Philosophy
Peny (Pinelopi) Spanou is an artist with a multidisciplinary background. She studied architecture and worked as an architect in Athens and Stockholm. During her studies, she started working as a costume designer and decided to explore movement and body through her fashion studies at Beckmans College of Design.
The body-movement exploration continued within her costume studies and the two master's projects at the Oslo National Academy of Arts, the performances: “Displaced Shadows” by the choreographer Tendai Makurumbandi and “The Choreography of Spaces” with the performer Anu Laiho as a collaborator.
With experience across various genres- including film, theater, and dance- Peny has contributed to both large-scale productions- Harald og Sonja (2025), Quisling: The Final Days (2024), Gulltrasporten (2022), and intimate,site-specific and dance performances- Kaleidoscope (2025), Not my Bones (2024), My Song (2023).
In addition to her practical work, Peny is researching the relationship between performative space, body, and costume. By combining elements from architecture, design, art, dance, and drama, Peny sees costumes not as just garments but as ephemeral physical spaces in direct interaction with the surrounding environment and the performer’s body.
Her approach within a dance collaboration is deeply personal, incorporating her sociopolitical and feminist concerns and at the same time, she seeks to establish a new field of practice where a costume designer is no longer only a collaborator who enters the process later on. Instead, as an artist, a costume designer can experiment with her own creative interests and contribute to creating an open artistic dialogue.
Background
Costume design
COSTUME & SET DESIGNER
Jan 2024 - Sep 2024
Design and produce costumes and scenography for the dance performance “Not my Bones” by Tendai Makurumbandi / Festiviteten in Kristiansund, Sunndals Kulturhus, Parken Kulturhus
COSTUME COORDINATOR
Mar 2024-Jun 2024
Coordinator of the design team of Nell Knudsen for the period movie Blucher “Blucher” / Fenomen
COSTUME & SET DESIGNER
May 2023 - Oct 2025
Design and produce costumes and scenography for the baby performance “Kaleidoscope” by Shi Pratt / Dansens Hus, Oslo
COSTUME & SET DESIGNER
Jan 2023 - May 2025
Design and produce costumes and scenography for the dance performance “My Song” by Tendai Makurumbandi / Black Box Theater, Oslo & Festiviteten, Kristiansund
COSTUME COORDINATOR
Oct 2022-Oct 2023
Coordinating costume collaborations of the design team of Ingrid Nylander & Sofie Rage Larsen for the TV series “Harald og Sonja” / Paradox
COSTUME ASSISTANT
Mar 2023
Costume assistant on set for the film production “Christmas as Usual” / Netflix, Motion Blur
COSTUME ASSISTANT
Aug 2022 - Oct 2022
Part of the costume design team of Karen Fabritius Gram for the film production “Quisling” / Paradox
COSTUME DESIGN INTERN
Jan 2022-August 2022
Part of the costume design team of Sofie Ragen Larsen for the film production “Gulltransporten” / 74 entertainment
COSTUME DESIGNER
Aug 2020 - Sep 2020
Design and produce costumes for the dance film ''Angels Amongst Us'' / Compassion 2Dance Company
COSTUME DESIGNER
Oct 2019 - Jan 2020
Design and produce costumes for the play ''House of Desires'' / Aggelon Vima Theater, Athens
Artistic research
ARTISTIC RESEARCHER
Jun 2022 - Sep 2022
Collaboration with the performer Anu Laiho, co-creating a series of site-specific experiments / Elvelangs i Fakkelys
GUEST LECTURER
Oct 2021
Invited by Theodor Barth / Oslo National Academy of the Arts
COSTUME & SET DESIGNER
Jan 2021 - May 2021
Self-initiated project, design and create the costumes, work with space and text for the performance ‘The Choreography of Spaces: “My Name is not Antigone”/ Oslo National Academy of the Arts
COSTUME & SET DESIGNER
Sep 2020 - May 2021
Design costumes and scenography for the performance “Displaced Shadows” / Oslo National Academy of the Arts & Rosendal Theater & Kristiansund In2it Festival
COSTUME DESIGNER
Oct 2020 - Nov 2020
Design and produce costumes for the exhibition ''Prometheus Wrestlers'' / Spenningswood
COSTUME DESIGNER
Jan 2019 - May 2019
Design and produce costumes for the play ''Little man, what now'' / Oslo National Academy of the Arts
Education
MASTER OF COSTUME DESIGN
Aug 2019 - June 2021
MAA in Fashion and Costume Design / Oslo National Academy of the Arts
FASHION DESIGN STUDIES
Sep 2018 - May 2019
One-year program in Fashion Design and Patterns / Beckmans College of Design
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE
Sep 2010 - Mar 2017
MAA in Architecture-Engineering / National and Technical University of Athens
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE
Aug 2014 - Jan 2015
MSc Programme, exchange student / Oslo School of Architecture
Other work
ARCHITECT
Sep 2017 - Sep 2019
Design public schools, office buildings, and housing in Stockholm / Scharc Architects
ARCHITECTURE INTERNSHIP
Aug 2016 - Feb 2017
Design assistant, visualizations, construction detailing / Construction Firm Edeka Gr
JEWELRY DESIGNER
Jan 2017 - Aug 2019
Design jewelry collections, create lookbooks, social media director / Own brand ''Leitmotif''
RADIO PRODUCER
Sep 2010 - Aug 2013 Weekly radio show, artistic interviews, concerts / Radio station “Polytexneio FM”