Barbora Prihodova
Adjunct Professor
Barbora Diego Rivera Příhodová is a theater historian with specialization in performance design and scenography. Her practice encompasses writing, curatorial, and research projects that bridge Europe and North America. Since 2009, she has collaborated with the Prague Quadrennial (PQ) as a consultant, a writer and an editor. Most recently, she co-curated PQ Talks 2019; she is also one of the hosts of the PQ Podcast.
Barbora Příhodová is currently based in the Philadelphia area, where she has had the opportunity to teach at Villanova University and University of the Arts. She was a writer and editor for thINKingDANCE, an online journal dedicated to dance and theater in Philadelphia (2018 – 2020).
Příhodová’s publications include the edited book Scénografie mluví [Scenography Speaks: Conversations of Jarka Burian with Josef Svoboda] (2014), which was nominated for the 2014 Czech Theatre News Award; essays and book reviews in the Theatre & Performance Design, Theatre Design & Technology, and Performance Research journals; and book chapters in The Routledge Companion to Scenography (2018) and The Disappearing Stage: Reflections on the 2011 Prague Quadrennial (2012).
Příhodová has also guest-edited Studies in Costume and Performance, the internationally recognized academic journal. The journal announced the release of Issue 6.2, co-edited by guest editor Příhodová and Sofia Pantouvaki from Aalto University on the topic of costume agency. The issue includes a global range of perspectives and the wide scope of different cultural and institutional experience, knowledge, and ways of knowing.
Her research and curatorial projects have been recognized by the Fulbright Research Scholarship, the Mellon Fellowship, and the New York Public Library Research Fellowship.
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Whether I teach, write, edit, or curate, I advocate for the significance of performance design as a powerful cultural, social, and political force. My practice grows from genuine care for the arts and the people who make it.