From April 13–16, 2026, the preparatory Prague Quadrennial Symposium 2026 took place in Prague, in which the curators of the Ukrainian Pavilion at PQ’27, representing UAScenography, participated:
scenographer of the Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theatre Anna Dukhovychna, with the presentation “The Universe of Scenography in the Contemporary Ukrainian Context”;
lecturer at the Department of Theatre Studies of the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Karyi Theatre, Cinema and Television University, PhD in Art Studies Liliia Voloshyna (Danyleiko), with the presentation “The Role of Research in Curation”.
More than 70 participants from around the world took part in the symposium, including scenographers, researchers, and curators.
Prague Quadrennial (PQ – Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space) is the world’s largest event in the field of scenography. Held in Prague every four years since 1967, it presents a competitive exhibition of contemporary works across various disciplines of performance design, including costume, set, lighting, sound design, and theatre architecture for dance, opera, drama, site-specific performances, multimedia works, and performance art. Alongside the Exhibition of Countries and Regions and the Student Exhibition, it includes a curated programme of exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and other formats.
Ukrainian scenographers have participated in PQ since the Soviet period (e.g. Danylo Lider), as well as during Ukraine’s independence (Andrii Aleksandrovych and Mariia Levytska).
In 2023, the team of the Lviv Gallery of Scenography created the first full Ukrainian pavilion in the Exhibition of Countries and Regions section – “Garden of Living Things.”
In 2027, PQ will celebrate its 60th anniversary. The programme will traditionally include the Exhibition of Countries and Regions and the Student Exhibition, as well as special curatorial projects dedicated to the anniversary.
During the symposium, the curators of both sections also visited the PQ’27 venue — the Prague Exhibition Grounds, Industrial Palace — in order to further refine their pavilion concepts. The programme additionally included networking and professional exchange.
After the symposium, an additional highlight was a study visit to the glassworks in Nový Bor and Lindava. Glass production is an important part of the cultural and economic heritage of the Czech Republic.
The participation of Liliia Voloshyna and Anna Dukhovychna in the PQ Symposium took place within the framework of the Culture Moves Europe – Individual Mobility grant.