“OISTAT made a lot of things possible”

Why do scenographers, stage technicians and theatre architects need an international organisation? Delegates from seven countries met in Prague i 1968 and founded OISTT, now OISTAT, in the middle of the cold war.a The political situation has changed, but the mission of international collaboration has remained. Dr. Joel Rubin was the second President of OISTAT, from 1972 to 1978. He talks to Karin Winkelsesser, also engaged in the organisation from the 1990ies on.

Karin Winkelsesser: I would like to start with a personal question: What is your profession, how did you start it and what did you do?
Dr. Joel Rubin If I tell you that I was an apprentice at an open-air theatre in my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio in the mid 1940’s and I have been involved in theatrical activity ever since. After I received my PH.D. in theatre and engineering I started work as a consultant with Kliegl Bros. Lighting in New York City. Then some years later joined the consulting firm ARTEC, famous for its acoustic designs. Subsequentlty, I started my own consulting firm, with a practice mostly in architectural lighting.

What were your first contacts with German stage technology?
The late (and great) Prof. Walther Unruh, technical director and theatre consultant, came to New York in the late 1950’s for pre-planning on the proposed new Metropolitan Opera House. Somehow he made his way to Kliegl Bros. I took it upon myself to show him many New York theatres. Eventually that expanded into a tour of important theatres in the United States including many theatres where he had friends forced to flee Germany prior to World War II. In 1960 Unruh, under the auspices of the International Theatre Institute, staged a world symposium on post-war theatre planning All of the important theatre countries took part along with important architects and stage directors. I believe we were some 300 strong, architects, technical directors, designers, stage directors. IT was a seminal conference in terms of introducing those of us in the United States to the international theatre community. Many of us became excited by the collaboration between the various disciplines at that Conference and we went home and started our own national organizations; for example, USITT in the United States and ABTT in Great Britain.

How did you get into contact with the professionals that later would found OISTT, later OISTAT?
A conference in Prague, organized by Miroslav Kouril (called „Interscena“) in 1966 brought together an international group much to Kouril’s credit. But it was clear that he was a propoganda front for the Czeck government and the delegates resisted joining a political organization. But the idea for an international group had taken root in the Czeck Ministry of Culture who turned to the Prague Theatre Institute for implementation. Two years later a group of seven of us found ourselves meeting with the Secretary-General and the President of the International Theatre Institute. A „charta“ had already been prepared and by the end of a single day we had settled on the establishment of OISTT (later amended to include our architect brothers to OISTAT). The ITI was pleased to get rid of the burden of dealing with theatre planning technicians, scengraphers and the like. Let me say again, that without the seminal conference put together by Prof. Unruh in 1960 that the idea for an OISTAT might never have been generated.

How did you get involved into the project?
I had completed my term as President of USITT and my successor, receiving an invitation for USITT to send a delegate to Interscena, suggested that I should represent the Institute. It was a short hop from Interscena in 1966 to the meeting in Prague in 1968 to form OISTAT.

From what I understood, the main objective was to allow meetings of the Western and Eastern parts of the world. How did the founding members get together?
The first OISTAT Congress was in 1969, nearly 200 of us from about 15 countries. We were all there at the invitation of the Czeck Government, including the delegate from Israel who had to be invited according to the rules of accredited international organizations.
„East“ and „West“ had political differences which would show up in meetings: from the west, a resolution to free imprisoned artists; fron the east a“peace“ resolution. WE in the west did not at first fully appreciate the difficulty which the east delegates had in anticipating reactiions at home before they would comment on some issues.

What were your activities for the professional organisations USITT, OISTAT?
I’m very proud to be the co-founder of USITT and one of the seven founding members of OISTAT. My colleagues elected me as the second President of USITT and later as the principal delegate to the international community, and I was enormously gratified to have the welcome as the second President of OISTAT following in the steps of Prof. Unruh.

