For the first time in 40 years, live performance designers held their own Scenography and Performance Design working group at ADSA conference in November. ADSA is the peak academic association in Australia promoting the study of drama in any performing medium.

The Scenography and Performance Design Working Group’s aim is to solidify the growing body of Australasian researchers specialising in scenography and performance design. Many designers are actively involved with international research networks, yet lack a home where they can share our achievements and advance the national dialogue on performance design. This new working group will provide a national space for this sharing, to connect those investigating by the power of design in performance, to find avenues to collaborate, co-publish, and support one another in our research.

There were 12+ paper presentations from designers across AUS & NZ, discussing lighting design, design modelling technologies,VR, ethical practices, authentic site-based story-telling, the 4th dimension and eco-design education innovations. APDG members Christina Smith, Matt Scott, Richard Roberts, Imogen Ross and Eamon D’Arcy all presented papers about their current areas of research.

The launch of the Australian chapter of OISTAT ScenoLab was one of the highlights, and a welcome return – it has been nearly 20 years since Australia was a member country. ScenoLab will provide a space for Australian designers to share research and pedagogical advancements in all areas of design for performance, including spatial, set, costume, lighting, and sound, through to intermedial design practice and digital scenography. All designers,  educators and researchers whose work intersects with the concerns of scenography, be it questions of space, time, audience, technology, aural, visual, material, and environmental aspects of performance environments are welcome to join.

The ScenoLab committee will meet up in the new year to talk about plans for meetings, for events, and for network and sharing. For more information on the Scenography and Performance Design working group and Scenolab, contact Tessa Rixon (tessa.rixon@qut.edu.au), Tanja Beer (t.beer@griffith.edu.au) or Madeline Taylor (madeline.taylor@qut.edu.au )

THERE IS ALWAYS SO MUCH MORE TO THE GREEN CONVERSATION…

If you are interested in adding your professional design voice and suggestions to an APDG Sustainability Protocols group or promoting green initiatives in future Green Conversations, please send an email to Imogen Ross or Rebecca Whittington to offer assistance, suggest topics of research and point us towards members who are doing great things in the field of sustainable design.