SABINE THEUNISSEN

Sabine Theunissen studied architecture in Brussels.

After one year at the technical office of La Scala of Milan, she joined the Royal Theater of La Monnaie (Brussels) where she worked 17 years in the design studio.

In 2003, she met William Kentridge. Their collaboration began with Magic Flute (creation TRM 2005). Since then, she has designed sets for his opera productions, among which are The Nose (Met NYC 2010), Refuse the Hour (2012), The Refusal of Time (Documenta XIII -Kassel 2012), Winterreise (Vienna Festival, June 2014), Lulu (Met NYC, DNO, ENO 2015), Wozzec (Salzburg Festival 2017, Met NYC, Sydney Opera). And also, for his art installations and exhibitions including Notes Towards a Model Opera (exhibition, Beijing, Seoul, 2015), No It Is (exhibition Gropius Bau, Berlin 2015), Thick Times (exhibition White Chapel-Louisiana-Salzburg-Manchester 2016), Smoke, Ashes, Fable (exhibition in Bruges 2017), O Sentimental Machine (exhibition in Frankfurt, Liebig Haus in 2018), Quelle che non ricordo (exhibition in Sydney 2018).

Based in Brussels, she is simultaneously working with other directors and choreographers, including her sister Hélène Theunissen, for whom she designed sets for La Dispute, Marrakech (Brussels 2012) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Brussels 2017).

She recently designed sets for Bug and Othello staged by Aurore Fattier. She also collaborated with the choreographer Michèle Noiret for Hors-champ (2015) and Radioscopie (2016), and with the director Lilo Baur for Ariane and Barbe-Bleue (Opera de Dijon 2012). She designed other exhibitions The Body in Indian Art (Europalia Festival, Brussels, October 2013) and 1,000m² of desire (CCCB, Barcelona, September 2016).

She is frequently invited for lecturing in art and architecture schools, like Stockholm University, Pavillon Bosio (Monaco), La Cambre (Brussels), The Fine Art School (Tournai), and EYE filmmmuseum (Amsterdam).