2018 Costume Design Sub-commission - Meeting Minutes

The business meeting of the Performance Design Commission/Costume (PDC/C) took place on May 18, 2018 at The Royal School of Dramatic Art (RESAD) in Madrid, Spain during the sub- commission annual meeting organized by OISTAT PDC/C with OISTAT SPAIN and The Association of Scenic Visual Artists from Spain (AAPEE) that took place from 18th to 20th May. The business meeting was chaired by Simona Rybáková, Head of the OISTAT PDC/C, with Vice- Heads Sofia Pantouvaki and Rosane Muniz.

 
AGENDA
1. Welcome
Simona Rybáková, Head of PDC/C, Rosane Muniz Vice-Head for Projects, and Sofia Pantouvaki, Vice-Head for Research opened the meeting with introductions. Due to the information that the next day would have wider attendance by Spanish members, they announced that the slide show outlining the recent activities of the PDC/C would be postponed until the morning of May 19, directly preceding the Flash Talks session.
 
 
2. Brief of PDC/C for new members
After being asked about how to become officially part of OISTAT Costume during the visit to the facilities and stores of Cornejo costume shop (Sastrería Cornejo), the Heads decided to open the meeting discussing ways to obtain OISTAT membership.
 
Rosane Muniz explained that members of OISTAT-affiliated organizations such as the United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT) and AAPEE are automatically members of OISTAT and need not do anything more. Those without group affiliations are encouraged to visit OISTAT’s website for individual membership information. Muniz also invited those interested in joining the PDC/C to sign up for the newsletter and shared the group’s mission statement on the oistat.org website:

• To stimulate the exchange of ideas and innovations, and to promote international collaboration in professions which support live performance;
• To serve the art form of performance, and the people who design and create live performance;
• To promote the formation of OISTAT Centres, and the participation of individuals, alliances, and institutions in all regions of the world to achieve these aims;
• To encourage life-long learning among live performance practitioners;
• To respect the integrity of all cultures and celebrate the diversity as well as the similarities of those who work in support of live performance.

 
The leaders also emphasized that basic communication was more important than a strong command of the English language and reiterated that non-fluent/hesitant English speakers are encouraged to join the group.
 
Simona Rybáková showed the PDC/C online Costume Design Photo Gallery (found on the oistat.org website) and announced that a new call for design images would be emailed to members for inclusion in the online gallery. Sofia Pantouvaki reminded everyone to pay attention to the requirements of the call and include all relevant production and photo credit information with their submissions.
 
 
3. Other activities related to PDC/C
a. Costume at the Turn of the Century exhibition in China and Innovative Costume of the 21st Century: The Next Generation exhibition open calls
Igor Roussanoff announced that the Costume at the Turn of Century: 1990-2015 exhibit will open in Shanghai on June 15, 2018, followed by an exhibition in Warsaw, and will be accompanied by a 680-page exhibition catalogue. Roussanoff informed the catalogue will be the largest collection of costume designs ever published and that all artists are welcome to submit their work for inclusion in future exhibits.
 
Mariaelena Roqué invited attendees to submit works to the Innovative Costume of the 21st Century: The Next Generation exhibit. She described a recent workshop led with Igor Roussanoff in Fuzhou, China. Roqué also observed that young people are open to new ideas but they need the right tools, resources and guidance.
 
To conclude, Simona Rybáková added that although OISTAT was not the organiser of these two exhibitions, it was an important collaborator for their development and realisation, just as the Critical Costume events. Rybáková explained that the PDC/C is not in the position to sponsor huge projects but is able to provide support on a smaller scale.
 
b. Critical Costume 2018
Sofia Pantouvaki announced that the deadline to submit proposals for Critical Costume 2018 is May 31. Critical Costume (CC) is a biennial research network, conference and exhibition:
 
2013 – CC was founded and first time organized at Edge Hill University, UK, by Sidsel Bech and Rachel Hann with a focus on history and tech.
2015 – CC was organized at Aalto University, Finland, by Sofia Pantouvaki with a focus on methodologies of costume practice and research and digital technology.
2017 – The event was cancelled due to obstacles by the proposed host.
 
