The Circus Dialogues (continued) is an artistic research project (2020-present) in two parts at KASK & Conservatorium (Ghent, BE). The research team of the first part (2020-23) consisted of Bauke Lievens, Francesca Hyde & Vincent Focquet. Together, they built further upon two earlier projects, Between Being and Imagining (2013-2017, Bauke Lievens) and The Circus Dialogues (2018-2020, Bauke Lievens, Sebastian Kann, Quintijn Ketels, accompanied by Vincent Focquet).
Three themes which emerged in the last project, The Circus Dialogues—namely, sustainability, care, and violence—served as the anchor points to the first part of The Circus Dialogues (continued). But what really took center stage were renewed commitments to the questions: how to research these themes through circus, in the studio? And how to make our research as accessible as possible to the broader circus milieu, not only at the end point but throughout the research process?
The core of the project consisted in five research residencies (Rigged Dialogues), co-conceived with fellow artist-researchers Camille Paycha, Saar Rombout and Elena Zanzu. During these residencies (between 2020-22), we experimented with expanded research methodologies, delving into the themes of the project during long improvisations. Designing the space and the parameters of each improvisation—designing its ‘rigging’, literally and metaphorically—quickly became as much part of the practice as the improvisation itself. Likewise, the question of how to digest, notate, and communicate each researcher’s experience—and how to archive or otherwise preserve these unfolding experiences for posterity—was a core concern throughout the five residencies.
Additional activities led by the research team included public book clubs and a symposium, which was held in January 2022 (Smells Like Dialogue: Queer Reflections).
The Circus Dialogues (continued) is financed by the Arts Research Fund of University College Ghent (BE). The first part of the project (2020-23) was co-produced by Circuswerkplaats Dommelhof/Theater op de Markt, Miramir0 and VIERNULVIER and supported by of Chateau de Monthelon (FR), Cirklabo, Universiteit Gent/SP:AM, Stockholm University of the Arts and Universiteit Utrecht.
