ON CIRCUS 2025: Contemporary Big Top and Scenography
The 14th edition of Theater op de Markt welcomed two reflection days under the title ON CIRCUS. Initiated in 2023 in collaboration with Hanna Mampuys and Toon Van Gramberen of THERE THERE Company, the format invited circus companies to step away from the stage and into conversation. Each session unfolded over two hours: each of the two authors had 30 minutes to present, followed by an open discussion that brought artists and professionals into the exchange. ON CIRCUS 2025 took the shape of two morning conferences, welcoming four circus authors and unfolding around two distinct thematic focuses.
On the first morning, Monday, 27 October, On Contemporary Big Top Circus shared knowledge drawn from several creations by the Flemish Collectif Malunés and the French Cirque Rasposo, works specifically conceived for staging inside a circus tent. As both a vocational and artistic choice, creating for the big top implies living with a circus tent — a modality that stretches and contains, compresses and expands daily life as well as artistic decisions inside the tent's architecture.
On Contemporary Big Top Circus: Insights from Collectif Malunés and Cirque Rasposo is the result of this first day of exchange and reflection on this pivotal topic. With Simon Bruyninckx and Marie Molliens representing each company, we delved into motivations, experiences, and creative practices. We encountered two companies living a nomadic circus life in caravans, unravelling their motivations and challenges, and entangling life choices with career ambitions and artistic practices.
The next morning, Tuesday, 28 October, On Circus Scenography brought together the reflections of Julian Vogel - Cie unlisted and Boris Gibé - Les Choses de Rien, two authors whose work engages deeply with the plastic arts, visual composition, and scenography in circus.
While both place materiality at the heart of their artistic language, their relationships to objects diverge significantly. On Circus Scenography: Reflections with Julian Vogel and Boris Gibé tells more about their approaches and reveals two distinct philosophies of scenography, creating a tension that opens up a rich field of reflection on what scenography can be—and do—within contemporary circus.
Designed as a space for dialogue across professional levels, ON CIRCUS 2025 brought me back to the first floor of Dommelhof for two days of attentive listening. When it comes to understanding a work, what could be more revealing than hearing its author articulate the why and the how behind the scenes?
The staged room scenography, with sofas and plants, was cosy and effective. A chair positioned in front of the audience hosted each author. As the narrative started, it transported us on a personal journey, facilitated by images and videos on screen.
As already expressed at ON CIRCUS 2023, these conference days feel like opportunities to go on journeys of discovery. There were moments to explore an artistic proposition beyond the finished performance. Ideas, questions, and fragments of thought circulated freely, tracing a path from the first creative impulse to the final execution. At ON CIRCUS, everything could be asked, shared, and carried forward into future conversations.