The 2018 event will take place on September 12-14 at Surrey University, UK. The theme is costume ethics – a broad theme encompassing many perspectives including, but not limited to, appropriation, queering, gender, crediting, hierarchies, technology, waste, etc.
 
The organisers look forward to proposals from Spanish and international colleagues participating in the meeting. Fees are 90 pounds for individual artists and 200 pounds for academics (to be confirmed by more detailed announcement by Critical Costume). The tiered fees, which include food, is meant to support those who do not have institutional support.
 
 
4. Info about election of the new Head - call for next year
Simona Rybáková announced that the four-year term for the PDC/C leaders will conclude during the summer of 2019 and that a new call to elect PDC/C leadership will take place next year. All members of the PDC/C are eligible to run for a leadership position. The official vote will take place during the PDC/C business meeting at the 2019 Prague Quadrennial.
 
 
5. Future Events
a. Cardiff (August 29-September 2, 2018)
Rosane Muniz announced OISTAT’s 50th anniversary celebration in Cardiff from August 29- September 2, 2018. The event, originally conceived as a party, has transformed into a conference format with workshops, symposia and keynotes. OISTAT President, Bert Determann, further emphasized the celebratory nature of the event and stated that only a small amount of business would be conducted.
 
In addition, Sofia Pantouvaki announced that each sub-commission was given a time slot in which to conduct a small symposium during the anniversary event. Initial symposium ideas to represent OISTAT/Costume included flash talks, a retrospective slide show about PDC/C, and a continuation of ideas discussed during the Madrid conference, but the leadership asked members to collaborate with new suggestions.
 
Lise Klitten suggested creating a presentation with photos sent by members with pictures that show the group as “creative, funny, crazy... people”. The idea was accepted immediately and the call will be sent soon to PDC/C members.
 
b. Prague Quadrennial 2019 (Open Calls)
Rosane Muniz stated that there were several programming slots to fill at PQ 2019 and suggested to all members to visit the PQ official website. Those interested in leading a workshop should submit their proposals by May 31, 2018. Workshops can be led by groups, but proposals must come from a single person.
 
In addition, a new PQ book award recognizing excellence in Performance Design & Scenography has been created. The deadline to submit a book for consideration for this Performance Design & Scenography Publication Award is August 17, 2018.
 
c. World Stage Design 2021, Calgary
The next World Stage Design will take place in Calgary, Canada in 2021. PDC/C will have a conference at the event. The leadership suggested members to program themselves in advance to be part of the event.
 
d. Invitations for future PDC/C meetings in 2020, 2022
Meetings open to proposals:

• Jorge Sandoval – Mexico City
• Laura Crow – New Zealand during the World of Wearable Art (WOW) competition
• Naiema Agamy – Egypt

OISTAT has long wished to organise a meeting in Egypt; Bert Determann expressed logistical and safety concerns about travel to Egypt and ensured that these would be covered before any future planning. However, the possibility of meeting in Mexico City garnered enthusiasm from those in attendance. After a discussion about OISTAT’s travel funding limitations, Laura Crow and José Luis Ferrera added that an official letter from OISTAT often has the institutional weight needed to support proposal requests. Determann confirmed that this was doable.
 
 
6. Closing of the session
Elisa Sanz Garcia announced that the Spanish curator for PQ’19 had entered the room, which was met by clapping.
Meeting adjourned.
 
Minutes recorded by Sabrina Notarfrancisco and revised by Simona Rybáková, Sofia Pantouvaki and Rosane Muniz.
 
 
Important note
The meeting in Madrid was the first OISTAT PDC/Costume Sub-commission meeting attended by the President of OISTAT, who was warmly welcomed by all members.
 
After the meeting, Bert Determann sent to the leadership and to all PDC/C members congratulations for the very successful, interesting and inspiring meeting.