Sofia Pantouvaki, PhD, is a scenographer and Professor of Costume Design at Aalto University, Finland. Her background includes over 80 designs for theatre, film, opera and dance productions in Europe, as well as curatorial and exhibition design projects.
Co-author, History of Dress – The Western World and Greece (2010); editor, Yannis Metsis – Athens Experimental Ballet (2011); co-editor, Presence and Absence: The Performing Body (2014), Dress and Politics (2015); The Tribes – A Walking Exhibition (2017) and Performance Costume – New Perspectives (forthcoming).
She is Editor of the academic journal Studies in Costume and Performance; Vice-Head for Research, OISTAT/Costume; Chair of Critical Costume and Co-Convener, IFTR Scenography WG. She was Project Leader of Performance: Visual Aspects of Performance Practice (ID.Net. 2010-2015); Costume Design Curator for World Stage Design 2013; and Associate Curator, Costume in Action (WSD 2013). Co-Curator of the Finnish Student exhibit, winner of the Gold Medal at PQ15 and international Jury member for PQ19.
Sofia founded Costume in Focus, the first research group on performance costume, and led the Costume Methodologies research project funded by the Academy of Finland (2014-2018). She lectures, supervises PhDs and publishes internationally. Her research currently focuses on the practice of performance costume, curation and clothing in the concentration camps of World War Two.
Function: guest teacher Artistic practice: expanded scenography and costume