ABOUT CIRKUS SYD

Cirkus Syd is a networking platform for international research, development and innovation based in Lund, Sweden.

Cirkus Syd is a platform to connect people, ideas and practises across borders and genres. We work in the cultural sphere using our expertise in contemporary circus arts, collaborate to inspire structural development and new opportunities.

We are excited by innovation, entrepreneurship, DIY, DIT and artistic research and we champion culture as an agent for democratic participation. We are an international NGO with a global membership base and we invite collaborators, partners and stakeholders to create visionary and developmental projects bringing people together to explore transdisciplinary cultural practises in our society.

We were founded in 2018 and have quickly gained momentum and breadth of activity due to the extensive experience and capacity of the board. Our flagship project are Circus Thinkers Platform connecting independent voices across the globe and the development of circus making in the region of Skåne.
We host a developing publishing house with a book shop and library.

Cirkus Syd is part of 4 international networks: BNCN, Circostrada European Network for Circus and Street Arts, INCAM international network of circus Magazine & Culture Action Europe.

Annual Reports
2020
2021
2022
2023 (coming soon)
Start download by clicking the years

Current team 2023

Cirkus Syd is managed by

Board of Trustees: Lina B. Frank (SE/UK), Burak Sayin (SE/TR), Ed Rapley (UK),
Nick Zelle (US), Anna Ljungqvist (SE) & Daniel Gulko (FR).

with support Emma Therkelson (SE) (soft auditing).
Ringmaster/Network Coordinator/Strategy Lina B. Frank
Graphics work by Katie Holloway (UK), Anita Marie (UK) & Naomi Clarke (UK),
Web, Digital & Editorial support by Elena Stanciu (DK)
Editorial and research support from Madeline Hoak (US)
Communications and Content Officers Alise Bokaldere (LV)

PA to the Directors Hedda Celander (SE)
Community and Training Officer Fridamy Roth (SE)

Festival Development and Technical Producer Kristian Anshelm (SE)
Accounting by Stefan Rubensson Redovisningsbyrå (SE)
Auditing by BDO (SE)

CONTACT
US

keep in the loop

Cirkus Syd
Company reg: 802526-0558
INFO@CIRKUSSYD.COM

Visiting/Postal address:
Stenkrossen

Kastanjegatan13,
223 59 Lund
Sweden

We are not registered for VAT

Cirkus Syd team

Lina is a producer, curator, strategist and arts consultant based in Sweden & the UK working across Europe.She works mostly with Contemporary Circus, Cross-disciplinary Arts and Live Art – always with bold and brave people, explorers and visionaries at heart. She's interested in how art can be used to facilitate democratic participation to challenge the status quo. Since 2017 she is Network Coordinator for Baltic Nordic Circus Network. Previously work history includes independent consultant for European Parliament and Co-Founding Director of Bristol Biennial Circus Festival.

Email: lina@cirkussyd.com

Lina B. Frank

Director

SE / UK

Hedda joined the Cirkus Syd team in 2022, and has since been working with the organizing of festivals, international projects, and circus training development.

But circus has been a part of Hedda much longer than that. As a child she started out at her local youth circus in Norrköping, and later moved on to train circus at the Cirkus Cirkör gymnasium in Stockholm and at AFUK in Copenhagen.

Email: hedda@cirkussyd.com

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Hedda Celander

PA to the directors

Fridamy is a circus artist and dance-acrobat based in Malmö and Lund. Her work with Cirkus Syd mainly concerns the development of circus spaces, training, workshops and residencies at Stenkrossen, Cirkus Syd’s headquarters in Lund.

When she is not in the office you might find her in the Cirkus Syd studio, working on her own artistic projects. She has previously studied circus at AFUK in Copenhagen, and is currently involved in the production ”Ragnarok” at the Danish Royal Theatre.

Email: fridamy@cirkussyd.com

Fridamy Roth

Training and Community Officer

(On sabbatical)

Carlos Lopez is a Colombian juggling artist based in Malmö - previously Amsterdam and Buenos Aires - who became involved in Cirkus Syd in 2023 as a volunteer. Now in 2024 he is joining the team as training & community officer . He has been practicing circus for ten years specialising in juggling, giraffe unicycle and object manipulation. He enjoys teaching, and has an interest in using circus in social development. He travelled for years across the South American continent as a street circus performer, before moving to Europe in 2020. Carlos speaks Spanish, English and is currently learning Swedish.

Email: carlos@cirkussyd.com

Carlos Lopez

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Community & Artist Development Officer

SE/CO

Urtė joined Cirkus Syd team as a Circus Technician in 2024.