In your time of Presidency, what were the main objectives and how did you reach them?
Of course we needed to increase the number of countries participating in OISTAt. A big problem was that the Soviet Union refused to join. That caused a problem in that other socialist countires held back from membership. It was only when China sent an application to join that the SOviets were catapulted into action and then other socialist countries felt free to join. And, we needed to learn how to work together. Gradually friendships formed without regard to political system or geography. The meetigs of various commissions and the larger congresses took place in both east and west. Inevitably we began to think more globally. 

OISTAT never interfered politically, that was the basis of existence of OISTAT. Do you think this was right and do you think that it is still right today?
The main point of OISTAT was the interchange of ideas, the friendships formed between delegates, the interchange of artsts, the congresses which introduced us to the manners of the various countries. We are looking far back! I stayed involved until the early 1990’s, a pretty good stretch of 22 years. By then most of the original founders had retired or (even worse) passed away. It was past-time to let go.

Did you experience the opening of OISTAT after 1990 to South America and Asia? If so, what was your impression?
We were very fortunate to find active scenography groups in Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, Brazil and Argentina In the mid-90’s we staged an OISTAT international costume conference in the United States and had delegates from a dozen Latin American countries.

What are your general thoughts about OISTAT? Has it made your life richer and in what way? Do you think that OISTAT can contribute to a more open view onto the world?
I was priveleged to be part of the formation of OISTAT at a critical time in the midst of the cold war. It is my belief that the friendships, the meetings and exchanges, the many conversations enabled because OISTAT existed, gradually bacame part of an unstoppable stream. This stream when matrixed with similar activities in other artistic and scientific disciplines, finally paved the way for the velvet and not-so-velvet revolutions that saw the tearing fown of existing barriers and walls in the late 1980’s.

What would you recommend young people in regard to OISTAT and personal encounters?
I understand „Scenofest“ is appealing to thousands of young people, Those who would dwell in the disciplines of OISTAT should find the encounters with working professionals extremely valuable to their education. And, good friends between countries help toward world peace.

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Upheavals and new paths

Karin Winkelsesser on the development of OISTAT since the ‘90s

Why do scenographers, stage technicians and engineers need an international umbrella organization? In 1968, representatives from seven countries got together in Prague and founded OISTT, today’s OISTAT, in the middle of the Cold War. The political situation may have changed but the goal of a specialist exchange of ideas has remained. Dr Joel Rubin was the second president of OISTAT, from 1972 to 1978. He reports on the association’s early years, and our correspondent, also active in the organization, draws a line into the present.

With the fall of the Iron Curtain, the existence of OISTAT was suddenly called into question as the Czech government was no longer in a position, or willing, to fund the general secretariat. For a time, the association’s future hung in the balance – without funding, it could not survive. Then in 1992 the Netherlands offered to become host. The new general secretary Chris Lievaart set about extending the association’s international reach and convinced some South American and Asian countries to join. This development was not welcomed by all. Some old members feared it might jeopardize the friendships and alliances that had been forged over the last 20 years, as Joel Rubin described. The association had evolved a tri-lingual system, with members speaking German, English and French, and publications appearing in all three languages. One of my main responsibilities was overseeing the three-way translations.

I first participated in an OISTAT congress in 1991, on the invitation of the local ITI. The South American delegates immediately proposed that Spanish be introduced as an OISTAT language and French abolished. Despite the indignation among European members, the motion was accepted. However, English very soon displaced all other languages at OISTAT. This was one symptom of the upheavals affecting the organization. An even more severe shock for the long-standing members came after the next round of ballots: Some of them were voted out of offices they had held and cherished for 20 years in favour of Asian or South American colleagues.

