10/22/2026
Theatre and dance professor Hyun Sook Kim to represent U.S. at global design exhibition!
Congratulations! For more information and insight from professor Kim, read our brief interview below.
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How would you describe this accomplishment and its importance to theatre enthusiasts?
“Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (PQ) is the world's largest international exhibition and festival dedicated to performance design and theatre scenography.
It is held every four years since 1967 at Prague, Czech Republic to showcase the best selected theatre designs and scenography from all of the countries around the world.
PQ is widely regarded as the "Olympics" of performance design, scenography, and theatre architecture… Thus, to be selected in this prestigious international event as one representative in the US National Exhibit Team to present my costume design works at PQ 2027 is a HUGE, tremendous honor and important accomplishment for me in my professional career.”
About the costumes selected for the US National Exhibit at PQ 2027:
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“- ‘Tiger Style!’
is the story about the minority in the United States.
It is a play written by Mike Lew…
The play describes his conflicted feelings, being raised by "tiger parents" while confronting the reality of American lifestyle in the United States…
As a foreign-born artist and minority who has made the United States my artistic home, who exists as a minor fragment in the American Theatre world, I was glad to design this show to present diverse expression and ideas in the main American Theatre stream.
In the context, my costume designs involved in the mode of Asian/Chinese cultural style, hilarious minimized human body-form & outfit, exaggerated humongous Chinese military cape in such a unique unconventional way.”
Professor Kim’s second piece, “Organic Fragments” honors the main theme.
“- In my unique creative concept of the series of the Costume Artwork, each costume artform is evolving toward Silence and Absence/Emptiness…
In my creative Costume Artwork, the fragments fracture and shift and reform through time and space on the body form, as each costume artform is changing like living organism.
As said, between each fragment lies space—absence, possibility, and new next movement. The absence of pieces is still an Existence, claiming its own right of Organic Fragments!”
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Share elements of the design that you are proud of. Do you hope your passion influences your students at CSUF?
“- I hope my participation in this PQ 2027 and my passion in creativity work influences my students at CSUF. My long experience in the professional career always benefits my education of my students in classes and productions. It has inspired my students, broadened their perspective, and helped them grow both intellectually and technically.
