Marko Japelj

Since 1986, Marko Japelj has been active as a freelance set designer, with over two hundred performances in Slovenia and abroad to his credit. While studying architecture in Ljubljana, he created his first stage design for Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT) in Ljubljana. He made his debut in professional theatre with the production of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters at the National Drama Theatre Maribor, in 1987. For drama, opera, ballet and modern dance performances he has designed sets at National Theatres in Slovenia, Zagreb and Rijeka National Theatres in Croatia, National Theatres Belgrade and Podgorica, Romanian National Opera, Slovak National Theatre, Zurich Opera House, NOVAT Novosibirsk, Aalto Theatre in Essen, State Theatres in Augsburg, Wuppertal and Dortmund, Royal Ballet of Flanders in Antwerp, Latvian National Opera, NDT 1 in The Hague, Metz Opera Theatre, West Australian Ballet and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.

Since 1998, he has worked with choreographer Edward Clug designing sets for his productions Tango, Lacrimas, Radio & Juliet, Architecture of Silence, Prêt-à-Porter, Watching others, Hill Harper’s Dream, Chamber Minds, Le Sacre du printemps, Peer Gynt, Hora, Proof, Faust, Kekec, Petrushka, Patterns in 3/4, Carmina Burana, Aperture, Source, etc.

For his creations he has received several awards. From 1995 to 1997 he has been visiting professor and head of the Department of Theatre and Film Set Design at the Vienna University of Applied Arts.