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Behind the Curtains
Behind the Curtains offers a reflective and experimental continuation of Shapin’ Memory, a film project that began during my Bachelor studies and is set to premiere in summer 2025. This work deconstructs and extends the ideas explored in the film, delving deeper into the interplay between costume design, film and performance.
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In my design process, I focused on developing characters that add to the dreamy, liminal world I’m creating. My approach in the costume design involves fusing fictional elements with the performers’ real-world identities. Working so closely with my cast, I explore the intimate relationship between textile and skin – the tension between a pattern’s cut and the body’s shape. These garments are not neutral; they comfort or challenge, restrict or liberate, shaping how the performers move and behave.
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Each piece becomes a tool or a canvas to explore physicality – physicality that will be challenged by the audience who primarily observe and by a film projection that can only be observed. Clay introduces an element of closeness and intimacy, offering performers haptic feedback that shifts their focus to the tangible. When they touch someone with clay-covered hands, the drying traces leave behind the memory of their touch.
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Behind the Curtains, hidden from the outside, the characters exist. The anticipation one feels when stepping into a theatre or cinema before the play is about to start, creates a tension. Attention to what surrounds you, to what you can and cannot see. The characters, hidden behind curtains, are being watched, are being filmed. And they know as the curtains part, they will have to dance.
Performance Teaser:
@anilsarikaya @bylauragauch
Look Photos:
@salvatoredefilippophotography
Creative Direction: @hgkbasel_doingfashion @bylauragauch