- Barry Kay
Barry Kay (born
Melbourne 1932 – diedLondon 1985), who studied arts at theAcadémie Julian inParis , was a stage andcostume designer of international renown. In the course of his career, lasting almost four decades, he designed for theballet ,drama andopera alike, working with established directors and choreographers at major theatres and opera houses and their companies worldwide. Kay's emphasis, however, lay in pioneering three-dimensional stage set designs for the ballet. By breaking away from the traditional use of "flat wings" scenery, in designing for thetheatre he expanded on the revolutionary ideas of the Russian Constructivists and the Italian Futurists in the early part of the 20th century.Among others, Kay designed for the choreographers
Walter Gore ,Peter Darrell ,Kenneth MacMillan andRudolf Nureyev , as well as for ballet companies such asWestern Theatre Ballet (nowScottish Ballet ),The Royal Ballet ,The Australian Ballet ,The Ballet of the Deutsche Oper Berlin [Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and theGerman Reunification , the ballet companies of both the 'Deutsche Oper' (formerly West Berlin) and the 'Staatsoper' (formerly East Berlin) have merged on January 1, 2004, operating at both opera houses under the new name of 'Staatsballett Berlin '.] ,The Stuttgart Ballet ,The Vienna State Opera Ballet andAmerican Ballet Theater .Some of the drama and opera directors for whom he worked included
Margaret Webster ,Colin Graham ,John Copley ,Peter Dews and Rudolf Hartmann - with productions staged by theRoyal Shakespeare Company at theOld Vic , London; Sadler's Wells Opera Company (since 1974English National Opera ),Sadler's Wells Theatre , London; TheRoyal Opera at theRoyal Opera House ,Covent Garden , London; and numerous other national and international houses.Later in his career Kay also became a
photographer of subjects with socio-anthropological contents.Kay's artistic contributions to the
performing arts are well-represented and documented at national museums, state galleries, art libraries, theatre collections and archives globally. Public collections include:Victoria & Albert Museum Theatre Collections, London;Royal Opera House Collections, London;National Gallery of Australia , Canberra;State Library of New South Wales , Mitchell Library, Sydney;Performing Arts Museum , Melbourne;Lipperheidesche Kostümbibliothek ,Staatliche Museen zu Berlin ;Österreichisches Theatermuseum , Vienna;University of Calgary , Library, Special Collections, Alberta, Canada;MacNay Museum , Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts, San Antonio, Texas.Recognition by the National Library of Australia
In November 2006, the
National Library of Australia - an Australian government body bound by stringent selection criteria - posthumously honoured Barry Kay for his artistic achievements and identified the Barry Kay Archive for conserving, preserving and archiving Kay's creations, as well as for providing public online access to them - as: "Heritage of national significance with long-term research value".As a result, the online Barry Kay Archive is now permanently integrated into the Library's database of "
PANDORA " (Preserving and Accessing Networked Documentary Resources of Australia) - Australia's Web Archive - providing independent public internet access to the Barry Kay Archive via the Library's server in perpetuity.Live Performance Australia awards Barry Kay a place at its Hall of Fame
Live Performance Australia, the peak body for Australia's live entertainment and performing arts industry, posthumously selected Barry Kay as one of eighty theatre artists awarded a place in its newly established virtual Hall of Fame. This Hall of Fame, launched on 30 November 2007, is Live Performance Australia's way of paying tribute to a remarkable collection of people on the occasion of celebrating its 90th anniversary.
Frank van Straten OAM, theatre historian and founding director (1984-1993) of the Victorian Arts Centre's Performing Arts Museum in Melbourne, provided a short biography on each artist, constituting the corner stone of the Hall of Fame. (In 1993 the Victorian Arts Centre was renamed "
the Arts Centre ", Melbourne.)Footnotes
External links
* [http://www.barry-kay-archive.org/NOTES_TEXTS/NT_Constr_Sets.html Breaking with Traditions in Stage Design for the Ballet] - Barry Kay's pursuit of constructed sets for the theatre
* [http://www.barry-kay-archive.org Barry Kay Archive] - Online publication of Barry Kay's works and itemized biography
* [http://www.nla.gov.au/ National Gallery of Australia] - providing independent public online access to Barry Kay's works in perpetuity
* [http://pandora.nla.gov.au/apps/PandasDelivery/WebObjects/PandasDelivery.woa/wa/tep?pi=65594 PANDORA] - Australia's Web Archive
* [http://www.binaryblue.com.au/LPA/barrykay1.html Live Performance Australia] - Hall of Fame, biography about Barry Kay by Frank van Straten OAM
* [http://www.theartscentre.net.au/ The Arts Centre] - Home of the performing arts in Melbourne, including the Performing Arts Museum, housing designs by Barry Kay
* [http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/ The Royal Opera House Collections] - housing designs by Barry Kay
* [http://www.vam.ac.uk/tco/ Victoria & Albert Museum Theatre Collections] - housing designs by Barry Kay
* [http://www.peterdarrell.org/ Peter Darrell] - for whom Barry Kay worked extensively, and the Peter Darrell Trust
* [http://www.mcnayart.org/tobin.html MacNay Museum, Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts] - housing designs by Barry Kay
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