Admissions Counseling for All interested in studying costume design on September 18, 2026, at 10 a.m.
Register at j.ress@udk-berlin.de
BA (Bachelor of Arts)
Application period:
October 15 – November 15 for the summer semester
Admission requirements:
❶ Proof of artistic aptitude
❷ For international applicants: sufficient German language skills (For application German language certificate at level B1 and for enrollment German language certificate at level B2)
Duration of studies and degree awarded:
Standard period of study: 6 semesters, 180 credit points
Degree: Bachelor of Arts (BA)
MA (Master of Arts)
Application period:
October 15 – November 15 for the summer semester
Admission requirements:
❶ A university degree in the Bachelor’s program in Costume Design at the Berlin University of the Arts or in an equivalent program at another university
❷ Proof of artistic aptitude
❸ German language skills at level B2 (CEFR)
Duration of studies and degree awarded:
Standard period of study: 4 semesters, 120 credit points
Degree: Master of Arts (MA)
Your application – Step by step
https://www.udk-berlin.de/bewerbung/bewerbungsguide/kostuembild-bachelor/
https://www.udk-berlin.de/bewerbung/bewerbungsguide/kostuembild-master/
Admissions Counseling for Bachelor’s and Master’s Programs
Admissions Counseling for everyone interested on September 18, 2026, at 10 a.m.
Register at j.ress@udk-berlin.de
Lea Søvsø
Head of Studies
Lea Søvsø born 1982 in Daenmark, lives and works as a costume designer and performance artsit in Berlin. Sie studied costume design at the udk under Florence von Gerkan and was a guest student for fine arts under Hito Steyerl. Since 2007 she works freelance for theater and film and realizes projects with She She Pop, Hito Steyerl, the musictheater Kollektiv Hauen und Stechen, Ari Benjamin Meyers, Amir Reza Koohestani and Julia Langhof ect. Besides that her artistic practice also includes performances and exhibitions at institutions such as the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein and the Kunst-Werke Berlin. Other works have been presented at venues including the Academie of Science in Berlin-Brandenburg, the Kino Arsenal (Berlin) and the Beton Salon (Paris).
leasovso@gmail.com
https://www.leasovso.de/
Pieter Bax
Film Costume Design Professor
After studying fine arts at the Utrecht School of the Arts, Pieter Bax has been working as a costume designer for film, television, and theater since 2001. He began his career as a costume design assistant on feature film productions; later, he also worked in this role on international film and television productions such as “Berlin Station” and “Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo”. At the same time, he developed his own work for the independent theater scene and collaborated with artists including Nurkan Erpulat, She She Pop, Gob Squad, and Hakan Savaş Mican. His film and television credits as a costume designer include “The King of Palma”, “All you Need”, and “Cassandra”.
mail@pieterbax.com
www.pieterbax.com
Dr. Julia Burde
Cultural History of Clothing
In addition to her work as a costume and set designer (opera and theater), Julia Burde began teaching cultural history of clothing in 1995. She currently teaches at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design (ABK), and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hanover. In 2019, Julia Burde’s dissertation on the straightening of the waistline in 19th-century men’s fashion was published. She has also published articles on film costumes, dandy caricatures, historical fashion mannequins, and the history of theater costumes
Julia.burde(at)t-online.de
Luise Würth
Dramaturg
Luise Würth (she/her/no pronouns) is a dramaturg, curator, and professor. Queerness, anti-ableistic praqtices and intersectional Feminism in art and work process play a huge role in Luise Würths work between state and independent theatre scene. Since 2023 she co-leads the Berlin model project «Fairstage». There, Luise advocates for fair and non-discriminatory working conditions at the theater.
m.wuerth@udk-berlin.de
https://fairstage.berlin/
Janne Kummer
Critical Theory + Digital Media
Janne Kummer (they/them) is a transdisciplinary artist, researcher, and educator working across performance, digital art, game design, and critical theory. Their practice explores how digital technologies, particularly AI, shape social and political hierarchies, connecting critical technology research with a somatic understanding of body politics and power. As a PhD candidate at LUCA School of Arts and Berlin Open Lab, they investigate AI companionship, algorithmic intimacy, and their effects on human relations. Their work imagines alternative realities beyond capitalist exploitation while critically engaging with emerging technologies. They also organize queer community workshops connecting martial arts, Somatic trauma treatment, reflection on power dynamics, and self-defense.
