Maria Chaniotaki
MA Theatre Designer - Scenographer - Visual Artist
60 designers
57 projects
Born in Heraklion, Crete. She studied T. Civil Engineering (BA), Music Piano and Theatre Design/Scenography, Master of Arts (MA) at Wimbledon College of Arts -UAL. London, UK. She has been working as theatre and costume designer since 1996 and she has exhibited her work as visual artist in various exhibitions. She is the founder and head of the Laboratory of Scenography, Athens (LSA). Her first attempt in directing was the performance installation Thread and Thread – the fairy tale. She has published three books. Her new book The Poetic Art of Scenography will be published soon. She was curator and course leader of LSA in PQ 2015, with the Greek participation, student section. She was the curator/artistic director of scenographer George Anemogiannis’ exhibition in Crete, organised by the Kazantzakis Museum. She is member of the Society of British Theatre Designers (SBTD), International Institute of Theatre (ITT), Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece (EETE) and Greek Theatre Designers Association.
What does material, in this case an object, add to dramaturgy when we expand from what is Scenography to what Scenography does? Τhe creation of two objects – a bridal bouquet of wildflowers and bridal wreaths of weeds – was not only a creation of two props for me. I was interested in the relationship between object, performer and spectator and how it is tied together through shared experience. How the object affects gesture when it does not participate in the total composition only through aesthetic and artistic criteria, but also contributes to the visual dramaturgy. The source of inspiration was, among other things, the spirituality of Papadiamantis’ text. Through the clarity of objects, I tried to convey their meaning – not a description of them. The spectator and the experience were important to me. The creation of a landscape through two objects. Words became the starting points: field, wildflowers, wind, birds, insects, lemon blossom, rose water, crickets, transparent, starlight, scops owl, honeysuckle.
Author: Alexandros Papadiamantis
Direction: Olia Lazaridou
Set Design: Olia Lazaridou with the collaboration of Dafni Rokkou and Maria Chaniotaki
Lighting Design:Thomas Oikonomakos
Shadow Theatre Figures: Nikolas Tzivelekis
Photos: Iossif Vivilakis, Maria Chaniotaki
What does material, in this case an object, add to dramaturgy when we expand from what is Scenography to what Scenography does? Τhe creation of two objects – a bridal bouquet of wildflowers and bridal wreaths of weeds – was not only a creation of two props for me. I was interested in the relationship between object, performer and spectator and how it is tied together through shared experience. How the object affects gesture when it does not participate in the total composition only through aesthetic and artistic criteria, but also contributes to the visual dramaturgy. The source of inspiration was, among other things, the spirituality of Papadiamantis’ text. Through the clarity of objects, I tried to convey their meaning – not a description of them. The spectator and the experience were important to me. The creation of a landscape through two objects. Words became the starting points: field, wildflowers, wind, birds, insects, lemon blossom, rose water, crickets, transparent, starlight, scops owl, honeysuckle.
Born in Heraklion, Crete. She studied T. Civil Engineering (BA), Music Piano and Theatre Design/Scenography, Master of Arts (MA) at Wimbledon College of Arts -UAL. London, UK. She has been working as theatre and costume designer since 1996 and she has exhibited her work as visual artist in various exhibitions. She is the founder and head of the Laboratory of Scenography, Athens (LSA). Her first attempt in directing was the performance installation Thread and Thread – the fairy tale. She has published three books. Her new book The Poetic Art of Scenography will be published soon. She was curator and course leader of LSA in PQ 2015, with the Greek participation, student section. She was the curator/artistic director of scenographer George Anemogiannis’ exhibition in Crete, organised by the Kazantzakis Museum. She is member of the Society of British Theatre Designers (SBTD), International Institute of Theatre (ITT), Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece (EETE) and Greek Theatre Designers Association.
Author: Alexandros Papadiamantis
Direction: Olia Lazaridou
Set Design: Olia Lazaridou with the collaboration of Dafni Rokkou and Maria Chaniotaki
Lighting Design:Thomas Oikonomakos
Shadow Theatre Figures: Nikolas Tzivelekis
Photos: Iossif Vivilakis, Maria Chaniotaki
