for PQ preview at Cardiff, as well as the preparation meeting for WSD2013, which will give the group a good opportunity to be involved in generating programs for WSD2013.

2.6             OISTAT Reunion in Prague! OISTAT Congress, Commission Meetings and OISTAT    events will take place in Prague in June, 2011. The invitation and overall schedule will be sent to OISTAT members in the early spring, 2011.

OISTAT would like to invite all members to the OISTAT Congress in Prague, June 17, 2011, this will be a great occasion to meet our OISTAT colleagues from all over the world!

Apart from the Congress, you are also invited to attend the commission meetings and participate in numerous OISTAT events including the award ceremonies for TIP2011 and TAC 2011, celebrate the inauguration of Digital Theatre Words (DTW) , the debut of the new OISTAT Website and the publication of World Scenography volume one. Meanwhile, a variety of workshops, performances, exhibitions and educational programs organized by Scenofest and PQ Team will ensure a great experience to complement the 2011 Prague Quadrennial.

The Technical Invention Prize 2011 (TIP2011) was initiated by Technology Commission to encourage the exchange and innovation of simple, creative and smart devices/methods that will help theatre technicians. The submission of entries  for the TIP2011 closed on October 1; quite a few entries were received from around the world and the TIP team has now begun the jury process. The winners will be announced and will receive prize money at the TIP award ceremony during the 2011 Prague Quadrennial.

3.2             OISTAT Theatre Architecture Competition 2011--The 8th TAC brief, together with a Q&A section and the latest schedule for visiting the site of ‘St Anna’s Church’ are available online at the OISTAT website. Deadline for delivering entries and payment: March 11, 2011.

The key dates for TAC2011

11 March 2011: Closing date for delivering entries and payment

25 March 2011: Latest date for receipt of entries

30 March - 13 April 2011: Jury meeting and report

16 April 2011: Notification of the prize-winners

16-26 June 2011: Exhibition of prize-winning and selected entries at the Prague Quadrennial.

17 June 2011: Official announcement and prize-giving

The Theatre Architecture Competition 2011 (TAC2011), an international idea competition designed for the theatre architects, was launched by July 1. Taking the famous historical and cultural landmark ’St Anna’s Church’ as the site, TAC underpins the central theme of PQ´s Theatre Architecture Exhibition, exploring the question ‘“Now / Next - Performance Space at the Crossroads”. This topic aims to inspire deeper understanding of the relationship between the performance itself and the space which it inhabits, and encourages the participants to convert an existing building into a performance space as a response to the increasing interest in ‘found space’ in contemporary theatre world.

The TAC 2011 schedule, brief and a Q&A section are available on the OISTAT website. In addition, a newly arranged site visitation (‘St Anna’s church’) schedule announced.   The TAC team has received quite a few registrations and more participants are expected to join this exciting competition.

3.3             Scenofest2011--A series of educational programs including cross-interdisciplinary Workshops, Six Acts and Design as Performance have been announced to theatre schools worldwide; the program and schedule for workshops can be found on the Scenofest website, registration for students will begin on January 15, 2011, until February 15, 2011.

Workshops

The Scenofest team has received over 200 workshop applications and has selected those that are innovative, interdisciplinary and pedagogical. For the students who are interested in participation, the registration will be from January 15 to February 15, 2011, and the deadline for confirmation and payment is February 28, 2011.

The interdisciplinary workshops will include scenography, lighting, digital media, projections, sound design, costumes, puppetry, technical theatre, and many others.  The workshops will cater to over 1500 students. Some will take the form of lectures and others, more practical hands‐on workshops. All of the events will focus on contemporary discourse and interdisciplinary experimentation, painting a vivid picture of new ideas and technologies on the global stage. The team of workshop leaders will include a vibrant mix of creative international artists and academics.(More on Scenofest Workshops)

Six Acts and Design as Performance

Together with the international workshop program, the Scenofest team has also announced two important student projects: Six Acts and Design as Performance. The successful applicants for the Design as Performance workshop will need to confirm their participation and pay their fee by December 31; the deadline for confirmation and payment for the Six Acts workshop is December 15.

