Magdaléna Zemanová
Magdaléna Zemanová

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Magdaléna Zemanová
Magdaléna Zemanová

This Is Not a Story

A scenographic space of infinite potential

Concept art. Independent project, 2025

What if a stage didn’t serve a story, but waited for one?

 

In This Is Not a Story, scenographer Magdalena Zemanova turns her craft on itself, creating a scene that resists a single narrative. Instead of designing for a predetermined script, she builds a space of pure potential—like an empty mollusc shell, a vacant nest, or a musical instrument waiting to be played.

 

Drawing inspiration from art history—from The Last Supper to Dutch still-lifes—Zemanova distills scenography down to its symbolic essence. She strips away context, leaving behind archetypal objects and forms that invite new meanings. The result is not a set designed to tell a story, but one that asks for one.

 

This project is a poetic reflection on scenography as an open invitation—a landscape for imagination, emotion, and collaboration. It offers no fixed path, but countless possibilities. It is, ultimately, a love letter to the discipline: a meditation on space, symbolism, and the power of visual storytelling before the story begins.

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Magdaléna Zemanová
Magdaléna Zemanová

This Is Not a Story

A scenographic space of infinite potential

Concept art. Independent project, 2025

What if a stage didn’t serve a story, but waited for one?

 

In This Is Not a Story, scenographer Magdalena Zemanova turns her craft on itself, creating a scene that resists a single narrative. Instead of designing for a predetermined script, she builds a space of pure potential—like an empty mollusc shell, a vacant nest, or a musical instrument waiting to be played.

 

Drawing inspiration from art history—from The Last Supper to Dutch still-lifes—Zemanova distills scenography down to its symbolic essence. She strips away context, leaving behind archetypal objects and forms that invite new meanings. The result is not a set designed to tell a story, but one that asks for one.

 

This project is a poetic reflection on scenography as an open invitation—a landscape for imagination, emotion, and collaboration. It offers no fixed path, but countless possibilities. It is, ultimately, a love letter to the discipline: a meditation on space, symbolism, and the power of visual storytelling before the story begins.