World Costume in Action (WCiA)+Vestuario para la Escena Exhibition
Minutes of OISTAT PDC/Costume Meeting
Site: Centro Nacional de las Artes (CENART), Mexico City
Date: May 13, 2022
Chair: Simona Rybáková (Czech Republic)
Vice Chairs: Rosane Muniz (Brazil) and Sofia Pantouvaki (Greece/Finland)
Minutes: Margaret Mitchell (USA) & Costume Leadership
Costume Design Sub-commission Meetings
Present in the meeting (members): Ana Kuzmanic, Andrea Kralova, Chrisi Karvonides, Fruzsina Nagy, Jitka Pospíšilová, Laura Crow, Lise Klitten, Marianne Custer, Margaret Mitchell, Marie Jirásková, Marina Raytchinova, Rita Geerts, Rosane Muniz, Sandy Bonds, Simona Rybáková, Snezana Pesic, Sofia Pantouvaki, Zuzu Hudek
Present in the meeting (Mexican colleagues): Carolina Jimenez, Daniela Díaz, Edyta Rzewuska, Eloise Kazan, Jerildy Bosch, Sara Salomon
Present in the WCiA, (not available for the meeting): Monica Raya, Renee Garcia, Sabrina Notarfrancisco
Regrets: Anat Mesner, April Viczko, Donatella Barbieri, Gini Vogel, Igor Roussanoff, Jorge Sandoval, Juli Balázs, Kazue Hatano, Mariaelena Roque, Mira Kalanova, Sabine Snijders, Qin Wen Bao
Evcimen Perçin (Turkey)
Maija Pekkanen (Finland)
Naiema Agamy (Egypt)
Sandy Bonds introduced herself and told the group that she (as Jury Director for the WSD Exhibition Jury) and Sabrina Notarfrancisco (Associate Director) were responsible for creating the system for WSD curation. Then, she went through the program.
Sandy shared the list of costume designers who will be featured in the physical WSD 2022 exhibition:
Other costume designers who have submitted work to WSD 2022 will be featured in the digital display in the exhibition space.
Sandy also shared the list of WSD 2022 costume workshops, panels, presentations, masterclasses, and book launch. She also informed there will be more costume
performances that have yet to be curated. Sandy also provided updates about the different formats that will be used at WSD 2022: fully remote, hybrid and in-person; and
informed that things are in a fluid state and the WSD 2022 team is still sorting out the logistics.
WORKSHOPS
PERFORMANCE
PANELS
PRESENTATIONS
Sustainable clothing production in Mexico - Vestuario a Escena members (Mexico)
Through interviews, anecdotes, testimonies, it will be told how, for more than 20 years, the stage costumes have been made in a common, constant and sustainable way.
Jury Flashtalks (two sessions) – led by Sabrina Notarfrancisco
The WSD 2022 professional and emerging juries will give to the twelve of the award-winning members an opportunity to share their insights, research, and designs.
Costume Flashtalks – led by OISTAT Costume Sub-commission leadership
Oriental traditional ink painting art and contemporary art - Wenbao Qin
Discussion about how traditional oriental ink painting art and contemporary art are reflected in costume design.
MASTERCLASS
From Stage to Film: transition notes for stage designers – by Eloise Kazan
Eloise Kazan will share her notes on the challenges stage designers face when venturing into film for the first time.
BOOK TALK
Simona stated that an open call for flash talks will be sent soon.
Sofia stated that the costume and sustainability panel program is still open for consideration.
Rosane invited Laura Crow and Lise Klitten to talk about their workshop:
WSD MASK LANDSCAPE PROJECT
Laura Crow started explaining that Mariaelena Roqué, Nic Ularu and herself started the project, which was inspired by the AIDS Quilt project. Then, she detailed the plan is for each country to make a piece of 3 X 3 meter square of textile that has covid masks stitched to it, and that will be put together in Calgary.
The idea was to make a huge mountain, but there are weather concerns. So, if a Plan B is needed, Laura suggested we might lash the panels together and tie them in between trees. A documentary will be made about the project and people will be interviewed about Covid and mask making. Lise has calculated that each 3 X 3 meter panel needs 500 masks. Laura stated she is hoping to have students and professionals work together. Shade cloth or tennis materials that are porous must be the base because the wind must
pass through the base fabric. Laura stated there are many people working on this project. Laura also stated they want to connect to indigenous people of the Calgary area.
