Jury selects Tobias Piero Dohm for the Contemporary Circus Residency in Finland 2024  

The call is a continuation of the residency hosted for a Finnish circus maker in Germany in 2023 and will allow German circus artist Tobias Piero Dohm to travel to Finland for a residency in October 2024. The residency will feature three weeks of focused artistic work at the renowned Cirko – Center for New Circus in Helsinki. In collaboration with Circus & Dance Info Finland and the Goethe-Institut Finnland Tobias will also gain access to the Finnish circus scene and visit other circus organisations in Finland. 

With the purpose of developing international exchange in the field of contemporary circus, six Finnish and German institutions have teamed up: Goethe-Institut (Theatre/Dance department of the Goethe- Institut headquarters in Munich and Goethe-Institut Finnland), BUZZ (Bundesverband Zeitgenössischer Zirkus e.V.) , Cirko – Center for New Circus in Helsinki, Circus and Dance Info Finland and Finnland-Institut in Berlin are hosting the 2nd Residency Edition.  
“This edition of the residency is a milestone for the German circus scene as it provides not only a well-equipped and established space, contacts, and exchange but also the financial resources that allow artists to work well supported.”, says Anke Politz from the Federal Association of Contemporary Circus Germany BUZZ. 

In March a jury selected the German based circus maker Tobias Piero Dohm – with his project “Raum.Zeit” – to spend three weeks in October 2024 in Finland to continue his artistic work, to meet Finnish circus artists and organisations, and to present parts of his work to the local scene for further exchange. “Raum.Zeit” revolves around the question of the connection between human consciousness, the shell of our physical body, and the expansion of space and time between the stars. Tobias’ work features object manipulation, juggling, and installation art. 

10 applications from German based circus makers were discussed. The jury consisted of 
– Thomas Stumpp – Contact for Children’s and youth theatre, puppet theatre and circus at Goethe Institut Munich 
– Lena Kingelin – Contact for Cultural Programme at Goethe-Institut Finnland 
– Johanna Mäkelä – Contact for Domestic Activities at Circus & Dance Info Finland 
– Vilhelmiina Sinervo – Finnish Circus Artist and Residency Scholar of the first edition in 2023 
– Salla Kurronen – Executive Producer at Cirko Center for New Circus Helsinki and  
– Anke Politz – 2. Chairwoman of BUZZ (Federal Association of Contemporary Circus Germany)  

The residency takes place between October 3–23, 2024 at Cirko in Helsinki. For further information, please contact: 

Anke Politz, BUZZ: anke.politz@bu-zz.de / www.bundesverband-zeitgenoessischer-zirkus.de 

Salla Kurronen, Cirko: salla.kurronen@cirko.fi / www.cirko.fi 

Johanna Mäkelä, Circus and Dance Info Finland: johanna.makela@circusdance.fi / www.circusdance.fi