Homepage » Human Resources » Teaching staff » Maria Konomi

Maria Konomi

Assistant Professor
Department of Theatre Studies
School of Philosophy
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Panepistimioupoli Zografou
Athens, Greece, 15784
Tel.: (0030)2107277922
e-mail: markonomi[at]theatre.uoa[dot]gr

Office 913, 9th floor, School of Philosophy

 

Graduate of Philology from Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki (cum laude), she holds specialization degrees in theatre design and scenography from the University of Arts London (U.K.):

BA (Hons) in Theatre Design (Wimbledon School of Art) and Master of Arts in Scenography (Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design) with MA Erasmus (School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Aalto University, Helsinki). She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Theatre Studies at the University of Athens (unanimous grade: excellent, 2011). The topic of her doctoral dissertation was ‘Trojan Women’ on the modern stage. The contribution of Greek set and costume designers.

 

Since 2021-2022 she has joined the Department of Theatre Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens as Assistant Professor for ‘Theatre Studies - Scenography and Costume Design: theory and practice’. She also teaches at the Department’s Postgraduate Programme: ‘Greek and World Theatre. Drama, Performance, Education’ in the direction of Drama And  Performance.
She has wide-ranging teaching experience at the Department of Theatre Studies of the University of Patras, and the University of Peloponnese (as Adjunct Assistant Professor), at the Department of Theory and History of Art at the Athens School of Fine Arts, and at the Drama School of the National Theatre. In 2018-2021 she was Adjunct Teaching Staff at the Open University of Cyprus (in 2020 2021 also subject Coordinator) at the Postgraduate Programme ‘Theatre Studies’, where she has supervised and evaluated postgraduate dissertations. In 2014-2015 she taught at the Postgraduate Programme ‘Cultural and Film Studies’ at the Department of Communication and Mass Media of the University of Athens. Since 2017 she has also been teaching at the Hellenic Open University the subject ‘Modern Greek Theatre and Cinema’. She has participated in Erasmus postdoctoral research and programmes of scientific exchange, training and teaching at the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama, Oxford (2014), and at the University of Lodz, Poland (2015). She has participated in research projects and working groups at Artes University in Cologne and Ca’ Foscari University in Venice (2017), as well as at the University of Copenhagen (2018).

Her educational and research work, conference presentations and publications focus on the field of performance, scenography and costume design in theatre and performance of the 20th-21st century. Her research interests include expanded scenography, staging and scenography as reception, new media scenography, performing arts and public space, site-specific performance and theatre, performing and visual arts, critical approaches to scenography, costume and performance space. She has organized seminars, workshops and lectures in Greece and abroad and has participated in international exhibitions. She has published in scientific journals, collective volumes and conference proceedings.
In  2014-2015 she was a member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Centre of the International Theatre Institute. She is a founding member of the Greek Theatre Designers Association (GTDA) and a member of its Board of Directors (2014-present). She is also a member of OISTAT (Organization International of Scenographers, Theater Architects, and Technicians).

 

ART & DESIGN WORK

Her artistic and research work focuses on contemporary forms of theatre and performance, with space, scenography and costume acting as fundamental nuclei of dramaturgy and performance She has worked for more than sixty productions in all kinds of performing arts and cinema, collaborating with important theatre organizations, and arts, film and theatre festivals, as well as with independent theatre/performance groups. She has over ninety (90) credits for sets and costume designs working with organizations, such as: The National Theatre of Greece, The National Opera of Greece, Cyprus Theatre Organization, Amphitheatre Riverside Studios (London), London International Festival of Theatre (London), The Ηellenic Centre (London), several Municipal Theatre Organizations (Ioannina, Kalamata, Veria, North Aegean, etc.), as well as with independent theatre groups (Theatre Lab Company, Protes Iles, Ditika tis polis, Omada Ipsilou Kindinou, and others). She has collaborated with directors, such as: Spyros Evangelatos, Takis Tzamargias, Costas Filippoglou, Elli Papakonstantinou, Anastasia Revi, Aspa Tombouli, Zoi Hatziantoniou, Christos Lyngas, Aliki Danezi-Knutschen, Enrique Vargas, Philip Hoffman, Steven Rawsthorne, Campbell Morrison.  She has collaborated with film directors: Konstantinos Giannaris, Thanos Anastopoulos and Stefanos Potamianos. Her film work (sets and costumes) includes two feature films and one short film which were presented at film festivals in Greece (Thessaloniki Film Festival) and abroad (Berlin Film Festival, Rotterdam, Toronto, etc.).

