Teaching Scenography in Greece (1958-1976); a research

Abstract

The paper explores the as yet uncharted field of theatre design education in Greece during the years of its implementation on a professional level (1958-1976), using print and archival material as well as oral testimonies. The paper discusses issues such as the aesthetic theories, pedagogic principles and teaching methods underlying the educational process in the various institutions that undertook this task, i.e., the Athens School of Fine Arts; the private schools Athens Technological Organization (headed by architect and urban planner C.A. Doxiadis); the Vakalo School (still in operation today as Vakalo Art & Design College); the courses on scenography taught at the Schools of Architecture of both the National Technical University of Athens and the Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Furthermore, a rough recording of people involved (faculty and students) is also undertaken. In addition, an attempt is made to trace the role of stage design education for the artistic production at a professional level in post-war Greece, since it can be argued that it supported the wide spreading of stage modernism in its less radical and hence more popular manifestation.