Polina Levchenko

History of Design (MA)
Black-and-white close-up photo of a young woman with long wavy hair, smiling slightly. She is wearing a sleeveless dark top and has a small heart tattoo on her upper arm. The background shows a softly lit indoor space with framed artwork on the wall
Four women sit on stage in a panel discussion in front of a large projected slide titled 'Designing Performance Histories: Anna Sverdlova, Clare Wren, Catallo-Werner and Polina Levchenko.' The slide displays three historical costume images with captions. The panelists are holding microphones and appear engaged in conversation, seated in front of a wooden backdrop in a dimly lit auditorium.
Four women sit on stage in a panel discussion in front of a large projected slide titled 'Designing Performance Histories: Anna Sverdlova, Clare Wren, Catallo-Werner and Polina Levchenko.' The slide displays three historical costume images with captions. The panelists are holding microphones and appear engaged in conversation, seated in front of a wooden backdrop in a dimly lit auditorium.
Panel discussion at the Confluence Symposium, 14 July 2025, Victoria and Albert Museum, Photograph by Karolina Silberova.
A costume design sketch depicting a stylized, elongated figure with arms raised and crossed behind the head. The figure wears a blue tunic with vertical slits at the hem and a large red, shield-like form behind the body. A dark helmet or headpiece is worn. The background is beige with handwritten annotations in French and pencil sketches outlining costume elements
A costume design sketch depicting a stylized, elongated figure with arms raised and crossed behind the head. The figure wears a blue tunic with vertical slits at the hem and a large red, shield-like form behind the body. A dark helmet or headpiece is worn. The background is beige with handwritten annotations in French and pencil sketches outlining costume elements
Costume design for Holy Etudes, ca. 1925, by Bronislava Nijinska, Source: GetArchive, via the Library of Congress.
Four women sit on stage in a panel discussion in front of a large projected slide titled 'Designing Performance Histories: Anna Sverdlova, Clare Wren, Catallo-Werner and Polina Levchenko.' The slide displays three historical costume images with captions. The panelists are holding microphones and appear engaged in conversation, seated in front of a wooden backdrop in a dimly lit auditorium.
A costume design sketch depicting a stylized, elongated figure with arms raised and crossed behind the head. The figure wears a blue tunic with vertical slits at the hem and a large red, shield-like form behind the body. A dark helmet or headpiece is worn. The background is beige with handwritten annotations in French and pencil sketches outlining costume elements

About

Polina Levchenko is a design historian whose current research focuses on the choreographic and design innovations of Bronislava Nijinska through the lens of costume. Her MA dissertation, Staging and Preserving: The Life and Afterlives of Bronislava Nijinska’s Ballet Costume, explores the transformation of Nijinska’s costume practice from her avant-garde experiments at the École de Mouvement in Ukraine to her later performances in Europe and the United States, and ultimately to the ways her practice has been acquired and exhibited in museum’s collections. Through the close reading of costume sketches, archival photographs, and museum collections, Polina traces how Nijinska used costume to challenge gender norms and rethink the historic relationship between costume and movement. Polina’s research applies methods from dance studies, material culture, and design history. During her MA, she completed placements within the Art, Architecture, Photography and Design and the Performance, Furniture, Textiles & Fashion departments and participated in the 2025 V&A/RCA History of Design symposium. Her broader interests include performance design, Slavic and diasporic art histories, and the preservation and reinterpretation of ephemeral practices in museum spaces.

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