The Magic Space Stage – Image – Model · media opera Malakut of the Austrian-Persian Composer Nader Mashayekhi. Wed, Sep. 13, 7 PM, free admission LESS IS MORE - Workshop

About the exhibition

The collection of models in the Theatermuseum numbers almost 1,000 objects and is one of the most outstanding special collections of its kind. The stage design models, architectural and technical models as well as dioramas bring to light the secrets of theatrical transformation and take visitors to the historical epochs in which the dramas play out.

The exhibition „The Magic Space“ is entirely dedicated to this expressive working tool of stage design art, essential for most of theatrical and operatic productions. Only through the three dimensionality of a model, often impressing through constructural accurateness, the idea of the space and its proportions can be visualized. It supports the understanding of scenic runs. As a technical model it helps assessing the technical feasibility of special effects with the available stage technique and eventually serves as working basis for the theatre workshops. The presentation discusses these functions, their structure and materiality, the differentiation of model types as well as their art historical value.

The exhibited treasures from the Theatermuseum‘s collection allow for a nearly gapless documentation of the interesting development of scenographic views over a time span of more than 300 years. The models, complemented by Fritz Wotruba‘s model for the staging of Sophkles‘ Elektra at the Burgtheater in 1963, a loan of the Fritz Wotruba private trust, take the visitors into the fantastic world of theatre: the exhibition waives expressively a chronological presentation - in fact space and time of the play, for which the stage design was created, serves as the ordering principle.

Image of Time

In the exhibition seven themed islands – from Antiquity, the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque to Romantic, Revolution and Contemporary – represent distinctive examples of how historical epochs and scenes were perceived, imagined and designed by the prevailing stage designers. The models indicate clearly that the perception of time, the epochs and space is flexible – in its fiction, even contradictory. The range of artists and architects who worked as stage designers is impressive: from the Baroque theatre masters like the members of the artist-dynasty Galli-Bibiena, to the Brioschi family, committed to the Historicism of the 19th century, the Art Nouveau artists Alfred Roller and Remigius Geyling, the Russian Avantgardists Vladimir Tatlin, Aleksandr Vesnin or Alexandra Exter, and the artists of the most recent past like for instance Emil Pirchan, Alfred Hrdlicka, Lois Egg, Peter Pongratz, Xenia Hausner, Bernhard Hammer, Gottfried Pilz and many more.

Lobkowitzplatz 2, 1010 [email protected] T +43 1 525 24 5315

The Magic SpaceStage – Image – ModelApril 20th, 2017 - February 12th, 2018

About the exhibition - continued

The concepts of space on a stage – from the illusionary sets in the Baroque era, to the suggestive illustrations of Historicism and Naturalism, to the abstract drafts of the Avantgarde and finally to Contemporary Art which entirely renounces the correspondence with reality – could not be more diverse. The models within the seven island landscapes are presented by facing each other and hence demonstrate the contrasting visions. Visitors can contemplate them from various perspectives and distances and are invited to imagine the play within the stage sets. “The Magic Space” tries not to create a perfect image of stage design but rather to introduce coincidental views corresponding with the liveliness of a theatre experience.

To allow an unobstructed view of the great array of images, descriptions have been limited to a minimum. However, the public is being navigated through the themed island landscape by extensive multi-media information. All essential details on the presented models are given in a free Libretto, the included additional texts give further impulses. In the vestibule the exhibition starts with two movies, exclusively produced for the show. Paul Zündel, Head of the Art for Art decorating workshops, allows the spectator a close view into the process from the model to the final stage set. Artist Reinhard von der Thannen talks about his production of Charles Gounod’s opera Faust at the Salzburg Music Festival 2016 and staging a space artistically.

The exhibition The Magic Space will present its small but meaningful stages also outside the Theatermuseum. Models designed for, or topically corresponding with the programs of the stages will be shown at the Staatsoper, Burgtheater, Theater an der Wien and in the rooms of the Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities of Kunsthistorisches Museum. The tiny exhibition satellites want to generate attention and interest for the show and, simultanously, enrich the theatre visit.

Besides an extensive events program, the exhibition offers again an exclusive website as part of the outreach program, animating upfront and after the visit of the show with in-depth information and a quiz in a playful way. The presentation completes a scientific project which produced important results with the publishing of the collection catalogue Der magische Raum – Bühnenbildmodelle aus der Sammlung des Theatermuseums/The Magic Space – Stage Design Models from the Collection of the Theatermuseum in 2015 (Holzhausen Verlag, Wien). The exhibition was curated by Ulrike Dembski and Rudi Risatti, the design was created by vana-architekten.



