Ondřej Hrab
I decided to use the grant for traveling … the more Archa Theater works internationally, the more I need to travel to speak with artists about future projects… I see Archa as a meeting place, where a Czech musician can meet a Japanese director and an American theater director and together they try to change the vision of art…
- Ondřej Hrab, May 1, 1996
Biography
Ondřej Hrab founded Archa Theatre in Prague in 1994 and continues to serve as its Director. Archa is a space that presents contemporary and alternative theater, dance, and music. The theatre aims to unite cultures, genres, and continents by developing relationships with international artists and presenting original work. They have presented performers such as John Cale, Min Tinaka, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, the Royal Shakespeare Company, David Byrne, Randy Newman, and Allen Ginsberg. Projects by Archa have been presented at festivals in Bonn, Johannesburg, London, Kyoto, Tokyo, Belgrade, Brussels, and Berlin. In April 2010, Archa's performance of Leaving was staged in Seoul, Korea.
In 2004 Archa Theatre established Archa.lab, an educational, training, and residence program, committed to creating successful conditions for the formation of young, aspiring artists. Archa.lab projects include Dance Through the Fence (2008) and Emigrantes (2009) by the VerTedance group. The ongoing Freedom! Freedom? project (2009/10) combines documentary theater with debate in order to examine the revolutionary changes in Czech society since 1989.