Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2018 - Public - 16

Costume by Daphne
Karstens (Netherlands) for
Ping. Photo by Alex Traylen.

pression in theatre and several designers
gave examples of how they used costume to make political statements. One
example: The gold Mylar "refugee" jackets that Dutch scenographer Sabine Snijders designed for a German production
of The Good Person of Szechuan. Others, like Marcos Bulhões and Marcelo

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THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

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SPRING 2018

Denny of Brazil, spoke of "everyday" costumed activism, as demonstrated in their
urban performance piece Blind, which
features troupes of clay-covered performers dressed in business attire and
blindfolds who walk trance-like through
public city spaces. In their talk, Bulhões
and Denny explained how simple adjust-

ments to costume, usually in the form
of accessories such as a shopping bag
symbolizing consumerism, can be used
to specifically target the "political and
ethical" blindness of each location visited. The author's own investigations into
wearable politics were shared in a Costume as Activism talk, which highlighted
costume's ability to serve as a potent
symbol of resistance as demonstrated
by the thousands of pink "pussy hats"
worn by protesters during the Women's
March on Washington, the startling red
The Handmaid's Tale robes adopted by
women's rights activists, and more.
Another important component of
the costume program was the Thinking Costumes research seminar. Recognizing that many costume scholars,
including those pursuing master's and
doctoral degrees, were unable to find
experts/mentors to consult with as they
developed their theses and dissertations, scenographer and professor Sofia Pantouvaki launched the Thinking
Costumes research seminar as a means
for providing critical peer feedback to
researchers of the under-represented
discipline of costume. The groundbreaking seminar, organized in collaboration
with Aalto University and OISTAT's Costume Design Sub-Commission, featured
a panel of four expert respondents that
included Alexandra Bonds of the United
States, Rachel Hann of the United Kingdom, Christina Lindgren of Norway,
and Suzanne Ormond of Australia. After completing a rigorous double-blind,
peer-reviewed application process, 14
participants were invited to present their
papers in 30-minute increments over the
course of two days, opening exciting new
doors of informed, critical discourse.
Rounding off the Costume Talks
and Thinking Costumes program were
two Workshops aimed at giving costume
practitioners the opportunity to experiment with new techniques and ideas in
a hands-on setting under the guidance of
expert leaders. In the Designers on the
Edge workshop, leaders Rosane Muniz,
Marcelo Denny, Marcos Bulhões, and
Renato Bolelli, all from Brazil, asked
workshop members to identify personal
"inquietudes" and create costumes inspired by their findings using non-traditional materials and body paint. The
workshop lasted two days, culminating
in a site-specific photoshoot held in vari-
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