Karin Schäfer (born 1963) is a performance artist and the head of the Karin Schäfer Figuren Theater - Visual Theatre Productions company.
After studying puppetry arts with Harry V.
Tozer at Barcelona's Instituto del Teatro and working in Spain for several years, she returned to Austria in 1993.
Based on classical puppetry techniques, she developed an artform she calls "Visual Theatre", integrating visual arts, fine arts, music, dance and new media rather than classical puppetry.
She cooperates with artists from many genres, focusing on visual impact and abstaining from words in order to appeal to her audience from different countries, cultures and ages.