OISTAT

Formation 1968
Type NGO
Official language English
Status Active
Headquarters Taipei, Taiwan
Website www.oistat.org/

OISTAT – International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians is a non-governmental organization (NGO) founded 1968 in Prague, Czech Republic. According to its founding name, the organization is mainly a network for theatre designers, theatre architects and theatre technicians around the world. It is made up people associated with creating or studies on live performances, including educators, researchers and practitioners. The organization has members from around the world, currently in 53 countries with membership categories: Centre Member, Associate Member and Individual Member.

History

The predecessor of the organization was a scenography section of International Theatre Institute (ITI) since 1948. It was anticipated to form international cooperations of all artistic fields and establish leading publishing and educational directions from the drama sections. The endeavor failed, but the interest in visual elements of theater grew. Shortly after, the International Association of Theatre Technicians (IATT)was formed in Paris 1958. It also faltered due to lack of direction, programming, organizational structure, administrative and financial provisions. The representatives sought ITI to take up the activities again. The ITI Secretary General Jean Darcante went to Prague in 1967 to discuss with the representatives of the Czechoslovak National ITI Center, the Theatre Institute and the Institute of Scenography, the possibilities of establishing an organization whose general secretariat would be located in Prague. The Czechoslovak scenographers, including professional workers and theatre specialists of both institutions prepared a draft program for the activity of the new organization with the Ministry of Culture, Czech Republic. Jean Darcante traveled to Prague again early 1968 to win a binding promise of the Czechoslovak official authorities and agree with the Theatre Institute and the Institute of the last details. On 7 and 8 June 1968, the foundation committee meeting to establish the new International Organization of Scenographers and Theatre Technicians (Organisation Internationale des Scénographes et technicians de Théatre-OISTT/OISTT) took place. The founding members consisted of representatives from Czech Republic, Canada, Israel, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States of America.

Organizational Structure

The World Congress

OISTAT is composed of the members in regions worldwide, known as OISTAT Centres, Associate members and Individual members. By the definition in the Statutes, “the directing body of OISTAT is the Congress, which is formed when the delegates of the OISTAT Centres, Associate Members and Individual Members are assembled in plenary session.” Every four years, the delegates of the World Congress elect the President and the members of Executive Committee. They also decide on changes in the Statutes and other important issues of the organization.

Executive Committee and Governing Board

OISTAT affairs are coordinated by the Governing Board and its Executive Committee. The Executive Committee consists of eight elected members including the President, elected at the congress. The Governing Board consists of the elected chairs of the six commissions.

Headquarters

Headquarters, originally the Secretariat and changed to HQ in 2011, is the only constant office of the organization in charge of daily communications and serve as the center network for its members and commissions. The Headquarters has migrated since its founding: 1968-1993 in Prague, Czech Republic 1993-2005 in the Netherlands and since 2006 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Commissions

Six commissions lead various projects in their field of studies: Architecture, Education, Performance Design, Research, Technology, and Publication and Communication. :

Architecture

Architecture commission was composed mainly of architects, theatre designers and technicians. The commission initiated the quadrennial project, Theatre Architecture Competition (TAC) in 1978 and the finalist designs are exhibited at the Prague Quadrennial.

Education

The commission is the main facilitator of OISTAT Scenofest and International Stage Design Students' Works Exchange (ISDSWE) in Beijing, China.

Research

Research commission focuses on the theoretical and historical aspects of theatre scenography, architecture, and technologies. Theatre Timeline Sub-commission is a recent establishment by the commission focusing on archiving theatre technologies, recording and preservation.

Performance Design

Performance Design includes 4 Sub-commissions: Costume Design, Lighting Design, Sound Design and Space Design.

Publication & Communication

The commission's recent projects include Core Strategy, World Scenography, the Digital Theatre Words and the Bibliography of Theatre Arts.

Technology

OISTAT Technology facilitates idea exchanges in the field of theatre technology, develops research projects, and examines standards and safety issues. The commission offers technical advice and support for theatre technicians worldwide. The Theatre Invention Prize (TIP) is a competition initiated since 2011 by the commission.

OISTAT Projects

Theatre Architecture Competition (TAC)

Theatre Architecture Competition is an international ideas competition, aimed at students and emerging practitioners, which is organized every four years by the Architecture commission. The sites of the competition have been in these cities:

In 2011, the competition theme was to design a theatre for a specific performance. The theatre can be in 'found' spaces which were not previously or presently a performing space or create a temporary installation.

