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Israeli dancers, left, perform as part of OISTAT's Scenography Commission meeting. It was hosted by the Israeli OISTAT Centre.

Photo/OISTAT

 

OISTAT Meetings
Break from Tradition

Leon I. Brauner
OISTAT Executive Committee

"Tell them what you are going to tell them. Tell them. Tell them what you told them," is often a mantra from beginning speech classes. Since this is written text and not a speech, only two of the three will be employed.

First, some of the OISTAT activities that have taken place during the year and are planned for the upcoming year.

Commission and Business Meetings

During the Scenography Commission meetings in Israel in May, tradition was broken when two new chairs were elected. After two tied votes, a proposal was made to elect SungChul Kim of the Korean Theatre Artist Association as chair until the completion of the 2008 World Stage Design exhibition in Seoul, Korea. Reija Hirvikoski from the Finnish OISTAT Centre was elected to chair the Commission from 2009 through the PQ in 2011.

In another break from OISTAT tradition, the History & Theory Commission, during its meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel (Israel OISTAT Centre), voted to form an interim leadership board to help steer the Commission through the next year leading to the 2007 meeting of the History and Theory Commission in Prague and the election of a new Commission head. The board, chosen by consensus, was Lilja Blumenfeld from Estonia, Kate Burnett from the United Kingdom, and In Jun Kim from Korea.

Another election will take place during the meeting of the OISTAT Publications and Communications Commission in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro in September. The two candidates for the position of Commission head are Eric de Ruijter, of the VPT (Vereniging voor Podiumtechnologie/Association of Theatre Technology), and Irena Sentevska, of YUSTAT (Yugoslavian Centre for Performing Arts and Technology).

The annual meeting of the OISTAT Executive Committee took place April 2006, at Ocean Shores, Washington, United States, left. This small business meeting was hosted by USITT and the head of the US OISTAT Centre, Leon Brauner and his wife Roberta. The meeting focused on broad topics and fundamental issues concerning the mission and objective of OISTAT in response to today's rapidly changing world. The meeting also presented the opportunity for the EC to develop OISTAT future planning.

The Education Commission met in Yokohama, Japan in conjunction with the World Lighting Fair in June 2006. Participants included delegates from 15 countries as well as students from Korea, New Zealand, Finland, and the United States. It was the first EduCom meeting to involve international student participation and joint presentations of professors and students in the open sessions.

The Architecture Commission met in June. The ArchCom meeting was intended to stimulate the exchange of opinions between architects and theatre technicians. The Architecture Commission was also invited by BASTT- Belgium OISTAT Centre to visit a group Belgium theatres which were designed to respond to local needs. The theatres visited were located in the cities of Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent.

The OISTAT Governing Board will meet in Seoul, Korea at the end of November 2006, hosted by the Korean OISTAT Centre.

OISTAT Activities

The Costume Working Group met in Antwerp in early March for a symposium on "Costumes and Fashion: Where We Meet" with famous Belgium fashion designers and costume designer from Amsterdam.

The Sound Design Working Group held the first "virtual OISTAT meeting" in March. Members from the United States, Hong Kong, Israel, United Kingdom, and Australia discussed programming for Scenofest '07 and new Working Group project ideas.

The Scenography Commission meeting hosted by Israeli OISTAT Centre drew over 30 delegates from 16 countries. The meeting offered an extraordinary program that included a special lighting and costume design workshop, left, with Israeli dancers and choreographers, a symposium on documenting scenography, exhibitions, local tours, and business meetings.

The History and Theory Commission meeting was held in conjunction with a symposium entitled "Documenting Scenography: History and Practice" at Tel Aviv University, and included a visit to the Stage Lighting Museum at Compulite-Danor.

Projects

Scenofest 2007 is an international festival of Scenography organized by the OISTAT Education Commission in partnership with the Theatre Institute of Prague on the occasion of the Prague Quadrennial (PQ-2007). More detailed information can be found at www.scenofest.org.

The Scenofest team has put together an extraordinary program of events for the PQ 07. A page of information has been added to the Scenofest web site to help students who want to attend Scenofest but need financial assistance. It provides ideas, links, and applicable funding bodies. Go to the web site then click on "Practical Information."

This is also an excellent opportunity for corporate partners to get involved by providing their organization's latest technology for use in the various workshops, In addition, companies are invited to sponsor a venue, a series of lectures, or even a specific lecturer. For more information on sponsorships visit the Scenofest web site or e-mail OISTAT's director of development, Jennifer Walker at developmentdirector@oistat.org.

The OISTAT Architecture Competition is an international competition organized by the Architecture Commission to coincide with the Prague Quadrennial (PQ). The last competition in 2003 attracted 258 entries from 38 different countries. The object of the competition is to encourage new ideas for the design of theatres. The competition is open to all. The entrants are mainly students and young architects eager for the international exposure. Winners are awarded cash prizes, and a selection of the best entries are exhibited at PQ and in the published catalogue. For more information, go to www.oistat.org under "Activities/Architecture Competition 2007."

In order to maintain the high standards of this unique international competition, sponsors are being sought. For more information on how you or your organization can assist, go to the web site or e-mail Ms. Walker.

This is just a synopsis of the extensive information available on the OISTAT web site. For regular updates or more information on any of these (and other OISTAT meetings and activities), subscribe to the new electronic OISTAT newsletter. To subscribe, go to www.oistat.org, menu item News/Newsletters/subscribe now!

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