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”