She has presented her artistic and curatorial work at the international exhibition Prague Quadrennial (2015), where she was co-curator for theory for the Greek national participation themed ‘New Spatialities:  Design for Outdoor/ Open Performance Space’. In 2016 she participated in the parallel activities of the exhibition ‘OUT-TOPIAS, Performance and outdoor/public space’ at the Benaki Museum (Athens), organizing the series of lectures ‘Site-specifics’ with international guest speakers.
In 2021 she participated in the exhibition ‘Revolutionary Palimpsests’ creating an art installation inspired by the women's contribution to the Greek revolution of 1821

 

PUBLICATIONS (selection)

BOOK

Modern and Contemporary Scenography: Developments and Milestones. A Brief Survey, Kapa Editions, Αthens: 2021 (in Greek).

 

ARTICLES IN JOURNALS & CHAPTERS IN COLLECTIVE VOLUMES

  • «Poetics of space and costume: facets of Giorgos Patsas’ contribution to Greek theatre and film», in G. Pefanis, I. Αthanasatou (eds.), Stages, images, looks. Crossroads of theatre and cinema, Hellenic Open University Editions, Athens 2021, p. 175-195 (in Greek).
  • «Performance, space and feminist approaches: three contemporary case studies», Α. Avgitidou (ed.), Public art, public sphere. University Studio Press, Thessaloniki 2021, p. 201-227 (in Greek).
  • «Performing crisis in Greek theatre: scenographic strategies as  dramaturgies of crisis», A. Sidiropoulou, E. Gini (eds.),   Making Theatre at a Time  οf Global Crisis, Acotaciones Vol 1 No.46 (2021), p. 45-70
  • «Lived aesthetics of crisis and performance politics of discontent», Vyrsodepseio: A Theatre in Times of Crisis, Nefeli, Αthens 2018,  p. 98-107.
  • «Venus of the rags / In transit / Eleusis (2014):  site-specific relocations and critical responses», Mary Zygouri, Venus of the rags, Rome 2017,  p.  6-13.
  • «Approaches of ‘empty space’ in staging tragedy during the post-war period», Proceedings of the 1rst Postgraduate Meeting of the Department of Theatre Studies NKUOA, 21-23 Νοvember 2013, Αthens  2017, p. 425-452 (in Greek).
  • «Teatime Europe (2014/15): Europe in a ‘state of exception’», Critical Stages, 13 (June 2016)   www.critical-stages.org/13/   
  • «Yannis Tsarouchis’ experimental productions of ancient Greek tragedy», Λογείον/Logeion 5 (2015), p. 372-397.
  • «Νew spatialities: design for outdoor/open performance space», Prague Quadrennial Hellenic Participation, The Hellenic Centre of the International Theatre Institute, Αthens, 2015, p. 26-31 (with Thanos Vovolis).
  • «Towards genealogies of outdoor performances in contemporary Greece: the legacy of Yannis’ Tsarouchis experimental productions of classical tragedy (1977-1982)», Prague Quadrennial Hellenic Participation, The Hellenic Centre of the International Theatre Institute, Αthens 2015,  p. 39-57.
  • «Theatre  and  the  city:  spatial  and  performative perspectives», Parabasis 12.1 (2014), p. 29-45.  

