On its 15th edition this 2023 which took place last June 8-18 2023, the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Space and Design (PQ) welcomed its approximate 11,000 accredited visitors and one day ticket holders to its exhibition spaces at DAMU (Theater Faculty, The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague); Trade Fair Palace of the National Gallery Prague; and Holešovice Market, which displayed major exhibitions from countries and regions as well as student exhibitions from over 40 countries last June . Since its inception in 1967, PQ has been at the forefront of performance design and space through immersive and innovative experiences for its global audiences.
This year, the Philippines had its sole and official exhibition entry, curated by Ellawyn Cruz and Alain Zedrick Camiling, at PQ through its Student Exhibition category. Supported by various entities such as the De La Salle- College of Saint Benilde; the Philippine Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic; National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA); Metrobank Foundation; and many other individual supporters, the exhibition ‘Magbigay ayon sa kakayahan, kumuha batay sa pangangailangan’/ ‘Give what you can, take what you need’ received the Intercultural Exchange in the Student Exhibition award for “skillfully bring[ing] people together in a joyful intercultural exchange of “knowledge” and “gestures of care” and reminds us of the importance of holding space for one another in a world that’s in desperate need for compassion”.
The Philippine entry is a (literal) community pantry installation inspired by Ana Patricia Non’s initiative in 2021 which served as a mutual aid among communities during the pandemic. It also brought works, through postcards, by Benilde’s School of Arts, Culture, and Performance students from various batches, specifically designs for costumes, performance, sets, films,
“We promised a RARE experience, and I believe we delivered. It was a delightful reward to witness visitors and professionals alike enjoying the exhibitions, performances, projects, and PQ Talks, which were packed every day. All our locations were abuzz with activity, open to anyone willing to learn more about the creative world of performance design,” shares Markéta Fantová, the Artistic Director of Prague Quadrennial. This year’s theme is RARE: “art springing out of new ideas, materials, artistic approaches, and design practices that connect to the human level from within your environment, with its genius loci and unique situation”. With this, PQ challenged practitioners to use their rare imagination and creativity to “envision what the world and theater world could look like in the post-pandemic future”.
Apart from Philippine participation in the student exhibition component, practitioners and professionals from the Philippines also took part in PQ Talks as speakers such as Eric Dela Cruz in Where to From Here?: Towards the Future of Scenographic Practices, Ellawyn Cruz in Pedagogical Strategies in Response to the Global Pandemic, and Julia Pacificador in Teaching Performance Design with a Social Justice Lens, all joining international panels convened by PQ.
The Prague Quadrennial of Performance Space and Design (PQ) is organized by the Arts and Theater Institute in Prague, Czech Republic. Its 15th edition ran from June 8-18, 2023 at DAMU (Theater Faculty, The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague); Trade Fair Palace of the National Gallery Prague; and Holešovice Market where there were around 11,000 accounted visitors from all over the world. More information can be found at https://pq.cz.
CURATORIAL TEXT AND ORGANIZATION
Interconnections between lives and relationships, memories and remnants, closures and continuities, histories and positionalities are explored in discourses on everyday aspects, suggesting networks and networked relationships. In the Philippines, some of the manifestations of these networks and networked relationships in recent years are the local honesty shops and the emergence of community pantries during the pandemic. These also point to notions of kapwa (connecting with others or being the other) and bayanihan (being a bayan or town, reorienting towards communal solidarity), which point to gestures of care.
These are translated through a makeshift community pantry of local goods and reproductions of artworks through postcards that the audience can get copies of in exchange for whatever they feel like giving; a karaoke system to channel the celebration of such solidarity and hospitality as seen in common Filipino gatherings; and an inflatable air dancer as a metaphor for promoting courage and optimism. All three circle back to networks that drive and connect communities, care and collaboration.
The title ‘Magbigay ayon sa kakayahan, kumuha batay sa pangangailangan’/’Give what you can, take what you need’ is taken from Ana Patricia Non’s community pantry movement in the Philippines in 2021, when she initiated a food cart with a humble cardboard sign in Maginhawa Street, Quezon City. The movement served as a mutual aid in response to the pandemic struggles, revealing a strong social solidarity that gained traction and inspired many local and global communities.
In this exhibition, performance making, scenography and curatorial practice are perceived as propellers of these networks and relationships that connect bodies of knowledge, gestures of care, creative and artistic practices, and encounters through atmospherics.
Curators: Ellawyn Cruz and Alain Zedrick Camiling
Design collaborators: Hershey Malinis, Joaquin Aranda, Tuxqs Rutaquio, and Magdalena de Leon
Students: Benilde School of Arts, Culture, and Performance Batches 118, 119, 120, and 121
Acknowledgements/ auxiliary partners: De La Salle- College of Saint Benilde; The Philippine Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic; National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA); Metrobank Foundation; and other individual supporters.