studio@jannekummer.com
https://jannekummer.com
Lene Vollhardt
Film and Media Studies
In the 2026–27 winter semester, Lene Vollhardt will lead the seminars “Representations of the Visible” and “Discipline and Image.” Lene Vollhardt is a choreographer, performer, and moving-image artist. She studied media art at the HfG Karlsruhe in Isaac Julien’s class and earned a Postgraduate Diploma with honors from the Royal Academy Schools in London. Her work has been exhibited at venues including the Royal Academy of Arts, the Sharjah Art Foundation, and Berlin Art Week. She received the Hong Kong Art House Film Award and the Fokus Art-Film Award from the Nikolaj Kunsthal in Copenhagen, and was a fellow of the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes) as well as of RadicalxChange in Oakland in 2024. The art collective The Sphere, which she co-founded, received the “Beyond Cultures of Ownership” project prize from Serpentine Arts Technologies in London in 2024. She is a Research Fellow at the Law & Theory Lab at the University of Westminster and lives in London and Berlin.
vollhardt@proton.me
https://lenevollhardt.com
Chiara Munchio
Fundation Course
Chiara Minchio, born in Italy, is a freelance artist and costume designer. She studied fine arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and earned a Master of Education from the UdK/FU. In addition to her work as a visual artist and costume designer, she contributes to documentary film projects as a writer. In the winter semester of 2026/27, she will teach the introductory courses in the bachelor’s program.
minchio.c@udk-berlin.de
Christian Schiebe
Drawing
Christian Schiebe works as a visual artist and curator for various exhibition formats.
mail@christian-schiebe.de
www.christian-schiebe.de
Vivienne Waneck
Experimental technique
Vivienne Waneck studied costume design at the UdK Berlin. Together with five other costume and stage designer she is part of a Workshop collective. They design and make costumes, spaces, objects and puppets for theatre and opera productions, as well as for film and advertisements. Over the last few years they made projects for the Salzburger Festspiele, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Staatsoper Hamburg, the Staatstheater Stuttgart, Hamburger Bahnhof, Humboldt Forum and many more places.
v.waneck@gmail.com
www.werkstattkollektiv.com
Eva Rach
sewing workshop
As a trained seamstress she has aquired a lot of knowledge since 2002 in various different fields of the craft: from costumes to accessories and bridal wear, through children’s clothing, custom-made garments, and festival attire, She is temporarily leading the sewing workshop.
eva.rach(at)gmx.de
Birte Meier
As a makeup artist, Birte Meier has been offering makeup workshops for both the bachelor’s and
master’s programs for years. These workshops focus on the respective
semester’s theme while also covering the fundamentals of makeup artistry.
birtemeier@hotmail.de
Ute Freund
Ute Freund is a freelance cinematographer based in Berlin. She makes experimental art films, documentaries and feature films. She studied art history and worked as a camera assistant before completing her studies in cinematography at the Hamburg Media School. Since 2009, she has been teaching film and visual design on a regular basis in various settings.
utefreund@gmail.com
https://cinematographinnen.net/en/ute-freund/
Anna Bergel
In the summer semester 2026 Anna Bergel leads the job oriented workshop “Get started” and “Aufführungsanalyse”. Anna Bergel was at first a dancer, before she studied Theatre- cultural studies and Journalism at the University Leipzig. She is a artistic and academic staff member at the Departement of stage design at UdK Berlin and teaches “Performance Analysis” and “Project management”. Additionally she works as a artistic production leader and dramaturg for various Theater and dance companies.
a.bergel@udk-berlin.de
Student Employees
Momo Reß
j.ress_(at)udk-berlin.de
questions concerning Website:
Alicja Waliczek
a.waliczek@udk-berlin.de
Employees before summersemester 2026
Prof. Beatrix von Pilgrim (Head of Studies)
Renata Helker (film course)
Charlotte Pistorius (foundation course)
Zana Bosnjak (diverse workshops)
Anna Schlote (dramaturg)
Anton Fischer (dramaturg)
Prof. Anette Guther (film costume design course)
Dr. Stefan Tigges (dramaturgy course)
Karolina Serafin (video-Projection)
Lottie Sebes (Soundartist)
Leyla Liyanova/ Sara Migliorati (historical corsets seminar)
Ben Tyrell/Christian Dieckmann (Patina seminar)
Ella Tümpel (student assistant)
Dorothee Billard (drawing course)
Jasmin Schlüter (sewing course)
Hanna Lenz (diverse workshops)
Grit Köppen (theatre lecture)
Klemens Becker (camera course)
Lisa Brzonkalla (textil-course)
Sophie Klebba (film costume design courses)