Stitching or lashing all the panels together will be a two day workshop with a live feed. Lise stated it could also be a shade as a gathering place for us. Laura stated masks can be glued onto the panels. Laura presented the powerpoint with engineering drawings. This mask project might provide a place to tell stories. The site is at the entrance of campus. Video projection will be on top of the tent. This project can have contributions from lighting, sound and scenic designers. Participants may mail the panels to Calgary. Individuals may also make an individual 1 X 1 meter square. Please contact Laura Crow and Lise Klitten if you would like to participate. Simona asked Laura to send a call on the Costume Sub-commission Basecamp in order to invite contributions from all members.
17 - 20 November 2022
Deadline: 10 June 2022
Theme: Connections
Sofia Pantouvaki presented the information about the next Critical Costume conference and exhibition that will be online, from 17 to 20 November, 2022.
Sofia called attention to the deadline for submissions: 10 June 2022 and informed the event will be live in three different geographical regions (Australia, Europe and South America) to accommodate global time zones.
Potential topics could include, but are not restricted to, the following:
Critical Costume 2022
an international conference and exhibition
A three-day online event over multiple time zones
17 - 20 November 2022
CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS (formats)
- Academic papers on current research (15-20 minutes);
- Flash Talks – short presentations reporting on practice (8-10 minutes);
- A virtual exhibition of artistic work and practice-based research.
Deadline for applications: 10 June 2022
Questions about the event should be directed to: criticalcostume2022@gmail.com
Following the event of this year, the next Critical Costume conference and exhibition will be in 2024
with in-person attendance.
Rosane Muniz asked for others to help spread the news about the open call for the Critical Costume 2022 exhibition and asked that artists propose to make videos about their process to talk about work.
For the submission it will be necessary to send an abstract with a short description.
A partnership between:
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
National Institute Dramatic Arts, Australia
Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland
Grafias da Cena Brasil Association, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Simona Rybáková presented the calls that are still open for PQ 2023:
PQ STUDIO
(masterclasses, workshops and stage festival)
deadline: 31/05
https://www.pq.cz/pq-studio-open-call/
BEST PUBLICATION AWARD
deadline: 31/10
https://www.pq.cz/pq-best-publication-award-in-performance-design-scenography-open-call/
PQ STUDIO
[UN]Common Project
deadline: 01/09 to 01-10
https://www.pq.cz/pq-studio-open-call/
PQ TALKS
deadline: 30/06
https://www.pq.cz/pq-talks-open-call/
Rosane stated that the program at PQ TALKS and all the calls is decided by the PQ curators, and we all can send proposals for any of the aforementioned calls, which are still open. Then she explained that if the idea is accepted, the proposer will receive an invitation directly from PQ.
Sofia made it very clear the Mexican designers are included and encouraged to apply to these open calls, and suggested that the ‘Women and Violence’ panel that was presented in Mexico City could also be proposed for PQ23.
Rosane suggested to spread the word to get students involved.
Simona Rybáková stated the OISTAT costume meetings need a better branding that will reflect the huge programme constantly created by the Sub-commission. Looking
for a new “brand” and inspired by other Commissions, such as the Architecture Commission (with TAC) and Technology Commission (with TIP), the leadership has been discussing this idea since 2018, in Cardiff.
After consideration and discussions with Sub-commission members, the Costume Sub-commission leadership wrote a proposal for this branding to be called “World
Costume in Action (WCiA)”. This proposal was presented by Simona to the Executive Committee and the Governing Board in their Oslo meeting on November 4-5, 2019.
The 2019 proposal for the brand name “World Costume in Action (WCiA)” was as follows:
Proposal for better branding of PDC/C activities
(presented by Simona Rybákova for EC/GB in Oslo, Norway, 4 and 5 November, 2019)
The Costume Design Sub-Commission is very active for many years, as it is already well known by OISTAT members. But we recently noticed – after some discussions that happened in Cardiff during the celebration of OISTAT@50- that some events supported by us or with the participation of our members seems to be bigger or more important than what we are really producing as an OISTAT group. Because of that, and after receiving some comments of members that we need to discover
how to make the group/members activities more visible, we decided to present a proposal to EC/GB.
