A circus exploration across Europe consisting of experimentations, learning spaces, meetings with different sectors of activity - and their traditional gestures and know-how - to collectively question the notion of social ecology

Europe is faced with the need to initiate deep ecological and environmental changes. These mutations 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, must 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 a 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 will start in March 2023 and will last two and a half years.

Hand to Hand 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, in order to develop new capacities of initiating such a transition, transforming artistic and methodological practices in public space for sustainability.

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, champagne house; Papeterie Arches SAS, paper mill of art in France; Solana, salt marshes in Croatia ; a maritime workshop for the renovation of wooden boats and a professional fisherman in Denmark ; Codfish Harbor of Aveiro, distant water fishing in Portugal.

This process will be extended by four collective testing and sharing artistic prototypes created during immersion residencies with an experimental approach and for a large audience in the frame of public space festivals of the 4 partners. By involving mentors, researchers and professionals, the conducted experimentations will be disseminated with good practices tools, notably through publications and a web-doc.

More info can be found at the Hand to hand project by March 2023.

PARTNERS

Le Palc, Pôle national cirque Châlons en Champagne (FR)

Bússola (PT)

Helsingør Theatre (DK)

ROOM 100 (HR)

ASSOCIATED PARTNERS

ARTCENA, (FR)

CNAC - Centre national des arts du cirque (FR)

Institut Français (FR)

23 Milhas/Município de Ílhavo (PT)

Furies (FR)

HAND TO HAND is a project co-funded by the European Union.