Six Acts will develop six site‐specific performances and installations in found spaces in the centre of Prague. Each Act will respond directly to the canvas of the city and will provide a narrative unique to the daily life and stories that have been lost or hidden, sometimes even to the locals. Five international student teams, each led by a performing and/or visual artist of international repute—Uwe Köhler (Germany), Louise Ann Wilson (UK), Tomáš Žižka (CZ), Roma Patel (UK), Rolf Abderhalden Cortés (Columbia), will create a series of performances and installations over consecutive days during the Prague Quadrennial in June, 2011. The Sixth Act will consist of a “way-finding” workshop led by international artistic leader Fiona Watt (UK) that will help audiences to find the Acts and the Acts to find their audiences.(More on Six Acts)

Design as Performance is composed of two performance programs:’ DISK Stories’ and ‘Street Stories’. While ‘DISK Stories’, is scheduled to present 9 performances in the DISK Theatre at DAMU, and will feature innovative performances whose narratives will be derived from sound and light; ‘Street Stories’, comprising 50 slots, encourages students to bring creative and interactive performances which require no stage and simple technology to Jungmannovo Square in the centre of Prague. (More on Design as Performance)

In order to promote and facilitate these Scenofest events, three webinars to interact with teachers and students were successfully presented in Fall and successfully drawn on more than 180 individuals and organizations from across the world.

Follow Scenofest on Facebook and Twitter

You can now update the latest news of Scenofest and PQ2011 and interact with the team on Facebook and Twitter, please go to http://www.facebook.com/pq2011 for more information!

Your contribution will be deeply appreciated  

Scenofest 2011 needs your support – become a partner in this far-reaching  international event.  Your sponsorship will touch the lives of more than 1,400 young professionals from throughout the world.  Your support will ensure the success of this event.  Partners will be prominently noted in all Scenofest publications. To make a contribution or gain more information, please contact Richart at r.bauer@telia.com or secretariat@oistat.org. 

Through the hard work and creative efforts of the Scenofest team, one of OISTAT’s most significant projects, Scenofest, is moving toward another successful presentation. As a worldwide theatre event, this educational program aims to provide students from all over the world a great learning opportunity to meet and exchange ideas among themselves and to interact with top theatre professionals. In order to bring this event to a great success, Scenofest need your financial support to set up this fantastic project. Your contribution is deeply appreciated and you are welcome to contact Richart Bauer to discuss your benefits in sponsoring Scenofest through r.bauer@telia.com or secretariat@oistat.org.

3.4             Online Sound Exhibition: 'Sixty Second Theatre' organized by OISTAT Sound Design Working Group to celebrate the World Listening Day can still be enjoyed online.

To celebrate World Listening Day, July 18th 2010, the OISTAT Sound Design Working Group organized an online exhibition ’Sixty Second Theatre.’  The idea was to celebrate the practice of listening as it relates to our environmental awareness, to acoustic ecology, and to the world around us.

Link to OISTAT website for more information on this sound exhibition by the international theatre sound design community. The exhibition consists of a series of 60-second recordings of moments in the lives of the designers during the week leading up to July 18th  2010.

3.5             Digital Theatre Words-- The DTW working group met in Serbia and Amsterdam to review the editing progress. The inauguration of DTW will be celebrated during the PQ2011. 

Digital Theatre Words (DTW), an online dictionary of theatre terms covering over 40 languages, is well underway. The team had a series of editorial and promotional meetings during the past six months, and met in Serbia and Amsterdam this past September and October. In the meetings, the group not only reviewed the project schedule and budget, but also the progress of the various translations, in addition, the ideas and plans for the development of DTW advertising were discussed. During the course of the discussions, the team decided to include term descriptions as provided in each language in order to help the user to get a better comprehension of the terms in different contexts. The users will be able to search by first character of a term, by key word(s) and/or by 3D pictures.

Digital Theatre Words is the collective effort of nearly 150 OISTAT professionals.  It will be formally initiated on-line during the PQ2011.  This significant tool will provide theatre professionals, educators, and students with a multilingual database of a significant number of theatre terms.  This will be a great opportunity to promote and share the project with OISTAT members, as well as with other theatre practitioners, educators and students from around the world.

3.6             World Scenography--Volume One of World Scenography series will be launched during the PQ 2011.

The three-volume World Scenography is one of the most significant OISTAT projects, and the first volume of the series is going to be launched in June, 2011! Covering the period of 1975-1990, this book documents and contextualizes nearly 400 theatrical designs from different parts of the world. The designs were chosen because of their great significance in terms of innovation in the development of theatre aesthetics and methodology of design. This collective effort of OISTAT members is anticipated to benefit the study of the history and theory of Scenography.

