2019 OISTAT Education Meeting Minutes, Berlin, Germany

Tuesday, 18 June 2019: 11:15 – 13:00, meeting room at Messe Nord, Berlin 
 

1. Welcome & Introductions by Chair William Kenyon & Vice-Chair Anders Larsson:
a. Please check roster to ensure that we have the best email address for you.
 
b. Meeting called to order by Chair William Kenyon & Vice-Chair Anders Larsson at 11:15 am.
 
c. By a suggestion from Monique Corbeil, CITT Canada, all delegates in the room introduced themselves to each other
 
d. A sign-in sheet was made available, and a current roster of the Commission membership was circulated for corrections & updates.
 
e. Chair W. Kenyon informed the delegates that OISTAT member Henk van der Geest, Netherlands, passed away a week earlier. During late spring also former EduComm delegate Sjef Tilly, Netherlands, passed away. Both will be remembered for their passion and the importance of their work for OISTAT and EduComm.
 
f. Presentation of Agenda. The agenda was accepted by the delegates.
 
2. Acceptance of last meeting’s minutes.
The prior meeting minutes was accepted by the delegates. All prior meeting minutes are available on the OISTAT website.

3. Chair’s report on recent Education Commission activities:
a. OISTAT @ 50 event – September 2018.

• OISTAT President Bert Determann did a short presentation of what took place during the meeting. This was an excellent opportunity to shine a light on OISTAT´s activities for the last 50 years.

 
b. Executive Council/Governing Board Meetings in Calgary – October 2018.

• Chair W. Kenyon did a short presentation of what took place during the meeting. For detailed information, please check the meeting minutes available on the OISTAT website.

 
c. BIB/ISDSWE – Beijing, China – November 2018.

• Chair W. Kenyon did a short presentation of what took place during the last BIB meeting. Around 27 international students from different countries, along with all the national students participated in the summit.
• The question was asked – how many students per countries can BIB support/host? This is the type of question that must be asked directly to the BIB organization, so not students from one country will be in majority over students from other countries – it should be some kind of balance in the group of students.
• The next BIB/ISDSWE will be held at the new CAD campus – a fantastic site for this type of activity.

 
d. Chris van Goethem´s report on training project.

• Chris van Goethem started with a short presentation of the idea behind the European system of codes for work descriptions – ESCO codes – he had been in the working group for during the last years.
• Chris van Goethem has also, together with some other European countries, been involved in a European project called TeBeVat. The aim of the project has been to recognizing previously acquired competences (skills and knowledge). The core in the project lies in supporting the candidate who wants to have their competences assessed using a structured portfolio.
• Finally. Chris van Goethem informed the group that the European application for the Canon project – a theatre technical history – was accepted and will be running from 2019 – 2022.
•  Information about all these projects can be found at: www.podiumtechnieken.be

e. Chair attendance at PQ 19 and other Commissions meetings.

• Chair W. Kenyon did a short presentation of what took place during the different commissions meeting during PQ19 in Prague.
  (1) In the General meeting for OISTAT a new term limits for chairs & officers were set. For more information, please refer to the meeting minutes from the meeting.
  (2) Applications for new OISTAT Centres were discussed and voted on, with Centres being established in Norway & Israel, and a possible future Centre in South Africa.

 
4. Chair’s report on upcoming meetings & related events:
a. Education Commission Meeting – Helsinki, Finland to be held during Lux Helsinki, January 2020 (will be combined with Lighting Sub-Commission).

• Chair W. Kenyon has received an invitation from the OISTAT centre in Finland for an Education commission meeting to be held in Helsinki during the light festival Lux Helsinki in January 2020. This meeting will be held in conjunction with OISTAT Light Design Sub-Commission – LDSC. The meeting will run from January 7th to January 11th.
• Vice chair A. Larsson informed that it will be an add-on boat trip from Helsinki to Stockholm and back from the evening January 9th. The day after, January 10th will be spent in Stockholm visiting some museums and theatre backstage before leaving for Helsinki in the evening. Host for the meeting in Stockholm will be Association Swedish Lighting Designers – SLF.
•  Departure day from Helsinki will be January 11th.

 
b. 1st International Summit on Theatre Design Training, Shanghai, March 2020.