In 2015, the theme was to construct a 'floating theatre' on Spree River in Berlin, Germany. The competition has moved from Prague Quadrennial to Berlin's Stage|Set|Scenery.[3]

In 2017, the theme is 'Theatre as Public Space'. The aim of the competition is to challenge the conventional typology of the theatre and to focus on the design of a temporary theatre (or theatres) in The Public Activity Center, a disused sports stadium in Hsinchu City in Taiwan. The 25 selected entries of TAC 2017 were exhibited and awarded during 2017 World Stage Design on July 1-9, 2017 in Taipei, Taiwan.

World Stage Design

World Stage Design is an international exhibition of performance design from theatre, dance, music, and opera, as well as a showcase for cross-disciplinary performances and installations in non-conventional theatre spaces since 2005. It is held every four years on different continents, to purposely show the latest designs in theatre performances. Different from the Prague Quadrennial which presents designs curated by each country, World Stage Design allows every individual designer to submit design works directly to the curatorial panel for the grand exhibition. It has been in these cities:

WSD2005 Winner List

Medal Winners in Sound Design

Medal Winners in Lighting Design

Medal Winners in Costume Design

Medal Winners in Set Design

WSD2009 Winner List

Outstanding Scenographer

Medal Winners in Set Design

Medal Winners in Costume Design

Medal Winners in Light Design

Medal Winners in Sound Design

The Awards Jury was unable to come to a unanimous decision so it decided to divide the prize money among all contributors in the category.

WSD2013 Winner List

Exceptional Achievement across all categories

Set Design Award

Shortlist: Lukas Noll, Xinglin Liu

Costume Design Award

Shortlist: Marja Uusitalo, Natalya Kolosowsky

Lighting Design Award

Shortlist: I-Hua Kao, Madeleine Sobota

Sound Design Award Dedicated to the memory of Steven Brown

Shortlist: Karen Lauke, Marcelo Pellegrini

Interactive & New Media Award

Shortlist: Fereshteh Rostampour, Yei-Sheng Wang

Performance Design Award

Shortlist: Ciaran Omelia, Louise Ann Wilson

Installation Design Award

Shortlist: Ariane Harrison, Jan Strobbe

Temporary Sustainable Theatre Winning Design

WSD2017 Winner List

Winners in Set Design - Emerging Designer

Winners in Space Design - Emerging Designer

Winners in Lighting Design - Emerging Designer

Winners in Costume Design - Emerging Designer

Winners in Performance Design - Emerging Designer

Winners in Set Design - Professional Design

Winners in Space Design - Professional Design

Winners in Lighting Design - Professional Design

Winners in Costume Design - Professional Design

Winners in Sound Design - Professional Design

Winners in Projection and Multi-Media Design - Professional Design

Winners in Alternative - Professional Design

Winners in Performance Design - Professional Design

Scenofest

OISTAT Scenofest has been held in conjunction with Prague Quadrennial since 2003. It provides seminars, workshops, thematic exhibitions, performances, and presentations, with the aim of engaging students and professionals in the field of theatre design. Since 2013, Scenofest has formed new connections with World Stage Design.

Technical Invention Prize (TIP)

Technical Invention Prize (TIP) is a global competition organized by OISTAT Technology commission. TIP awards technicians who come up with simple and smart solutions to the works in theatre or entertainment industry. Those clever ideas are mostly realized by inexpensive means and materials. The first Technical Invention Prize was initiated in 2011. In 2017, the second TIP was held along with the World Stage Design 2017 in Taipei, Taiwan. The selected entries for the competition are published in the TIP catalogue for the reference of theatre professionals.

OISTAT Publications

World Scenography

World Scenography is a three-volume series which aims to gather significant scenographic works of theatre set, costume, and lighting designs from 1975 to 2015. The first volume World Scenography 1975-1990 documents 430 designs from 61 countries was published in 2012, and awarded United States Institute for Theatre Technology Golden Pen Award in March 2014. The second volume World Scenography 1990-2005 was published in 2014.

Digital Theatre Words

Digital Theatre Words is an ongoing digital publication project initiated by OISTAT Publication and Communication to edit the most common theatre terms into a multi-language dictionary. The project comprises 2,000 theatre terms in 24 languages, along with descriptions, photos, and pronunciations. Digital Theatre Words mobile application was launched on June 15, 2014.

New Theatre Words

New Theatre Words is an illustrated multi-lingual theatre dictionary and reference first published in 1975. There are currently three editions: Northern Europe, Central Europe, and World Edition, which comprise 25 languages in total.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.pq.cz/en/tac-competition.html
  2. ↑ https://www.dropbox.com/s/6v6aqkgqnfazoqs/10th%20OISTAT%20Theatre%20Architecture%20Brief.final.%20Hsinchu%20City_rev.pdf?dl=0
  3. ↑ TAC 2015 competition brief http://www.oistat.org/Item/list.asp?id=1503
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