EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE SPACE
Autonomous TACE segment of the symposium “Art in Experimental, Industrial and Non-traditional Space” held in Prague in October 2008. In cooperation with renowned festival of site-specific theatre called 4 + 4 days in motion.
The 3rd section of the symposium organized by the TACE project was realized: EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE SPACE - TACE – Theatre Architecture in Central Europe
Hall 30, U Výstaviště 23, Praha 7 – Holešovice
9th + 10th October 2008 / 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
The international symposium entitled “Art in Experimental, Industrial and Non-traditional Spaces” was divided into three thematic sections (site-specific, industrial sites and experimental space), presenting both Czech and foreign artists, architects, stage designers, monument protection experts, sociologists, cultural managers and other experts in various professions.
On Friday October 10th, the 3rd block of the symposium organized by the TACE project was realized: EXPERIMENTAL THEATER SPACE - TACE – Theatre Architecture in Central Europe
Experimental, non-traditional, alternative, independent – all of these terms describe specific sites tamed by theatre events, which has – during the second half of the 20th century – evolved dramatically both as an art discipline and a social phenomenon.
Research undertaken within the "TACE - Advanced outputs" project offered an opportunity to examine specific roles played by these theatre developments in Czech, Slovak, Polish, Slovenian and Hungarian cultural contexts as well as influences they exerted on the development of theatre architecture.
Programme:
1st section HIDDEN INDUSTRIAL TREASURES
Thu 9th October 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Many theater, dance, residential and gallery spaces in Bohemia do not reflect current needs of contemporary art and this is the reason why the young artistic generation lacks multifunctional space for artistic production and presentation. The aim of the symposium is to draw attention to new possibilities of cultural usage of dilapidated buildings in Bohemia and to introduce model examples of successful revitalizations of industrial buildings and premises in Western Europe.
Lecturers: Benjamin Fragner (VCPD ČVUT), Dagmar Šubrtová (Mayrau open-air museum), Rolf Denemann (Off Limits/ArtScenico, Germany), Petr Bergmann (ex-Broumov brewery), Vladislava Valchářová (VCPD ČVUT), Tomáš Žižka (mamapapa), Eva Dvořáková (NPÚ), Marcela Steinbachová (Kruh o.s.), Jiří Sulženko (KD Zahrada ), Martin Krištof (Stanice, Slovakia), Nicole a Alex Tim (RaumLabor, Germany), Barbara Fridrich (Tanz Raum, Germany), Mojca Jug (Bunker, Slovenia), Essi Aittamaa (Trans Europe Halles, Sweden), Niels Ewerbeck (Theaterhaus Gessnerallee, Switzerland), Radovan Dunilovic (Faculty of Technical Scienses University, Serbia)
2nd section 10 YEARS OF SITE-SPECIFIC IN BOHEMIA
Fri 10th October 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Site-specific projects draw inhabitants of cities or villages to places where one would not expect art; they reveal and draw attention to forgotten places. The main topic of an artist is work with space, inspiration with a place, search for genius loci, search for a story that is readable in given space. A series of lectures about a “site-specific” phenomenon will introduce artistic activities from the Czech Republic and from abroad dedicated to using non-traditional places for art.
Moderator: Roman Černík (Johancentrum Pilsen)
Lecturers: Rolf Denemann (Off Limits/ArtScenico, Germany), Petr Bergmann (Broumov brewery), Roman Černík (Johancentrum Pilsen), Howie Lotker (Home), Sárka Havlíčková (Alfred ve dvoře / Motus), Tomáš Žižka (mamapapa), Martin Krištof (KC Stanice Žilina, Slovakia), Ece Pazarbasi (Meeting Point: Gulpinar, Turkey, Simona Levi (Conservas, Spain) Alexandr Brkič (Academy of Architecture, Serbia), Mark Yeoman (Norderzone festival, the Netherlands), Jean-Sebastien Steil (IN SITU - Lieux publics, France)
3rd section EXPERIMENTAL THEATER SPACE - TACE – Theatre Architecture in Central Europe
Friday 10th October
Experimental, non-traditional, alternative or independent – all terms describe specific places that were overpowered by theater production. It underwent a significant development in the second half of the 20th century as an artistic field or social phenomenon. The research that is conducted within the framework of the “TACE – Advanced outputs” project introduces a possibility to explore a specific role that these theater schools have played in Czech, Slovak, Polish, Slovenian and Hungarian cultural context an influences they have had on the development of theater architecture.
Moderator: Ondřej Černý (director of the National Theater)
Lecturers: Primož Jesenko (Theater Institute, Slovenia), Joanna Ostrowska (Adam Mickiewicz Poznan University, Poland), Ivo Svetina (Theater Institute, Slovenia), Maja Hriešik (Theater Institute, Slovakia), Ondřej Svoboda (Theater Institute / TACE)
Designed for: architects, arts managers, producers, promoters, stage-designers, artists, students and pedagogues of artistic schools, representatives of state and local authorities, media representatives etc
This section was moderated by the director of the National Theatre, Ondřej Černý. Right from the start he defined three possible aspects of theatre in experimental space. Most of the time unconventional space is a sole coulisse for theatre production which in its principle remains traditional and conventional. As a good example in this case we could mention a twelve-hour stage project Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg “Drawn in Blood” presented in the Czech Republic during the Prague Theatre Festival in the German Language in 2000 (Deutsches 
Theater Prag). The project was situated in an industrial space of ČKD TRAKCE hall in Prague Vysočany and it communicated with local surroundings, however it did not surpass a measure of a traditional theatre performance. Much less often we can encounter a type of performance placed to the opposite pole of scale, with a case where the creation comes from a particular non-traditional space. The artist does not approach the space with a complete act but responses to a given (space) situation. This is according to Ondřej Černý “fundamental site-specific”. In our country it is probably presented in the most prominent way by Tomáš Žižka’s production. There are naturally many more projects which are situated somewhere in between the two given poles of the way how to utilize non-traditional space. As an example Ondřej Černý named a play by Karl Steigerwald “Horáková x Gottwald” produced in Prague La Fabrika. This in its substance dramatic mainstream was anchored in La Fabrika space, however not in a sense of peepshow space. It “rippled the space with text” and it worked with individual industrial space elements.
