Circus Thinkers Platform started as a study circus on John-Paul Zaccarini's Falling the Thought of Circus on the 7th of April 2020. The circle had been planned for a long time as an online new initiative for increased intercultural dialogue, collaboration and discourse development, whilst cutting down on environmental impact. It so happened the kick off coincided with the early days of the pandemic and now looking back it's been an incredibly important time for a lot of us in the group. Our primary concern has always been with how democratic our processes, conversations and projects could be, and this has fostered a culture where everyone involved can claim true ownership over what Circus Thinkers is and is becoming. That includes anyone new to CS who may be interested in jumping in and contributing their voice and perspectives for any length of time.
Cirkus Syd is at an exciting time as an organisation. In our meetings, public forums and interactions with our projects, it is clear that there is hunger for spaces to think critically about and with circus, its contexts and its cultural meanings. I was pleased to be able to join the board at a moment when CS’s emergent vision seems to be elaborating itself in a range of activities that, when taken together, form a coherent and yet still fluid shape.
- Nick Zelle (US) and Lina B. Frank, Cirkus Syd board/ Circus Thinkers Image: illustration for Cirkus Syd by Katie Holloway