Proud to contribute to Cirkus Syd's team, she brings a blend of technical skills and a passion for the circus arts. With experience in social anthropology and stage production, she plays a role in ensuring performances run smoothly, focusing on stage technologies and rigging. Committed to safety and creativity, she strives to support the team's efforts in creating memorable experiences for audiences at Cirkus Syd.

email: urte@cirkussyd.com

Urtė Šimkonytė

Circus Technician

Katie Holloway is a Bristol based designer and maker. Having studied Graphic Design, she works in developing brands, digital illustration, type & print. Alongside creating digitally, she works across a range of other formats, from embroidery, to scaling her work up and painting walls in need of a bit of loving. Her work embodies natural forms, wobbly shapes and bold colours.

Website: https://www.katieholloway.co.uk/

Katie Holloway

Graphic Designer

Elena is an associate with NHLP, working to coordinate and edit content submissions from participants. Elena is also the digital editor of the NHLP platform.

Elena is a freelance writer, editor, and cultural producer, with an interest in performing and visual arts. She fell in love with circus quite recently, while working temporarily with DYNAMO Workspace, one of the hosting organisations and partners in NHLP. She is based in Denmark.

Elena Stanciu

Editor Publishing

Nick is a multi-disciplinary circus artist with a curiosity about the possibilities of this practice between the worlds of dance, performance art, writing and philosophy. Having studied at l’École de cirque de Québec he specialized in aerial rope, hand-balancing and floor acrobatics. Nick has created and performed with companies such as the tony award-winning Theatre de la Jeune Lune, the Circus Smirkus Big Top Tour, battleRoyal and the Chamäleon Theater. Nick currently teaches aerial classes at Xelias Aerial Arts Studio in Minneapolis, and guest lecturers in Circus Performance at the University of Minnesota’s BFA acting program. Nick holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Middlebury College.

Nick Zelle

Board Member

Anna Ljungqvist is producer and manager within Arts and Culture with a vast experience in the field. Mostly working with theatre and contemporary circus (9 years Head of Production and Deputy CEO at Cirkus Cikör and many years board member of Manegen) but also experienced wtih both dance and music. She has been a project leader in several international projects and has been involved in different international networks such as BNCN, and is currently working at SKH (Stockholm University of the Arts) running separate course in Circus Didactics as well as working as Head of Events at Malmö City.

Anna Ljungqvist

Board Member

Elisabeth Künkele is originally from Germany and joined the Cirkus Syd Team in 2023. Elli got into circus as a young child but it took her many years before it became her porfession. Firstly, she had to explore the world, study environmental science - figure out if she could live without her circus passion. In 2015 she finally moved to Stockholm to start and complete her BA in Circus at the swedish circus school SKH with the focus in partner acrobatics. After graduating in 2018 she started working as a circus perfomer for various skandinavian companies. Lately she begun to take a closer look 'behind the scenes' - explore the backbone of a production/a festival. So here she is, enjoying the work with Circus Syd - a company working on spreading the magic of Circus in Sweden.

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Elisabeth Künkele

SE / DE

Edward Rapley works in the arts as a performer, director and strategic consultant.

Imagine a wizard in a cave who can help you solve problems and make decisions. You just need to know where to find him.

Edward is motivated by the politics of liberation and mutual aid in his work with helping people found artist led collectives. He is a member of Residence and based in Bristol, UK.

Edward was part of Cirkus Syd's international advisory board during 2019.

Edward Rapley

Chair of the Board

Daniel Gulko

Board Member

Giorgio Berardi was born in Forlì (Italy), and his educational background has covered linguistics, international politics, development economics, and data analysis.

After gaining initial experience in the private sector, working mostly in corporate export departments, he had his first exposure to international development co-operation between 1998 and 2000, when managing an EU-funded water project in rural Kenya.

Over two distinct periods of time, he held different positions at ECPAT International in Bangkok, lastly as Programme Officer for Combating Child-Sex Tourism (2007-2010).

Since 2010, he has occupied various administrative and project-management positions in Kenya, South Sudan and Tanzania. He has been back in Europe, in Sweden, since mid-2017, first as Finance and Administration Manager with Trans Europe Halles, and then as a literary translator for Danish publisher SAGA Egmont.

Giorgio Berardi

SE / IT

Originally a journalist in Turkey Burak moved to Sweden to study at Lund University. Burak focuses on marketing, communication and community management for the decentralised forms of governance in communities working with culture and arts. He has worked for Associated Press Television News, Huffington Post, Al Jazeera America as a freelancer. Since Feb 2018 he is Community & Communications Manager at Trans Europe Halles currently managing a 3-year research project, DISCE, on behalf of TEH. Burak is fluent in English and Turkish, and currently learning Swedish.