TACE
Experimental theatre forms are also partially in concern of TACE project (Theatre Architecture in Central Europe) presented by Ondřej Svoboda from the Theatre Institute, Prague. The 
experimental part of the project is mainly going to be a student workshop “Theatre Architecture – Visions and Possibilities” which will be run in summer semester 2009. Participants come from ten architectonical schools from Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. The project goal is to create a visionary design of Slovene National Theatre. Student designs will be presented in Ljubljana exhibit in October 2009 taking part in The International Symposium on Experimental Theatre Space of 2nd Half of 20th Century. Symposium proceedings will be published including not only the presented contributions but also a broader collection of essays on the given topic.
Presenters from abroad mostly attempted a presentation of experimental theatre situation in their own countries. Maja Hriešik from the Theatre Institute in Bratislava presented a project KioSK – Digital Showcase, which originated as an attempt to illuminate Slovak experimental theatre abroad. The DVD contents published at this occasion include theatre groups and their protagonists as well as independent space where these groups work. For instance Cementáreň in Banská Bystrica, A4 in Bratislava or Štúdio 12 in Bratislava). The project attempts to connect similar European centres and to provide information for theatre folks who would like to appear on tour in Slovakia. Many new findings about the Slovak independent theatre´s scene character were recorded as a side product of the project. Among those for instance positive and negative influence of a certain lack of space. Theatre folks are forced to utilize alternative space for their performances, for instance former factory buildings, but it is very often just a compromise caused by the fact that there is no opportunity to perform at a more traditional site. Thus a substantially traditional form of the performance is a natural outcome. There is also a certain negative feature in this situation. There is no continuity in the work in the independent space, many interesting things happen as one-off events. Audience and often even the actors do not know where to look for similar performances. At the same time these one-off events point out to locations which could otherwise vanish under pressure of site developers. Such locations are then made visible, promoted and offered in new utilizations.
A Slovene dramatist, dramaturgist, critique, columnist and a collaborator on TACE project Primož Jesenko spoke about the development of experimental theatre in Slovenia. Its beginnings go back to the 50s of the 20th century when the experimental movement tried to establish in conventional theatre environment. This symbiosis of traditional and experimental modes was 
then typical for Slovene theatre scene during the whole period of the sixties when even such prominent institutions as Slovene National Theatre started to realize the need for experiment and innovation. This culminated into Slovene culture being one of the most progressive ones during the then Yugoslav times, especially in the area of experimental theatre.
Judit Csanádi and Mihály Vargha presented Hungarian theatre. Both of them are graduates from a school of architecture. Judit Csanádi is involved in scenography today, she teaches at the Academy of Visual Arts in Budapest. Mihály Vargha is an expert in theatre technology and a journalist in the field of theatre architecture. Krétakör means a chalk circle and it comes from Bertold Brecht’s work “Caucasian chalk circle”. Chalk is a metaphor for transience and revival. The circle is representing a spiritual space where artists and audience can meet.
Krétakör theatre is to serve as a one act interaction among the artists and the audience which cannot be documented. This is also why the theatre protagonists like to choose for their performances among different abandoned buildings or places in nature.
Joanna Ostrowska from University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznan spoke about a fellowship of the theatre with a social form of a given era. According to Joanna Ostrowska forms of architecture and drama reflect political and social systems. This is how traditional theatre space relates to feudal system of Italian Baroque in which it originated. Non-traditional space, in which today’s performances are often placed, renders contemporary needs. Praxis of using non-traditional space for theatre performances is not a product of the latest times in Poland. Its history goes back to the 60s of the last century when theatre folks were shunned away from traditional buildings. The move took place partially due to a practical necessity (students and experimental ensembles had no access to stone scenes), partially for a desire to change familiar cultural paradigms. New forms of contact among actors and audience, finding new forms of a community which is impossible in stone theatres, was appreciated by theatre critiques even in the half of the 70s and these forms have been popular in Poland up today. As an example of such interaction among actors and audience but also in between a history of a given place and its architecture we could mention a project called “Miasto” (Town) which was organized at an occasion of the 750th anniversary of establishment of Poznan, at a place of former slaughter house. Invited theatre ensembles created performances for that particular place which were mostly related in its subject to the original purpose of the building. A dialogue among urban pattern, cultural heritage and local history was a topic for two theatre festivals in Lodze and Legnic, which would discover almost forgotten stories of coexistence of four different cultures – Polish, German, Jewish and Russian – in these two towns.
Download the program here.
