Friederike Charivari

Artistic & Technical Co-direction together with Claire Terrien - 2010 | 2012 | 2014 | 2016 | 2017| 2018

avant-garde circus and contemporary art in dialog -

Circusbiennale is a platform for contemporary circus and performance art, happening every 2 years in various places across the city of Berlin. The festival is organised and produced independently by Charivari Art Collective in collaboration with the socio-cultural association SCENE5 and supported by different partner projects from across europe and specially collectives from Spain, France and Serbia.

The festival lasts for several weeks, as a temporary artistic zone where artists, musicians, performers, skilled and newcomers gather and have the opportunity to exchange ideas and knowledges, to develop their works and present it. During its busy days, Circusbiennale, full with enthusiastic audience and its humble crowd creates a chance for new realities to emerge and for creative adventures to be realized.

We aim to instore new dynamics between the performers and the audience by proposing various formats for the shows: site specific installations, cabaret stage, street shows, work in progress or full length pieces.

Through the incorporation of more participatory projects, which engages the public further that just to be entertained, we want to break the border between viewers and actors and encourage the audience to actively take part in the process.

We focus and encourage the interdisciplinary approach in the circus context to establish  a platform for dialogue with other forms, disciplines and discourses from contemporary culture, including the historical heritage of traditional circuses.

 

 

 The CIRCUS CHARIVARI SHOW

  *curiosities & realities" - The charivari project mixes the visual arts with acrobatics to create a modern "art" carnival. It is an interdisciplinary creation, in which artists from different backgrounds come together to perform a version of an early 20th century freak show.

A constant work in progress and a mutating piece, Charivari places the importance on the creative process rather than on a final result. It is a day to day experience, exists in the moment, and can change shape and direction depending on its surroundings. With its blend of open studio installations and zoo-like aesthetics, it invites the spectators to daily visit and witness the evolution of the Freaks.

The performance area looks like a carnival, inviting the public to enter a private space, where the family lives and works. The public is invited to be part of the family life for the time they are staying on the site. The spectators can enter every caravan, to watch the curiosity cabinet, to try some artistic tricks, to experiment with silk screen print, or to play some strange games with the freaks. Every artist has his/her own playground: in his caravan, booth or wagon - or in front of it, on the trapeze or on a small stage or self built installation.

All day long, the artists remain there, working and presenting their work to the public. The painter makes portraits in the Fotofreak automat, the trapeze artist takes meals on her trapeze, the hunger artist is hungering, the photographer stages a new photo, the illusionist practices, etc. giving the audience every possibility to interact with them (come on a trapeze for a cup of tea, babble around a meal, be staged on a photo, learn some tricks, etc.) At regular hours, like the feeding of predators in zoos, special events will occur, some scheduled, others ahead of schedule. One possibility is one or several performers doing a show - with beginning and end - where the public goes from one stage to another: the alchemist will show his chemicals' magics, the clown will play music, the fakir will show a trick, the trapeze artist will wake up!, etc. freaks_implantation In a more spontaneous way, there will be some actions, performances or games where all performers will act as a group, sometimes inviting the public to join in ( “shoot the freaks” action, silkprint workshop, giant domino party, etc.)

The public is invited to stay as long as they want. There is no border between the show and the private lives of the artists.

And it's not because there is no show that you should be bored... behind the scenes can be so exciting!

We don‘t make a show, we ARE the show! Welcome to Charivaris freak's!

Best regards, The Management