 

ARTICLES IN JOURNALS & CHAPTERS IN COLLECTIVE VOLUMES (under publication)

  • «Performing site-specificities on the expanded stage: Rhesus at Lyceum», Anastasia Bakogianni (ed.) Performing Ancient Tragedy on the Modern Greek Stage: Tradition vs Innovation, Palgrave (2022).
  • «Transformations of expanded scenography and the technological stage: seeking Antigone with digital media»,  Parabasis  19 (2022) (in Greek).
  • «Βeyond dress:critical explorations of costume design practice οn the contemporary Greek stage», Parabasis 19 (2022).
  • «Gendered spatialities and public space: women artists between place and heterotopia», 6th Theatre Studies Conference: Theatre & Otherness: Theory, Dramaturgy & Theatre Practice Nafplion, 2017 (2022) (in Greek).
  • «Ancient warscapes, modern wars: scenographic explorations of Trojan Women in Greek theatre», Λογείον/Logeion (2022).
  • «Tracing the digital stage: image, space, dramaturgy, participation», Αutomaton: Journal of Digital Media and Culture (2022).

 

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS  & SYMPOSIA (selection)

  • «Scenographic strategies as dramaturgies of crisis», International Conference: Τheatre in a Time of Crisis, Open University of Cyprus, 4-6  December 2020 (in Greek).
  • «Cinematic and urban space in the city films of Pantelis Voulgaris», From the page to the screen: Approaches to the relations between literature and cinema, 9-10 June 2017, Μarasleion, Athens (in Greek).
  • «Gendered spatialities and public space: women artists between place and heterotopia», 6th Theatre Studies Conference: Theatre & Otherness: Theory, Dramaturgy & Theatre Practice, 17-21 Μay 2016, Νafplion (in Greek).
  • «Re-locations and dis-locations of classical texts as critical human spatial practice», Jocasta Νetwork: Classical Reception Greece, International Conference: Classical Reception and the Post-human, Philology Department, University of Patras, 8-10 June 2016.
  • «Theorising contemporary scenography and the classics», Symposium «Legacy of Antiquity in Visual and Performing Arts», Faculty of Classics, University of Lodz, 21 May 2015, Poland. 
  • «Multiple itineraries and trajectories: Negotiating space, identity and politics on the move», International Federation of Theatre Research, IFTR Shared Space Symposium, Prague Quadrennial, June 2015, Prague. 
  • «Reclaiming the city: terms and conditions of democratic empowerment in performances in public urban space», Theatre and Democracy, Conference in honour of Professor Walter Puchner, Department of Theatre Studies, NKUA, 5-8 Νovember 2014, Αthens (in Greek).
  • «The participatory experience of the outdoor urban space in the city: site-specificity, mobility and the everyday», Conference: New Spatialities: Performing Arts and outdoor/open space, The Hellenic Centre of the International Theatre Institute, 1 Νovember 2014, Αthens (in Greek).
  • «Spaces and places in theory and practice of Greek and Roman drama», Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama 14th Annual Postgraduate Symposium on the performance of Ancient Drama, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama & University of Oxford, 30 June - 1 July 2014, London and Oxford. 
  • «The belated scenographic revolution(s) in performances of classical  drama in Greece», Archive Performances of Greek and Roman Drama 13th Annual Postgraduate Symposium on Ancient Drama: «Pastness/Belatedness in the Theory and Practice of Greek and Roman  Drama», Royal Central School of Speech and Drama &  University of Oxford, 18-19 June 2013, London and Oxford.    
  • «Reclaiming the city: site-specific performance strategies in public urban sites»,   International Conference: The Viewing of Politics and the Politics of Viewing: Theatre Challenges in the Age of Globalized Communities, English Literature Department,  Αristotelian University of Thessaloniki, 18-20 April 2013, Thessaloniki.  
  • «Stage versions of refugees in the post-war theatre: the case of Trojan Women», 2nd Theatre Studies Conference, Panhellenic Scientific Association of Theatre Scholars: Immigrants and refugees in contemporary drama and stage practice,  Goethe Institut, 28-31 Μarch 2012, Αthens (in Greek).
  • «Setting the scene for tragedy: from monument theatre to ‘empty space’ and the contemporary open stage», Symposium: Tragic Myths today, 16-17 September 2011, First Athens Festival of Ancient Drama, Municipal Cultural Centre of Athens (in Greek).

