Focus and scope

ESCENA. Revista de las artes is an international biannual publication edited by the Instituto de Investigaciones en Arte (IIArte) of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Costa Rica. Its main purpose is to publish and disseminate the results of academic research in the field of the arts in general, as well as related unpublished documents, in order to generate and promote knowledge in this specific area. It is aimed at researchers, professors, artists, art lovers and the general public.

The journal also publishes personal testimonies of creative people, artistic productions such as visual art works, scores, literary texts, among others. It is important to clarify that literary researches are published, in case they have a comparative approach with other arts. This is due to the fact that our institution has other academic publications focused exclusively on the area of Literature: Revista de Filología y Lingüística de la Universidad de Costa Rica and Káñina, Revista de Artes y Letras.

Frequency of publication

This is an electronic publication published every six months. The first issue covers the months of January to June and is published during the month of January. The second issue covers the months of July to December and is published during the month of July. New submissions are received throughout the year; however, they are prioritized in two different periods: for the first issue of the year, between August 1st and November 1st; for the second issue, between February 1st and June 1st.

History of the Journal

ESCENA. Revista de las artes was born as a theater journal, product of a joint project between the Escuela de Artes Dramáticas and the Teatro Universitario, both belonging to the University of Costa Rica, from a theater bulletin that had been published since 1978. The following year, the first editorial of the July 1979 issue stated that:

"This New Bulletin of Costa Rican Theater aspires to become the spokesperson for theater workers and, likewise, a link between stage activity and the national community. We emphasize, by the way, our purpose of strengthening the links with the national student sector; already, in this first issue, we offer didactic works that allow a productive dialogue around the aesthetics of the spectacle" (own translation).

From number 2 to number 8, the publication was called Informativo teatral. It is from issue number 9 onwards that it began to be called "Revista". From the period of its creation (1979) until 1987, the publication was co-financed by the National Theater and the National Theater Company.

Subsequently, it became a publication of the Vicerrectoría de Acción Social of the University of Costa Rica. In 1998, the magazine broadened its horizons by promoting the study of other cultural practices and the aesthetics of the spectacle. Thus, its name was changed to ESCENA. Revista de las artes. The above is reflected in the editorial which states that "Escena is a magazine dedicated to disseminate studies, analysis and interpretative comments on artistic production preferably Costa Rican and Ibero-American, with emphasis on non-verbal and mixed arts (which include verbal texts, such as theater)” (own translation).

In 2014, it entered its third stage and became the journal of the Instituto de Investigaciones en Arte (IIArte), in addition to being registered with the Vicerrectoría de Investigación of the University of Costa Rica. In this new period, ESCENA. Revista de las artes seeks to consolidate itself as a space in which research results associated with the work of IIArte are socialized and which seeks to consolidate itself internationally as an academic publication in the arts. Also, since 2016, the journal uses the DOI marker to ensure the survival of published works.