Marko Japelj

studied architecture in Ljubljana and made his debut at the Slovenian National Theatre in Maribor in 1987. Over the years, he has designed stage sets for theatre, opera, ballet, and contemporary dance at the National Theatre in Slovenia, the national theatres of Zagreb and Rijeka in Croatia, the national theatres of Belgrade and Podgorica, the Bucharest Opera, the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava, the National Theatre in Brno, Zurich Opera, Aalto Theatre in Essen, and many other international venues.

His work has taken him to Darmstadt, Wiesbaden, Augsburg, Wuppertal, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Magdeburg, Chemnitz, Leipzig, Antwerp, and Ghent, as well as Riga, The Hague, Metz, the West Australian Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal, Vienna, Moscow, and Birmingham.

He has collaborated extensively with choreographer Edward Clug on numerous productions, including Tango, Lacrimas, Radio & Juliet, Architecture of Silence, Pret-a-Porter, Watching Others, Hill Harper’s Hill, Chamber Minds, Sacre du Printemps, Les Noces, Peer Gynt, Hora/Kontraste, Proof, Kekec, Petrushka, Patterns in ¾, Carmina Burana, Aperture, Source, Master and Margarita, Coppélia, and Don Juan.

He has received numerous accolades, including the Prešeren Award, recognition at the National Borštnik Festival, and honours at the MES Festival in Sarajevo. From 1995 to 1997, he served as a guest professor and head of the department for theatre and film stage design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.