First we tried to create a competition with a special name, inspired by the TIP and TAC examples. But we don't really think that a competition is the “face”of this group. Its real face are the encounters we have been organizing each year, in different countries, announced as our annual meetings, but much much more than that!
Our annual meetings are not only composed of business meetings but generally include a large amount of sessions as: Lectures, Roundtables, Flash Talks, Panels, Workshops + Final result presentations (practical and/or debate), Exhibitions, Business Meetings, Professional Researches (visits to archives, costume shops, museums, backstages, side trips...) and visual documentation + resume with a newsletter about the hole event.
As we create and curate the Costume Program at WSD, and as we collaborate with the Costume sessions at PQ, we propose to transform the biennial “meetings” and its big program (between this two events) in a named event, as it is growing each year. With that action we can have more publicity for the group and its activities.
The idea is to name our event as World Costume in Action (WCiA), inspired by the Costume Program that happened during the WSD2013, curated by Donatella Barbieri and Sofia Pantouvaki, both members of the PDC/C, named Costume in Action. The suggestion of having the word “World” before it is to show how international the event is, as well as an inspiration by other OISTAT projects, as the World Stage Design. Above you can see a resume about the activities of Costume Design Sub- Commission on the last years.
EC/GB Oslo Minutes
(Oslo, Norway, 4 and 5 November, 2019)
4.2.1 OISTAT Performance Design/Costume Design (Simona Rybáková)
Simona went over the report and introduced the event World Costume in Action (WCiA). The proposal is inspired by the costume programme that took place during WSD2013,
curated by Donatella Barbieri and Sofia Pantouvaki. Like TAC and TIP, the Costume Design Sub-commission would like to have something that acts as the brand and identification of the Sub-commission.
EC and GB all agreed that it is a very good initiative.
Simona explained that then came the Covid online meetings, and the Sub-commission leadership decided that the presentation of the proposed brand name (“World Costume in Action (WCiA)”) to the membership of the Sub-commission seemed important to be done in person. Simona stated that, if members present in the current meeting agree, the Mexico City meeting could be the first WCiA event. Sandy Bonds moved positive, and Laura Crow seconded. Simona called the vote for the name change (from “Sub-commission Annual Meetings” to “World Costume in Action (WCiA)” and for supporting for the Mexico City meeting to be the first WCiA event. The vote was unanimously positive.
SENA (Southern European / Northern African) forum
Morocco, 25-30 October 2022
Simona stated we don’t have the program and details yet, but it may be both online and in-person.
Sofia stated the forthcoming SENA hosts are planning an exhibition and there will be a call for members from the SENA regions
TBILISI BIENNALE OF STAGE DESIGN
(tentative for 2024, Georgia).
Simona introduced the idea of having the next World Costume in Action during Tbilisi Biennale. Zuzu Hudek asked if costume could be included in this event (given the name of the biennale is ‘stage design’) and Marina Raytchinova confirmed that it is included, and stated that Georgia has a great tradition. Sofia Pantouvaki stated the Research Commission has been active online in this event. Laura Crow brought up concerns that the war could impact this meeting.
Sofia informed that the World Stage Design 2025 will be held in Sharjah, UAE. The Sub-commission meetings following that year are still open.
Sofia noted that, following some members’ requests, she might organize a meeting in Greece for 2026 (to be discussed again in the future), especially if no other host proposal arrives.
Simona asked if others have ideas for future meetings and events; please contact the leadership at the email address: pdc_costume@oistat.org.
COSTUME DATABASE
(Books, Research Links, Universities)
Rosane Muniz presented the need for continuing the work that has been done, calling for project leaders for the previously proposed and initiated databases of costume books and journals, and the other databases.
April Viczko has started a list of publications with support by their students, and it may be reviewed and enlarged. Margaret Mitchell volunteered to lead this project after May 2023. Margaret stated that we might want multiple languages featured in the publications database. Simona suggested translation might be possible, by computer programs. Marianne Custer asked about historic dress publications being included in the database and Ana Kuzmanic asked if makers and resources could be included.
