Is Stage Design a Craft or Art?

Abstract

The article draws attention to the problem with the definition of the concept: “sceno­graphy.” In the twentieth century, theater terminology underwent a number of changes. In the 1960s, the stage designer ceased to be a decorator, member of technical staff or even a craftsman, and became a theater artist. Currently, stage design/scenography has become an autonomous field of art, present also outside the sphere of theater building: in film, at social demonstrations, political rallies, rock concerts and in museums. The author discusses a change in the approach to the common understanding of the tasks and functions of scenography on the example of the terminology present in the language and theater dictionaries of Anglo-Saxon culture.