Sofia Pitouli

Sofia Pitouli is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Art History at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Paul Mellon Fellow (2025-2028) at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Her dissertation offers a cultural study of the Pindos Mountains in the late medieval and early Ottoman periods. Her research interests are broad, ranging from the study of medieval minority communities to the intersection of art and technology in medieval mechanical devices, and the influence of Japanese art and design on modern Greek architecture. Her work has been published in international peer-reviewed journals. She is co-editor of Weaving Dreams: Kilims from Geraki, Laconia (2024), and co-curator of the accompanying exhibition at the Benaki Museum - The Ghika Gallery (April-July 2026). She also served as Project Manager for "Weaving Community," a public-impact project and large-scale study of weavers in Geraki, Laconia, underwritten by Gefyra, a program supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). Before her studies, Sofia competed in middle-distance events at World and European Track & Field Championships.