- Can we practice, think, and write about contemporary circus beyond the human?
- How can we overcome the pigeonholed idea that human and animal interaction in circus is limited to displays of human dominance over (wild) animals?
- What would it mean to create new modes of thinking and writing that would (re)valorize animals?
- How can we create artistic companionships between human and non-human animals?
- How can we bring ethical attention to these relationships in the dialogues between performing arts and research?
- What can we learn from each other?
- How would collectives of human and non-human performers work
- How can we create non-anthropocentric staging that focuses on the relationship between humans and non-humans rather than on human domination and binaries?
- How can we create a discourse on humans and non-human animals in circus without romanticism or prejudice?
- How can we challenge our perspectives?
- How can animal performances be discussed neutrally, so as to avoid promoting or prohibiting their place in performances?
- Can this research project become more than a political or ethical statement for or against the use of animals in performances?
This exposition presents an exploration of the inventive, creative, and active dimensions of non-human animals in the context of circus. In 2022, we, Natan Hansi Alberca (multidisciplinary visual artist), Franziska Trapp (dramaturge and researcher), Sabrina Sow (equestrian artist), and Bouboule (non-human animal artist) came together to create a vivid dialogue between practice and reflection, artistic and academic research, informed and naive approaches. Our main aim was thereby to examine what it might mean to create new modes of circus performances that would (re)valorize animals in the ring. Instead of merely advancing the common image of non-human animals as reified, passive entities, our objective was to explore the inventive, creative, and active dimensions of non-human animals in the context of performances. We now exhibit our exchange through a collage of video installations by Natan Alberca, academic writings by Franziska Trapp, and poems by Sabrina Sow, that expand on, express agreement with, or contradict each other. Our intention is to make perceptible how artistic and reflective processes are fundamentally intertwined.
We invite you to find your own, personal way though the exposition. You are intrigued by the interplay between the various approaches to the topic of non-human animals in contemporary circus? Go through the exposition in a linear way and watch the videos, read the article, and switch to the poems at the proposed moment. You are especially inspired by the poems? Go for it! You love the way the videos and the article are relating to each other? Let this be your focus! You only want to dig into the performance Dresse-toi? Be our guest! Make this exposition your personal exploration tour that also allows you to become aware of your very own perspective.
