CSPA Prague Convergence: Reduce Waste at the Prague Quadrennial

Our Goal

To create a design-based performance piece in response to the 2011 Prague Quadrennial that examines materials, and then organizes and redistribute (would be wasted) materials to the local arts community.

CSPA Prague Convergence: Reduce Waste at the Prague Quadrennial

Our Story

The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts is a hybrid organization dedicated to gathering and redistributing information about sustainable practices in art making.  This project marks our first initiative to solve one of the major dilemmas of creating art on the ground:  Wasted Materials!  We will travel to Prague this summer to focus on the environmental impact of production at the 2011 Prague Quadrennial and will creatively repurpose the waste generated from this 10-day design conference of over seventy exhibiting countries.

Organizing team members include Ian Garrett and Miranda Wright (co-founders of the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts), Sarah Peterson (Production Manager, Theater Artist, New York CSPA Associate), Moe Beitiks (artist, cultural volunteer, and writer for inhabitat, CBOT, and the CSPA), Misa Rygrova (leading researcher on this topic in the Czech Republic), and James McKernan (faculty at York University and Technical Director for the PQ’s Scenofest).

CSPA Prague Convergence: Reduce Waste at the Prague Quadrennial

The PQ

The Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space is a leading world artistic event – a presentation of contemporary work in a variety of performance design disciplines and genres including costume, stage, lighting, sound design, and theatre architecture for dance, opera, drama, site-specific, multi-media performances, and performance art.

Founded in 1967, the Prague Quadrennial has presented work from more than 70 countries on 5 continents. The exhibition draws thousands of performance and theatre professionals, students, and spectators from all over the world. At the most recent Quadrennial in 2007, 35,000 visitors came to enjoy installations, photos, videos, and live performances of work ranging between theatre and visual arts, as well as more than 500 events, workshops, performances, presentations, lectures, and discussions.

CSPA Prague Convergence: Reduce Waste at the Prague Quadrennial

The Impact

This project will be a significant catalyst for the advancement of sustainability in theater and design.  It is an opportunity to develop a comprehensive case study on community engagement in creative resource management.  As a performance, it will examine the relationship of production communities from around the world to their use of materials practically and dramaturgically.  It will create new methods for distributing large amounts of previously used materials quickly, test the limits of a community’s ability to absorb the material, and develop a mode of a working network of materials exchange.

CSPA Prague Convergence: Reduce Waste at the Prague Quadrennial

What We Need & What You Get

We are looking for $4,000 in additional funding to supplement travel for our team, and to provide resources and tools for distributing materials and documenting this project.

We promise to give you what we get:  INFORMATION!  We’ll be documenting this project, and will gladly share our findings with you.  Other perks include copies of the CSPA Quarterly, a publication dedicated to sustainable practices in all creative areas, CSPA membership, and special tokens from the PQ!

Other Ways You Can Help

Spread the word!  Share this project with your friends and colleagues.

To support the greater effort of the CSPA, become a member by visiting www.sustainablepractice.org/join-the-cspa

Campaign CSPA Prague Convergence: Reduce Waste at the Prague Quadrennial — IndieGoGo.