3.7             World Stage Design2013--WSD2013 including a series of focused events over 4 days is proposed for professionals and emerging designers.

         In the Scenography Commission and History & Theory Commission joint meetings held in Amsterdam, Sean Crowley the WSD2013 leader reported on the schedule, the working group and the theme of World Stage Design 2013. He also presented the proposal for WSD2013 suggesting that, along with the competition and exhibition, to organize a series of focused events over 4 days consisting of symposium, workshops and other events in order to create an occasion for designers, professionals, visual artists and performance creators to interact with each other and enjoy the full length of WSD2013 in Cardiff at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

The WSD2013 will take as its theme the diversity of capturing design and will question the boundaries between traditional exhibitions categories. Additionally, along with the traditional displays of models, photographs, costumes, and drawings, that WSD has always offered, this event intends to create the potential for exhibitors proposing new presentational techniques. More information will be available in the coming WSD2013 website.

3.8             The OISTAT Secretariat is planning an international forum to celebrate the Fifth Anniversary of OISTAT’s relocation to Taipei, Taiwan. The event is tentatively scheduled for mid-November, 2011.  More information will be made available later.

2011 marks OISTAT’s fifth year of operations from its headquarters in Taiwan.  The relocation to Asia also signals the greater worldwide influence and breadth of active membership. During the past five years the Secretariat has promoted OISTAT as a worldwide theatre family facilitating communication and cooperation between societies and cultures.   

In this coming year, the OISTAT secretariat will organize an international summit and forum which will explore a range of issues including networking and collaboration strategies among performing arts organizations during this era of globalization.

During the next few years there will be many large performing arts complexes completed in Taiwan. These new theatres are expected to serve as the main venues to accommodate a variety of domestic and international events and performances. The International Forum will be an excellent occasion for OISTAT professionals and friends, who are interested in international cooperation and networking, to exchange ideas on theatre operation and artistic development.

The OISTAT secretariat would like to take this opportunity to invite all OISTAT members and professionals to join the International Forum. The subjects will be varied and will include operation and Management policy of performing arts venues, audience and community development, planning and marketing for international art festivals, technical and vocational training programs, and the role of the theatre venue in the artistic development for tomorrow.

3.9            Theatre School Database is now inviting your input in collecting information about theatre schools from different parts of the world.

         The OISTAT Education Commission along with the Secretariat is establishing an online database for theatre schools, and would like to invite OISTAT members and friends to help developing the database. Categorized according to the five continents, the theatre school list will include an introduction of the school, a list and description of the diplomas and certificates it confers, international exchange opportunities, and its contact details. This project is proposed to provide the students with easy access to relevant information about theatre schools. The list should prove useful to students as they begin to apply to schools, and it will also serve as a means to promote theatre schools and their programs. For those who are interested, please contribute your school information by downloading and completing the template. It can be returned to: secretariat@oistat.org.

         As OISTAT members are the cornerstones of this organization; it is exciting and promising to see that OISTAT is growing in membership each year. In the second half of 2010, OISTAT Centres, associates, and individual members have joined this big international family, and they are:

Candidate Centre Member: Pro Scena, the Slovak Centre;

Individual Members: Ms. Nino Maglakelidze from Georgia, Dr. Ketevan Shavgulidze from Georgia, Ms. Mónica Raya from Mexico, Dr. Sofia Pantouvaki from Greece and Mr. José Luis Ferrera Esteban from Spain;

Associate Members: Guangzhou Desheng Lighting Equipment Co.,LTD from China.

Welcome to our family of theatre professionals.

4.2             Job Opportunity-Seeking a Director for the Drama School Toi Whakaari, New Zealand. Closing date for applications: 14 January 2011.

Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School is now looking for a new director.

Toi Whakkaari is a leading specialist tertiary education provider for the performing arts in New Zealand. The school excels in developing practitioners to be leaders in the field of performing arts and beyond.  

The Director holds the key leadership position in the organization. Under the authority of the Trust Board, the Director assumes complete responsibility for carrying out assigned policies and programs. The Director also has the authority to direct the implementation of the organization’s programs and services, and is responsible for the management of all staff members and contractors.(Read more)