Objectives and projects

For the new members, the main appeal of OISTAT was participating in an international exchange of ideas. But in practice, just organizing the meetings used up a lot of the association’s resources. As funding had been cut, it was forced to rethink its policy of enabling delegates to travel cost-free. The arts were no longer the calling card of rival political systems; governments now had other priorities. The expert commissions, which formed – and still form – the core of the association’s work, came under scrutiny. Having to finance them independently, the national OISTAT centres demanded they come up with more concrete objectives and results. And to some extent they delivered. The commissions, made up of delegates from one OISTAT centre each time, still exist, partly because they secure continuity of personnel. “What do we get out of it?” was a question I often heard in connection with the association’s work. Peculiarly, the purpose of international cooperation is regularly questioned. The point is surely not to always balance services and rewards in monetary terms. Who apart from Donald Trump questions the value of the UN, even if its concrete impact is limited?

For OISTAT, this justified pressure from the national OISTAT centres to deliver results was also motivation to extend its activities. It started holding public meetings and congresses and organizing specialist symposia for educators and students, and for architecture. Other outwardly visible results of the organization’s work include the ‘Theatre Words’ encyclopaedia, in 28 languages, and the ‘World Scenography’ publication accompanying the four-yearly Szenofest, which brings together scenographers from all over the world.

Of course, innovations in communication technology have had a major impact on the association’s work. Initially, I sent the trilingual reports to all corners of the earth by post. The dawn of fax was a minor revolution. And email and the internet have made it a matter of course to maintain constant contact, opening new possibilities for cooperation.

Exporting culture – OISTAT in Taiwan

New ways of cooperating were called for when in 2006 the general secretary relocated to Taiwan. Since no European country, nor the U.S. or Canada, was prepared to take over as host after the Netherlands, the then president Maija Pekkanen looked further afield to find a new home for OISTAT. The Taiwanese ministry of culture volunteered its services and has supported OISTAT ever since. The current contract ends in 2012. Until 2004, I was an elected member of the executive committee, after which I remained connected to the association as a representative of the publications committee. From a European perspective, OISTAT is now ‘far away’. But it is a fact that Asians and especially the Taiwanese are embracing European theatre and opera culture with such enthusiasm, they seem to be attributing it greater importance than the Europeans themselves. Nevertheless, cultural differences affecting the daily work of the board and the general secretary pose a challenge, as company representatives active in Asia know.

OISTAT has increasingly met the demands made of a modern international organization. The professional spectrum has grown, and light and sound specialists and costume designers have become organized in professional groups, with the aim of holding regular meetings.

The 50^th anniversary celebrations are taking place at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff – in Europe, then, where western theatre has its roots.

Biography Joel E. Rubin

Joel E. Rubin, Ph.D., holds the B.S. Degree in Electrical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, an MFA from Yale University’s School of Drama, and the Ph.D. in Engineering and Theatre from Stanford University. He is the co-founder and a Past President of the United States
Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) and Founding Chair and Chair Emeritus of its International Commission. He was the United States Representative and founding member of the International Organization of Scenographers, Theatre Architects, and Theatre Technicians (OISTAT), the UNESCO-related international organization and served for eight years as President of that organization. Dr. Rubin works as a Consultant in the fields of theatre planning and theatre equipment planning.

Dr. Rubin’s earlier work as Executive Vice-President of the famous Kliegl Bros. Lighting and subsequently over a decade as Principal Consultant, Project Manager and Managing Director of Artec Consultants provides him with unique experience in the consulting discipline

Awards and Honors include the Annual USITT Founders Award given in his name. He holds the Gold Key of the OISTAT. He is a Fellow of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, a Fellow of the American Educational Theatre Association, and a Fellow of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology where he is also a Lifetime Honorary Member. His biographical profile appears in Who’s Who in America. Dr. Rubin is co-author of Theatrical Lighting Practice, which interrelates training for lighting design, the profession of theatrical lighting, and chapters on current practices in lighting for various performance types. He is the author of The Technical Development of Electric Stage Lighting Apparatus in the American Theatre, which is considered a standard reference. He has also authored or co-authored several score articles on theatre architecture and technical theatre appearing in a wide range of international publications.