Residencies for circus artists

MAD Festival offers residencies, twice a year. One during Spring, one during Fall. For 2021, these residencies will take place from April 12 until 18 (RESIDENCY #1, at Kattendijkdok) and from November 1 until 7 (RESIDENCY #2, at Het Oude Badhuis). On top of that, we offer space for technical trainings at SPRK (Park Spoor Noord).

Participants

All residencys are open for all levels of circus artists – both beginning and experienced artists, both Belgian and international makers are welcome to develop their practices or new shows.

Vision

With its residencies, MAD puts the emphasis on development. If you work multi-disciplinary, with cross-overs, and if your artistic choices are clear and edgy, MAD will be even more motivated to grant you a residency. We also like transparency, open minds, concepts that connect people, respect, and a focus on subjects relevant to today’s society. MAD is always on the lookout for up to date artistic developments within the circus scene and for projects addressing contemporary challenges.

Custom residencies

If you find yourself in the research stage of your project, you’ll get sufficient time and space to experiment during a LAB RESIDENCY. When your project is already being developed, MAD offers you a CREATION RESIDENCY. During this residency you can finish the work on your show or installation.

But there are opportunities for those who just need space for technical trainings or rehearsals, as well. If possible, we even prefer to set up a long-lasting partnership: starting with a LAB RESIDENCY which evolves into a CREATION RESIDENCY and ends with your project finding its way to an audience. However, this is not a prerequisite.

Professional support

MAD does not only offer artistic and creative support, but support in terms of production, all promotional matters, and all things technical, as well. Artists get the opportunity to organise try-outs and showcase the result of their residency during the MAD Festival. The festival has a vast network which will be used to help broaden your creation’s audience.

How to apply?

Describe what you want to do during your residency and in which direction you want your research or creation to evolve, all contained to a single A4-sized page. Text, images, video, music,… can all be part of this document, as long as you stick to a single page.

In a second document (also a single A4) you lay out your expectations of a MAD residency, where you encounter difficulties and in which specific ways MAD can support you. Send both documents in .pdf-format to info@madfestival.be, with “CALL” and your name in the subject line.

Deadlines

Apply for a residency in 2021 before following dates:

• RESIDENCY #1: 01.04.2021
• RESIDENCY #2: 06.09.2021
• TECHNICAL TRAININGS : on demand

Technical riders available on our website