Clown Congress 2023
Clowns & Identity
Exploring Difference in Clowning

Join us for 3 days of workshops, discussions and big ideas as we explore the future of clowning
We’ll be interrogating our practice asking:
  • Who am I when I'm clowning?   
  • Who has the privilege to clown?   
  • How does clowning redefine my experience?   
  • How is clowning different when I do it to when you/she/he/they do it?   
  • And what is clowning like when we do it together?

This year's congress will focus on the themes of identity and clowning. We want to understand how our differences and who we are impact the way we clown. Instead of thinking of clowns as all being the same, we want to explore how clowning is influenced by our individuality and how society sees us today.

We will also look at how black, disabled, queer, trans, neurodiverse, white, and neuro-normative clowns, are similar or different from each other. By doing this, we hope to discover what makes each group unique and what they have in common.
The Congress serves as an interactive platform to put these questions into practice. It’s an incredible opportunity to deepen our understanding of clowns and the art of clowning. Who knows? We might even revolutionise the way we perceive clowns forever!
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WHAT IS A CLOWN CONGRESS:

In times of crisis and change, the old models of our art-forms may need re-imagining to suit the times we are in. The Clown Congress is a curated meeting place to:
  • share practice;
  • have conversations about issues big and small;
  • explore developments of the art form;
  • ask our key questions; and,
  • challenge our thinking around the possibilities and power of clowning

The Clown Congress is a collaboration between Robyn Hambrook, Jon Davison, Jan Wozniak and a growing community of clowns and activists interested in researching and developing our artform.

Want to know what happens at a Clown Congress? You can read about last year’s event here:
https://www.robynhambrook.com/clowning--activism-blog/what-happens-when-clowns-get-
together

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

The organising committee are now seeking additional proposals for contributions that address questions of clowning and identity. We welcome proposals from anyone with an interest in clowning: performers, practitioners, researchers (academic or otherwise) and teachers.
We envisage this as an event which can advance projects concerned with clowning and how this practice goes forward.  These could be in a range of formats, including; exploratory workshops, focused discussions, open spaces, informal get-togethers and sharing individual projects and personal artistic experiences.
WHAT IS A CLOWN CONGRESS:

In times of crisis and change, the old models of our art-forms may need re-imagining to suit the times we are in. The Clown Congress is a curated meeting place to:
  • share practice;
  • have conversations about issues big and small;
  • explore developments of the art form;
  • ask our key questions; and,
  • challenge our thinking around the possibilities and power of clowning

The Clown Congress is a collaboration between Robyn Hambrook, Jon Davison, Jan Wozniak and a growing community of clowns and activists interested in researching and developing our artform.

Want to know what happens at a Clown Congress? You can read about last year’s event here
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When:
Saturday 28 - Monday 30 October 2023
Where:
Wickham Theatre, Bristol University, Cantock's Cl, Bristol BS8 1UP
Hosted by:
Robyn Hambrook, Jon Davison and Jan Wozniak at Bristol University’s Wickham Theatre
Confirmed contributors so far:
Quiplash
Michelle Matlock
Fatina Cummings 
- MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED

The Format:
Over the three days we will engage with contributions by invited practitioners who are actively working on issues of clowning and identity.
Contributors will lead sessions which invite us to explore in practice the key questions of the congress.
Sessions will be in a mixture of formats including exploratory workshops, focused discussions, open spaces, informal get-togethers and sharing individual projects and personal artistic experiences.

Daily Schedule:
9.30am - Arrival & registration
10am - 11.30am - Session one
11.30am - 12:00pm - Break - tea & coffee provided
12.00pm - 1.30pm - Session two
1.30pm - 2.30pm - Lunch - lunch provided for all participants
2.30pm - 4.00pm - Session three
4.00pm - 4.30pm - Break - Break - tea & coffee provided
4.30pm - 6.00pm - Session four
6.00pm - 8.00pm - informal gathering and some evening presentations

Who is it for?
Clowns, performers, activists, therapists, teachers, students, clown doctors, applied drama / improvisation practitioners, researchers, artists, dreamers and anyone who uses play in their work

Investment:
£50 - per day includes lunch & refreshments
£125 - for 3-day conference includes lunch & refreshments
Tickets available on Eventbrite

We are committed to making the conference as inclusive and supportive as possible. So we have some low cost options:

BURSARY PLACES:
We have 5 bursary places available for those who would otherwise be unable to attend due to financial barriers. We trust you to self-identify as needing the place and will support you as much as possible during the 3 days.
A bursary place will give you free access to all 3 days of the Clown Congress. It does not include the cost of the food so we will ask for a small fee of £7/day
Tickets available on Eventbrite

CONGRESS COMRADES:
We have 6 places for those who would like to attend the Congress, reduce costs and give something back.
A Congress Comrade place will give you free access to 2 days of the Clown Congress in exchange for one day in a support role. Tasks could include meet and greet, supporting facilitators, setting up for lunch etc.
Congress Comrade places do not include the cost of the food so we will ask for a small fee of £21.
Tickets available on Eventbrite
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For more information please contact robynhambrook@gmail.com for more information
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WHAT DOES A CLOWN CONGRESS LOOK LIKE:
Want to know what happens at a Clown Congress? You can read about last year’s event here

MORE ABOUT THE THEME FOR 2023:
In 2023 we will be building on the success and momentum of last year’s Clown Congress; the growing community; our international conversations; the research and the courage to tackle big questions, this year’s theme is Clown & Identity. We’ll be asking:
  • Who clowns? Clowning has often been dominated by privileged identities. How are we changing the artform in ways that enable greater diversity and inclusion?
  • How do we understand clowning? How do we expand our  understanding of what clowning is beyond rigid dominant definitions? How do we cultivate diverse approaches that emerge from our diverse identities?
  • What potential does clowning hold for staging of our identities, of our hopes, anxieties and debates around who we are?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CLOWN CONGRESS - A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE:
In 1959 The First National Conference on Clown Craft, known popularly as the Congress of Clowns, was held in Russia. An assembly of circus clowns, government officials had met earlier and found the circus to be lacking in satire and trivial in comparison to earlier figures such as clown satirist, Vladimir Durov. Under Stalin clowns had had their rights to parody and their targets limited by the Party. But the result of the Congress, and agreed by Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev, clowns could now mock low-level bureaucracy, as well as idlers and incompetent 
Our context is very different. The USSR in the late 1950s was moving from brutality to wanting to compete with the consumer societies of the West, with a veneer of choice and the promise of material comfort. But the principle is the same: in times of crisis and change, the old models for our artform need renovating, so that they might match the very particular circumstances we find ourselves in.
Today we are emerging from a global pandemic, the aftermath of BLM and a new war in Europe. All this added to the emergent awareness of the urgency for action in the face of climate change, the yet to be known effects of Brexit and the dumbing down of national politics across the world.