Events

GUIDED TOURS WITH THE CURATORS Wednesdays, 5 PM, May 5, June 7, Sep. 6, Oct. 4, Nov. 8, Dec. 6, 2017; Jan. 10, Feb. 7, 2018Guided tour fee € 3, reservation recommended! T +43 1 525 24 5310

VISITING ART FOR ART WITH THE THEATERMUSEUMExcursion to Art for Art-Stage design workshopThu, May 18 and Thu, Sep. 21, 2-4 PMentry fee € 12, students and annual ticket holders € 10Meeting point/arrival: Information upon registrationRegistration: T +43 1 52524 5310 or [email protected]

PLAYING WITHIN SPACES - PLAYING WITH SPACESThe theatre stage as event space. A scenic exploration with students of Institut angewandtes Theater (IFANT), directed by Claudia Bühlmann, Friedhelm Roth-LangeSat, Sep. 2, 3 PM, and Son, Sep. 3, 11 AM and 3 PMAdults € 12/Students and pupils € 8Reservations: [email protected]

TOPSY-TURVY TONES – Artist talkSven Hartberger, artistic director of Klangforum Wien, and stage designer Bernhard Hammer discuss contemporary stage design in the service of the latest forms of scenography based on the multi-media opera Malakut of the Austrian-Persian Composer Nader Mashayekhi.Wed, Sep. 13, 7 PM, free admission

LESS IS MORE - WorkshopWith Bettina Hornung, stage and costume designer. You will be confronted with space, emotions and lighting moods and create your own stage setting ideas. Fr, Sep. 27, 2.30-6.30 PM, attendance fee: € 25Registration: T +43 1 52524 5310 or [email protected]



Events - continued

THE MAGIC SPACE – Stage-KidsAt the Theatermuseum you view stage design models from various epochs. It is quite exciting how theatre changed over the centuries. Get inspired and design your own stage setting. Theatre-afternoon for kids from 5 to 10 years; Kids € 4/Adults € 4 Sat, Apr. 22, Mon, Apr. 24, Mon, Oct. 23, Sat, Oct. 28, 3.30-5 PM

ABOUT AULOS AND KITHARA – TalkHow did music sound in Antiquity? Which instruments were played and what was the Chorus‘ function? Stefan Hagel, Austrian Academy of Sciences, discusses with Manuela Laubenberger, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, and exhibition curator Rudi Risatti.Tue, Nov. 28, 7 PM, admission free

PLAY – TIME – SPACE – Kultur-Café The tour through the exhibition resembles a time travel through theatre spaces. After coffee and cake our guests grant glimpses into their artistic profession. May 8 - Peter Pongratz, Painter and stage designer, and Elisabeth Blanke, stage designerJun 12 - Bettina Hornung, Stage designerSep 11 - Xenia Hausner, Painter and stage designerOct 16 - Karin Müller-Reineke and Gerhard Vana, Architects of the exhibition „The Magic Space“Nov 6 - Max Kaufmann, Stage painter and artistic manager of Serapions EnsembleJan 15, 2018 - Wolfgang Pröhl, Model builderMon, 3-5 PM, Adults € 12/Students and annual ticket holders € 10Reservation recommended! T +43 1 52524 5310

EXHIBITION TOURS ON DEMANDT +43 1 525 24 5310 or [email protected]. For our educational programs please refer to www.theatermuseum.at/kulturvermittlung





Website

The Magic SpaceAn exclusively designed website accompanies the exhibition, taking on the show‘s highlights in an attractive, informative and playful way.In German http://www.theatermuseum.at/dermagischeraum/

Exhibition catalogue

The Magic Space Stage design models from the collection of the Theatermuseum Edited by Ulrike Dembski, published in 2015 at Holzhausen Verlag, Wien.The catalogue with 6 scientific articles and catalogue section is available at the museum shop and online: https://shop.khm.at/shop. Price: € 49,95 incl. VAT In GermanISBN-No: 978-3-902976-52-9



1_Exhibition poster Malakut by Nader MashayekhiStage design model by Bernhard HammerMuseumsquartier, Vienna 1997

2_Julius Caesar by William ShakespeareStage design model by František TrösterNationaltheater, Prague 1936

Press photos

Photos are free of charge in relation to the press coverage of the exhibition.They are available for download under www.theatermuseum.at/presse/Credit line: Theatermuseum © KHM-Museumsverband

5_Phaedra by Jean Racine Stage design model by Aleksander VesninKamerny Theatre, Moskow 1925

6_The Nibelungs by Friedrich Hebbel Stage design model by Remigius GeylingKamerny Theatre, Moskow 1913

4_Notre Dame by Franz SchmidtStage design model by Heinz Bruno GalléeLandestheater, Linz 1959

3_The Magic Flute by Wolfgang A. MozartStage design model Josef HoffmannHofoper, Vienna 1869



Press photos


7_Cats by Andrew Lloyd WebberStage design model by John Napier Theater an der Wien, Vienna 1983

8_Caesar und Cleopatra by George B. Shaw Stage design model by Remigius GeylingHofburgtheater, Vienna 1912

11_Eternal Alphabet by Beatrice FerolliStage design model by Gottfried Neumann-Spallart; Kleines Theater im Konzerthaus, Wien 1960

12_A Midsummer Night‘s Dream by William ShakespeareStage design model by Max Reinhardt and Karl WalserNeues Theater, Berlin 1905

10_Franziska by Frank Wedekind Stage design model by Karlheinz MartinRaimundtheater, Vienna 1924

9_The African by Giacomo Meyerbeer Stage design model by Theodor Jachimowiczk.k. Hof-Operntheater, Vienna 1866



Press photos


13_Exhibition view 1 14_Exhibition view 2 15_Exhibition view 3

ContactAndreas KuglerDeputy Director, Marketing and Press OfficerT + 43 1 525 24 [email protected]

Documents

The Magic Space Stage – Image – Model · media opera Malakut of the Austrian-Persian Composer Nader Mashayekhi. Wed, Sep. 13, 7 PM, free admission LESS IS MORE - Workshop