The group decided we need to discuss these issues. It was proposed to focus these lists on costume publications and not on general publications on historic dress or fashion (which can be easily found elsewhere). Margaret recalled Laura had created such a database years ago, but the files are not up to date or accessible. Ana offered to be Laura’s apprentice for reviving the makers and resources in her earlier database. Sofia Pantouvaki suggested to have a progress report on the database at the PQ meeting, in 2023. This would allow those involved to progress this work meanwhile.
BASECAMP
Rosane Muniz stated that the Sub-commission shares information in our dedicated space on Basecamp and informed that this space is a closed group only for active OISTAT members. Sofia reminded that everything written on Basecamp goes automatically to everyone’s emails and this is a public site, explaining that if someone wants to have a private chat, they need to email to pdc_costume@oistat.org (if the chat is for the Sub-commission leadership) or to their colleagues’ private email (if the chat is intended for a certain member).
Rosane opened Basecamp to demonstrate how the Basecamp group works and informed we have almost 400 names on our Sub-commission mailing list, but only about 70 people are on Basecamp, those who have been active in the past ten years.
Simona suggested members can upload presentations to share with the group on Basecamp, as was done by the presenters from the OISTAT Congress, in 2021. Rosane demonstrated where docs and files are on Basecamp. Sofia clarified you must download a document to work on the document (e.g. add something) and then upload it again. Sandy stated it’s possible to link to Google docs as another option to work collaboratively in real time.
UPCOMING ELECTIONS/ MEMBERSHIP ISSUES
Simona Rybáková informed the Costume Sub-commission must have an election for a new Chair during PQ 2023 and we will get the Call from Headquarters 6 months before.
Simona told the group that her term is up and we need good candidates. She informed the persons who wish to be considered for elections must send a letter of intent to OISTAT after the call. Sofia suggested it would also be possible to have two co-chairs, and continue in a collaborative way, similar to what the group have been working on.
Sofia stated that she will not be candidate for the next leadership term because she was elected in the OISTAT EC in October 2021 and would like to focus on that role. Rosane stated that she will consider the possibility for a candidacy and would be interested in working with a team.
Rosane told that OISTAT has a term limit of four years for Chairs and stated this is part of the statutes of OISTAT. Lise Klitten asked if vice chairs have term limits, as well, and the leadership answered, according to the statute, that the role of vice-chairs does not count towards the term limits. Rosane thanked Sara Salomon for asking the Costume Sub-commission leadership to be interviewed in the roundtable about “curating international events” during the Mexico City meeting, calling attention to how this was a good moment to reflect upon the whole work the group have been doing. Lise reinforced that the Chair position is work for more than one person. Rosane and Sofia stated
that we need new people to lead, and Lise suggested former leaders help advise new leaders.
ABOUT OISTAT MEMBERSHIP
Sofia addressed the Mexican colleagues inquiring about official OISTAT status. Sofia suggested the Mexican colleagues to become individual members and with so the information can be shared. Carolina Jimenez stated they will be part of USITT as a temporary measure. Sofia reminded the Mexican colleagues they would not have as much direct representation as members of USITT and that in the near future it would be better for representation for the Mexican colleagues to eventually have their own
OISTAT centre. Sofia suggested Mexican colleagues to enquire with the Headquarters if they could become associate members as a first step. Discussion ensued about companies as members (as Associate Membership for OISTAT has been introduced primarily for industry companies).
Rosane stated Brazil was just granted OISTAT Centre membership, in the online OISTAT Congress, in 2021. And she reminded it is a challenge to pay the fees, because they have been moving a lot of professionals to support the Brazilian Association, but only a few of these professionals have conditions to pay the national fee. Carolina Jimenez said this is an issue the Mexican colleagues also have and that it could be good to have different fees for big associations (as USITT) as opposed to lower membership fees for beginners’ associations, with few membership. Marina Raytchinova stated OISTAT have been discussing this issue for years on the EC meetings and that this issue needs to be
discussed at a World Congress.
Simona thanked everyone and adjourned the meeting.
Download the Meeting Minutes in PDF
