About

A European contemporary circus exploration in public space to collectively question the notion of social ecology

The ecological and environmental mutations all over Europe request from us to think about our carbon footprint and more deeply to rethink our ways of living, our choices of development. They force us to (re)connect ourselves in a different and urgent way to spaces which we inhabit and to people who live there. As a body of ideas, social ecology, used as a synonym for human ecology, envisions for instance, a world that reharmonizes human communities with the natural world, while celebrating diversity, creativity and freedom. For such an ecological transformation, we need collectively, to create the operative conditions for a possible social and sustainable transformation.

Facing these ecological issues, the contemporary circus sector, as well as the cultural sector in general, needs to make evolve its practices. It raises the question whether to concretely translate the implementation of more sustainable and ethical means into collaboration and how to contribute to a change in behaviour. This approach thus implies the development of a new set of capacities to train artists in new artistic, scientific and collaborative approaches, when initial circus training often prioritises technical skills.

The hypothesis chosen for Hand to hand, is to create new cooperation and new modes of understanding through social ecology where art - more specifically contemporary circus - in public space can contribute to the transition of our sector, transforming its artistic and methodological practices.

The project brings together 4 European partners, cultural circus and performing art operators : Le Palc, a national circus centre in France, ROOM 100 in Croatia, Bússola in Portugal and Helsingør Theatre in Denmark. It aims to explore the issue of sustainability through learning and experiential spaces of innovation and research for circus artists, especially emerging artists in their artistic practice in public space, and give them new capacities of initiating such a transition.

Through a journey of four exploration times and immersion residencies, Hand to hand offers experimentation spaces through a cross-sectoral collaboration, including cultural and creative industries, researchers in ecology and art, as well as private firms : Joseph Perrier, a champagne house; Fila Arches, an historical artisanal factory of art papers in France ; Solana, salt marshes in Croatia ; a maritime workshop for the renovation of wooden boats and a professional fisherman in Denmark ; codfish packaging and distribution industry in Portugal.

The contemporary circus sector, as well as the cultural sector in general, needs to make evolve its practices. In order to contribute to this challenge, we need numerous stakeholders to create the operative conditions for a possible ecological and sustainable transformation in and through the circus field.

Connect with ecology in a deep way

To tackle ecological issues, we need to enter the complexity of the ecological transition. We have in this way to explore and share a double need of sustainability : one linked classically to tools and knowledge of sustainable development (carbon footprint) and one other, which we think equally significant, the deep transformation of how we inhabit, the relationship to the Other. The hypothesis adopted for the project is to focus mainly on social ecology in order to achieve a better understanding and changing approaches of our cultural sector and to define where and how art in public space can contribute to such a transformation.

Create new alliances

In order to make the link with “living” and nature, we need also to cross-fertilise various types of knowledge that are currently rather fragmented (artistic, cultural, scientific, research, field practices of other sectors, etc.). Creating new alliances and new ways of understanding are necessary.

This could be thus embodied conceiving creative approaches in the service of new co-constructed relationships. The cross-sectoral approach is a natural source of representative stakeholders and an essential resource for exploring and understanding the complexity of the world.

Re - new & support new artistic forms and aesthetics in public space dealing with sustainability

We need also to link this awareness with a dramaturgical tool to translate into new artistic formats, new gestures, new languages, new artistic approaches of the public space.
Artists are still locked into still active norms such as the norms of the so-called "classic" show format. Circus artists as artists from any discipline need to take into account in their creation and their artistic process, ecological issues.

Creating new opportunities

We need to translate it into new markets to open. The circus artists need to earn innovative capacity building in order to have tools for an easier circulation in the market sector. These necessary new opportunities are based on an analysis of the circus market, which remains fragmented and saturated at the European level.
The majority of circus artists will present artistic works in public space in a moment of their career but they don’t “learn” in circus schools the codes for specific constraints and context in public space. The project will give them these tools, creating opportunities of opening the market sector.

Legitimate and offering visibility

Lastly, to tackle ecological issues, we need to give spaces to artists to experiment these new forms with the audience. The role of the cultural operators is to open and legitimate new spaces of production, new spaces of experimentation and immersions, as a vehicle of freedom where artists can take risks and create new narratives
.

Hand to hand unfolds in four main stages
– Ideation phase: an introductory workshop welcomed 16 pre-selected circus artists to dive into sustainability, cross-sectoral practices, and creation in public space. Through body-based research and collective exploration, the group shaped a shared foundation — leading to the final selection of 8 artists.
– Four exploration times across partner countries with 4 themes linked to sustainability, to learn collectively in a creative way combining theoretical inputs, field visits, physical experimentation, and meetings with professionals from key economic and ecological local sectors.
– Immersion residencies within private companies, where each artist is during 10 full days observing work environments, interacting with employees, and developing artistic material rooted in embodied practices and local contexts.
– Prototypes testing and sharing within the 4 partner festivals, offering public presentations of works-in-progress that reflect the artistic process and the ecological and social issues explored throughout the project.