 

RESEΑRCH PROJECTS (selection)

  • Participant in the research project ‘Revolutionary Palimpsests’. Research and production of an artwork inspired by the 1821 Greek revolution. Funding body: HFRI. Implementing body: National Technical University of Athens -NTUA (2019-2021).
  • Participant in the interdisciplinary research project ‘Apoplous/Departures’. Coordination of artistic activities and student teams. Funding body: Ministry of Culture. Scientific Coordinator: Dr. Efrosini Tsakiri (2018-2019).
  • Participant in the research project ‘Contemporary Art in the Global Present: an interdisciplinary approach to documenta 14 (Athens, Kassel), and the 57th Venice Biennale (Venice)’. Athens, Cologne, Kassel, Venice, 10-21 July 2017. Organizers: a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities Cologne / Universität zu Köln, Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage / Università Ca 'Foscari Venezia, Department of Communication and Media Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens-NKUA. (2017).Funding Body:  DAAD.
  • Participant in the research project ‘Maturation Study of Educational and Cultural Actions’, Youth Institute, Youth General Secretariat (2009).

 

ART & DESIGN PROJECTS: THEATRE/ PERFORMING ARTS  (selection)

  • Debtocrazy Revolutions (2015), PQ Prague, St. Wenceslas Square  (site-specific project) 
  • Pralina Fairy and the Magic Hazelnut (Mikro Pallas, 2013-2014) 
  • Oresteia (Riverside Studios, London, 2012) 
  • The General Secretary (National Theatre, 2012) 
  • Cuba Libre (2012)
  • The Winters’ Tale (Cyprus Theatre Organization, 2011)
  • Wunschkonzert (2010)
  • Hughie (Bios, 2009)
  • Frozen (Cyprus Theatre Organization, 2008) 
  • Five kinds of silence  (National Theatre, 2007 & Sophouli Theatre, 2002)
  • Festen (Theseum, 2007) 
  • California Dreamin’ (2007 & National Theatre, 2004) 
  • Ithaca (Theseum, 2007)
  • Cruel and tender (2007)
  • Death Valley Junction (2006)
  • Three Contemporary Greek Plays (National Theatre, 2006)
  • Innocence (2006)
  • The Birds (2006)
  • The Mother’s Ring (Greek National Opera, 2005)
  • Fatzer (Εpi Kolono Theatre, 2005)
  • Strange Lands (Εmbros Theatre, 2004)
  • Kvetsch (Εmbros Theatre, 2003)
  • Hedda Gabler (Vasilakou Theatre, 2003)
  • Los Locos de Valencia (Αmphi-theatre, 2002)
  • In the stream of their life (National Theatre, 2002-2003)
  • Desperados (Μetaxourgeio, 2000)
  • Βyzantium 000  (London, 2000, site-specific project)
  • Suddenly Last Summer (Theseum, 1999)
  • Dangerous corner (Hellenic Centre, London, 1999)
  • Antigone  (Riverside Studios, London,  1998)
  • Oregano Fields (Cochrane Theatre, London, 1997)
  • Oraculos (LIFT 1997, London, site-specific project)
  • The Crucible (Mountview Theatre, London, 1996)
  • Bloody Poetry (Mountview Theatre, London, 1995) 

 

FILM DESIGN:  (selection)

  • 2004 Hostage, feature film written and directed by Konstantinos Giannaris. Sets & costumes.
  • 2002 All the weight of the world, feature film written and directed by Thanos Anastopoulos. Sets & costumes.
  • 2003 The Solo, short film written and directed by Stefanos Potamianos. Sets & costumes.