Katherina Radeva – designer for performance | visual artist

About Me

Hello Friends, I hope you are doing ok.

This June/ July 2021 – I am designing a site specific show with Horsecross Perth, the really lovely Vickie Beesley and a bunch of very brilliant young people. No Planet B is a piece about the climate crisis and I am very pleased that we have made all set and costume entirely from materials already in the workshop – leftover from previous shows and the costumes all made from other costumes, or fabric from costumes no longer in use. We have used, reused and recycled a few times over and great to know that we can make something really special using only recycled materials – photos coming soon!

Also this month, I am soooooo pleased the new book FIELD Scotland : On Value is out now, illustrated by my humble self and it has the words of 19 excellent artists and writers. Get your copy here To be honest – its a very good book and anyone working at the heart or periphery of live performance, it’s a tenner very well spent.

I am also jumping on the work wagon with November Club making a piece for people’s doorsteps going out in Northumberland this summer. Second time working with the lovely director Nathan Crossan-Smith.

I recently worked with Scottee and Fat Blokes Company making a short film. The Kind Body is doing the rounds with all the cool film festivals so keep and eye – its 20 powerful minutes.

Current things to buy are – paintings, drawings, tree drawings and lino cuts. Every drawing, painting or print I sell goes directly to those I care for – my family in my native Bulgaria!

FIELD Scotland : On Value is out now – to get a copy in the post, click here

We made a little 6 minute film called LONE WOLVES, to watch it, click on the image blow. If you like it and want to give us a fiver, please donate here

NEW! NEW! Get NEWS, SIGN UP to my newsletter HERE!

Hello! I am Katherina, most people call me Kat!

I am Set and Costume Designer for Performance, Visual Artist and Creative Collaborator. I work with some of the most exciting theatre makers of NOW!

Born in 1982 in Bulgaria I have a Fine Art Diploma from the National High School for Fine Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria and a First Class Honors Degree in Theatre Design from Wimbledon School of Art, London. I have been living and working in the UK since 1999.

I design for theatre, performance, contemporary dance, site specific events, interactive installations, outdoor shows, you name it I have probably done it! Or if I haven’t done it, I’d love to do it. My designs tour extensively in the UK, Europe and the wider world.

My visual art works are a vital part of my practice and are part and parcel of my design thinking. My recent paintings, prints and drawings can be found on my website but for older work, do get in touch. I make a lot and often have no time to upload it here.

I am also the Artistic Director of Two Destination Language together with Alister Lownie, an award winning theatre company which tours extensively around the UK and internationally. Two Destination Language makes visually striking and intellectually stimulating work about identity, belonging, politics and how cultures interacts and are defined in contemporary society. @2destlang www.twodestinationlanguage.com

Contact me here Follow me on Twitter @KatherinaRadeva

AWARDS for shows I have designed or co-devised and directed:

2019 – CATS Award for Stick by Me by Andy Manley, Ian Cameron, Redbridge Arts

2017- Total Theatre Award and The Stage Award for salt. by Selina Thompshon

2014- Herald Angel for Falling in Love with Frida by Caroline Bowditch

2014- Total Theatre Award for Near Gone by Two Destination Language

2013- Pulse Suitcase Prize for Near Gone by Two Destination Language

2009- Rules & Regs- professional development, South Hill Park, UK

2006- Artsadmin Bursary Recipient for Early Career Artists

2005- Linbury Biennial Prize for Stage Design: Finalist

2003- Wimbledon School of Art Bursary- Prague for the Prague Quadrennial

Stage Designs

I design spaces (costume and set) for theatre, performance, contemporary dance, site specific events and anything in between and beyond. My designs are often with companies and artists who make touring productions presented across venues and festivals in the UK, Europe, the Americas and Australia.

My designs are often simple and beautiful and my sense of colour and the dramaturgy of space and form is a running thread of my work. Design is form and in theatre I am often experimenting with that form and the language of design where aesthetic is not just for beauty’s sake but as a another narrator in the live performance. My designs are often environments which make the ordinary extraordinary.

Below are selected stage designs Get in touch- kat at katherinaradeva.co.uk

Declining Solo – Two Destination Language

Discontented Winter – Salisbury Playhouse

Journey of a Home – Two Destination Language

The Sphinx and the Books – Lorena Rivero

Performance

I have been making solo and collaborative performance work since 2005. During my time studying at Wimbledon School of Art, I met some of the most inspiring and pioneering performance artists who gave me the opportunity to think differently about what theatre and performance can be. So, with Two Destination Language I do just that. Our work has won awards and is visually arresting and intellectually stimulating foregrounding issues of contemporary society. Check out our work here!

As a solo performance artists past work includes

Fallen Fruit (2011) visited ICIA University of Bath, Colchester Arts Centre, Salisbury Arts Centre, Z Arts, Manchester as part of Word of Warning series.

Native Birds (2009) was developed at the Watermill Centre for Performance, New York (as an awarded residency) and performed at Artsadmin, The Albany and the Arts 4 Human Rights Festival (all London), Pilot (Birmingham), The Showroom (Chichester), The Basement (Brighton) and Chapter Arts Centre (Cardiff). In 2009 I was awarded a Rules and Regs professional development residency at South Hill Park, Bracknell where I devised Kitty has no Pity – The Art of not giving up is a performance and a video work about unfulfilled childhood dreams At Play South Hill Park (2012) and Hazard Manchester (2012). Earlier work includes Part and Parcel (2008) about lost rituals and traditions – Artsadmin (London); Water into Wine (2007) about folklore’s extinction – National Review of Live Art, Glasgow; Settling Dirt(2006) – East End Collaborations, Insomnia Bargehouse, London and Expo, Nottingham.

In 2017 I led a DIY Live Art Development Agency in Dublin, supported by Create Ireland exploring themes of otherness, identity and belonging.

I was a 2006 Artsadmin Bursary Recipient.