For nearly 60 years, the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space has been the world’s largest exhibition and festival dedicated to scenography, performance design, and performance space. Since its founding in 1967, PQ has continuously evolved, navigating political and cultural shifts while remaining a vital space for scenographic experimentation and innovation. Taking place every four years without interruption, it has grown into a global meeting ground for performance designers, artists, scholars, and students, fostering interdisciplinary and intergenerational exchange across different artistic and cultural backgrounds.
As PQ approaches its 60th anniversary in 2027, we are preparing PQ60, a special program that will focus on the Prague Quadrennial in its transformations over the past six decades. In line with these efforts, we will continue and expand the care for archival materials related to PQ, including a systematization and digitization of PQ Archives. The aim of PQ60 is not only to recognize PQ’s continuous existence but also to reflect on its role as a platform for scenography worldwide and, ultimately, chart paths for the future.
Online Symposium: 60 Years of PQ as a Meeting Place of Scenographic Worlds
As one of the first activities of PQ60, Prague Quadrennial organizes an international online symposium. This symposium intends to open the discussion about PQ as a unique global phenomenon by foregrounding the local histories, national and regional contributions, and international collaborations that have shaped its identity since its beginnings. We would like to explore PQ’s role in three main areas:
Formats: We welcome brief contributions that open discussion through concrete historic case studies. Contributions can take one of the following formats:
How to submit: Please use the form to submit a description of your talk (max 250 words), a short bio (max 50 words), a title and an indication of the chosen format. Please note that before submitting your entry, you will need to create an account and log in to the platform.
The symposium will be held in English. We encourage contributions by presenters with a limited command of English; in curating the program, we will do our best to accommodate your proposals and specific needs.