Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1979 - 46

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Two important olsn symposiums were held this past spring: a design seminar in Salzburg, and an education seminar in Warsaw. Beeb
Salzer was the official U.S. delegate and his reports appear in Lighting Dimensions. The report on Warsaw, below, is reprinted from the
July ABn News; the report on Salzburg is based on a report by
Heinz Thieme in Buhnentechnische Rundschau.

Warsaw
The purpose ot the Symposium was to lay the foundations for the
tormation ot a Commission within the olsn which would concern itself with the history, theory, and criticism of scenography. The Polish
section had experienced difficulty in organizing this meeting which
had been postponed from earlier dates, finally succeeding by taking
advantage of the opening of an exhibition of Polish scenography past
and present. In spite of these difficulties, representatives from Belgium, Canada, DDR, Finland, France, Hungary, Poland, UK, and USA
were able to attend.
The official proceedings were opened on May 26 by Professor
Strzelecki who outlined in detail the purposes of the symposium which
can be categorized as follows:
1. That the commission should encourage a greater international dissemination of information regarding contemporary practical scenography.
2. A wider understanding of the nature of the contribution of the scenographer and consequently respect for his work.
3. In order that 2 may be achieved, the criteria for assessing the work
of scenographers needs formulation.
4. In light of 3, a re-evaluation of the critical language of the history of
scenography is required.
5. A more profound understanding of the scenographer's work and
the history of scenography is required of both theatre and art critics.

Theatre Design & Technology

The next day's discussions ended without arriving at any specific
conclusions. Professor Strzelecki was unanimously elected chairman
of the Commission. The working party was to consist of Graham Barlow, UK, Beeb Salzer, USA, Gunter Kaiser, DDR, Dr. Scydlowski, Poland, with Rene Haineaux and Denis Bablet to be invited.
It was proposed that the working party should exercise itself in pursuing not only the five points set out above but also:
1. Write up national bibliographies of works on scenography and related subjects which would then be collated internationally.
2. Catalog scenographic collections in each country.
3. Encourage archives of scenography within theatres and towns.
4. Exchange information regarding scenographic schools.
5. Encourage discussion between critics and scenographers.
6. Encourage exhibition of scenographers' work and the possibility
of an exchange of material for the future Polish Theatre Museum in
Gdansk.
The next meeting was set for 1982 at the olsn Congress in DDR
on the occasion of the conference on theatre architecture.

Salzburg
The Symposium was held March 27-31 at the Mozarteum (School
for Music and Representational Art). The participants were scenic designers, painters, sculptors, and technicians from Austria, Belgium,
West Germany, Switzerland, Czechosolvakia, East Germany, France,
England, Hungary, Sweden, and the USA.
The Symposium focused on scenographic training with talks by
several participants on aspects of scenic design. Of special note was
the emphasis in Eastern European countries on ensemble theatre and
the generally long preparation period for the mounting of a production. Training in most of the Eastern European countries involves several years of formal training and/or apprenticeships.D

uSln/Winter, 1979

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