• This will be a summit with special focus on different design educations around the world. It will include 30-40 guests invited from all around the world. The summit will tentatively take place in the first part of March 2020.

 
c. Demonstration of ETTE Training Project at USITT in Houston, April 2020

• Chair W. Kenyon informed that the ETTE training will be presented at the USITT meeting in Houston April 2020.
• For those interested, there will also be a chance to take part in the ETTE demonstration later in the Stage Set Scenography trade fair show in Berlin. The presentation will be performed by Chris van Goethem.

 
d. BIB/ISDSWE – Beijing, China – November 2020?

• Question was asked in what way it will be some economical support for the participants? The answer to that is that selected countries has to deal with that, and all other problems, themselves.
• If a country is selected to participate, CAD will send out an invitation letter necessary for application for visa to China. It is also possibly for OISTAT to send out an invitation letter useful for schools and countries to apply for find external economical support for the BIB travel and expenses.

 
e. Conference by Candlelight in Stockholm at the Drottningholm Court Theatre.

• Vice chair A. Larsson informed that it in first week in September 2020 will be held a Conference by Candlelight at the Drottningholm Court Theatre aiming to find out proper contemporary light equipment useful for old baroque theatres instead of using old candle light.
• There is an idea to involve students from around the world to take part in this project – on site or on line – to find out for example how candle light was used in these types of theatres originally. For this reason it also would make sense to take a look at what´s going on at The Globe in the Sam Wanamaker Theatre, London.
• Anders Larsson (Sweden), Chris van Goethem (Belgium), and Richard Bryant (Trinidad) was asked to form a working group to find out in what way this type of project could be possible to arrange.

 
f. 2021 WSD in Calgary, Canada – August, 2021 in conjunction with OISTAT World Congress.

• Monique Corbeil, CITT Canada, informed about the up-coming WSD 2021 in Calgary Canada and gave a brief background to the symbol with the three mountains in the logo. Chair W. Kenyon talked about the idea of going on a camping tour.
• Scenofest will also this time be a part of the WSD event. Marina Raytchinova asked if the Education commission will arrange some special activities as Scenofest from the beginning was founded by the EduComm.
• During the up-coming months a discussion on-line should start to find out how a special activity could be arranged.

 
g. Future Meetings – We need proposals for future hosting, and the following suggestions have been made:

• Possible 2021 or 2022. Education Commission Meeting – Manila, Philippines, February 2021, along with Technology Commission?Joaquin Jose Aranda from the Philippines will come back later with new information after it has been confirmed if the site for the meeting – a newly built theatre – will open 2021 (original plan) or if it will be postponed to 2022.
• Japan after Olympic games at summer 2020.
• Georgia.
• Australia.
• Mexico.
• Chair W. Kenyon also added some information about having a small working meeting in conjunction with USITT in the future.

 
5. OISTAT Small Meetings?
a. Did anyone try to hold one?

• Chair W. Kenyon expressed that he has got the impression that meeting has taken place, but as no one has announced them public it is hard to tell where and when.
• Is more guidance needed?
  (1) Chair W. Kenyon will try to, together with the OISTAT head office, go on with the work to formulate and give guidance for future small meeting.

 
6. Membership & Promotion.
a. Building Membership in the Commission & in OISTAT.
 
b. How can we spread name & work of OISTAT Education?

• Chair W. Kenyon asked how we can advertise and spread the word about our work in the Education Commission?
• Would live-streaming of our meetings and activities be a way? This is a question to be continued for coming meetings.

 
7. Developing more international student travel opportunities.
a. Costs.
Postponed for next meeting due to lack of time
 
b. Partnerships.
Postponed for next meeting due to lack of time
 
c. Length of trips?
Postponed for next meeting due to lack of time
 
8. Developing Faculty Exchanges?
a. In Europe it is possible to apply for Erasmus+ subsidy for students, teacher and staff mobility exchange between schools in different countries in the EU. It is more difficult to find financial support for other parts in the world, but some universities have funds to apply to.
 
9. Other Commission Goals and Projects?
a. OISTAT president Bert Determann informed that the Performance Design commission has been invited to a meeting in Cairo in 2020.
 
10. Conclusion.
a. Chair William Kenyon thanked all delegates for their participation in the Education Commission meeting and closed the meeting.
 

Anders Larsson
Vice Chair, OISTAT Education Commission
 
William Kenyon
Chair, OISTAT Education Co