Soffia Heese is a scenographer and performance artist. From 2015-20 she studied scenography at the Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts Kiel and the Royal Academy of Art The Hague. Prior to this, she also trained as an interior decorator in Hamburg. As a consequence of her interest in presence experiences and the professional experience she has gained, she has been studying for a Master’s degree in Stage Design_Scenic Space at the TU Berlin since 2024. 

As a performance artist, Soffia Heese deals with interrelationships between body and space and has been able to realize various performances following her studies, including through a scholarship from the Schleswig-Holstein Cultural Foundation. She has lived and worked in Berlin since 2023 and has worked in various scenographic-architectural contexts: space scenography/arch. of the Muthesius University Gallery, architecture studio Meister-James, exhibition design neo.studio Berlin (ins. Tanzwelten, Bundeskunsthalle Bonn), costume design/scenography football echoes (Ahilan Ratnamohan) as well as stage design for Opera of Hope at Kampnagel in HH (with Dennis Stoecker for Mable Preach). 

As an experienced dancer and trained scenographer, I design spaces and performances. For me, both activities come together in the design of physical spatial experiences. Accordingly, the thesis of my final degree project was: ‘Architecture is movement and movement is architecture’. It is an expression of my expanded understanding of space, which encompasses not only architecturally constructed space, but also the social, cultural and political dimensions of space as well as ephemeral spaces. My perspective on spatial practices is based on the understanding of being my body. It is an intelligent, sensual tool of perception that inspires me to create spatial designs and performances. 
I believe that the shared physical experience in space is of great importance for the development of basic skills for peaceful coexistence as a society. Shared physical presence means being in contact with one’s environment, encountering each other and thus resonating. In all its variants, resonance refers to the resonance of bodies in other bodies. It is therefore a quality that needs to be practised in order to empathise with others, to encounter other people’s experiences, perspectives and emotions – to practice an openness that enables you to reflect on your views and opinions and, if necessary, to reshape them. Resonance is the ability to accept change and to transform oneself. It is therefore important to practice the ability to resonate in order to remain together and dynamic as a society. This requires experiences of presence, such as live performances and stages, such as those offered by scenic spaces. The resonance of physical spatial experiences harbours a political and social power that needs to be shaped.