Clowns sans frontières

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CLOWNS WITHOUT FRONTIERS are in Madagascar! Sense of Oceans Madagascar is providing logistical support by making vehicles, drivers and fuel available to them. A pleasure, an honour, a duty… Here is why:

For the right to childhood

Access to art and culture: a child’s right and a human right The disorders resulting from political, economic and ecological upheavals are plunging millions of children around the world into deep insecurity. They lead to the dissolution of social ties, isolation and exclusion, causing situations of great individual fragility and collective abandonment. To these populations in survival we choose to offer a moment out of time, an elsewhere thanks to the show. We do this because we are convinced that access to art and culture is a factor in the emancipation of the individual and respect for human dignity. Recognising ourselves in the Fribourg Declaration, we claim that cultural rights are part of the primary rights and needs of the person. Our action is militant and subversive, and therefore citizen-oriented. It comes from members of civil society, artists, who wish to commit themselves within it and support those who also wish to take the destiny of their society in hand.

Bringing back the smile and the freedom to imagine: the right to childhood

We play where nothing and no one is expected. Our action is primarily aimed at children. We go out to meet them in the areas where they live, in close proximity, in order to facilitate access to the greatest number. The show is a privileged time for exchange and sharing. It is a chance for our spectators to experience emotions that they rarely have access to in their daily lives. Laughter offers them a bubble of respite, changes their outlook, gives them energy and opens up their imagination and perspectives once again. Although our shows are aimed at children, they are open to all, bringing adults and children together in a moment of pure joy. Clowns reactivate, cultivate and sometimes repair the childhood aspect of every human being, thus revealing an inalienable right to childhood. We want to claim this new right for everyone. The laughter that we provoke in people’s faces also animates the life of the neighbourhood, the refugee camp or the village where we work. During the performance, we reactivate the public space as a unifying space, as a place where another life and other relationships between everyone are possible. In this way, we participate in creating a sense of living together.

Contributing to universality through the richness of intercultural dialogue

Each departure of our teams leads to the creation of a specific troupe and show. Designed for the populations of the places we visit, the show is unique and ephemeral. It is nourished by the territory, as well as by the encounters we have during the preparation period. Our presence on site is also an opportunity to exchange practices and knowledge. We forge lasting links with local artists in the context of workshop work and through the integration of some of them into the show. Through these collective creations, we defend performance and artistic practice as a space for sharing, equality between cultures and mutual enrichment. Each time we return transformed by these human adventures of a rare and overwhelming intensity.

A unique method of action and commitment

Clowns Without Borders is an association rich in individuality, experience and skills (artists, logisticians, project managers). Our artistic creations and our experiences throughout the world have enabled us to develop our own unique skills and working methods. Our approach is based on questioning and listening to the field, meeting with partners, international and local NGOs. We rely on their expertise to design our interventions in complementarity with their action. We introduce the artistic dimension into the NGO networks and encourage them to link up with local artists. The performance time is crucial because it catalyses attention and emotion. CSF’s long-term action makes it bear fruit and goes beyond it. From a development aid perspective, we support local actors of change and thus participate in the structuring of a civil society in the territories invested. This method is shared and enriched within the International Federation, which currently brings together Clowns Without Borders from nine countries around the world.


Clowns Sans Frontières France
70 bis rue de Romainville 75019 Paris +33 (0)1 42 01 14 14 – contact@clowns-france.org

www.clowns-sans-frontieres-france.org

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