OPENING OF THE FESTIVAL. Circus performance „Ceramic circus“ / Julian Vogel (Switzerland)
Performer: Julian Vogel
Writing & direction: Roman Müller, Julian Vogel
Sound design: Julian Vogel
Mixing, mastering: Raphael Fluri
Construction: Julian Vogel, Vincent Loubert
Light design: Noémie Hajosi
Light technician: Noémie Hajosi, Clara Boulis Valence, Elena Kowlessur
Sound technician: Patrick Chazal, Luis da Sylva
Production: Cie. Unlisted / Delia Roulet, Ute Classen, Madlaina Bundi
Touring production: Les SUBS / Lucie Brosset-Jolinon
Acknowledgements: Étienne Manceau, Darragh McLoughlin, Raphael Billet, Jean-Michel Guy, Pia Meuthen,
Guido Jansen, Noah Arnold, Finn Curry, Jona Harnischmacher, Philippe Deutsch, Annelies Diezig, Laure Osselin
Coproductions: Les SUBS, Le Plus petit cirque du monde – Centre des arts du cirque et des cultures émergentes,
Le Théâtre d‘Arles, House of Panama, Südpol Luzern, Plateforme 2 Pôles Cirque en Normandie I La Brèche à Cherbourg - Cirque Théâtre d’Elbeuf
Partners And Support: Arts Printing House Vilnius, Aargauer Kuratorium, Centre Culturel Suisse à Paris, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Pro Helvetia – Schweizer Kulturstiftung, Kulturfonds Société Suisse des Auteurs (SSA), Luzern Plus, Kanton Luzern Kulturförderung – Selektive Förderung, Stadt Luzern/FUKA Fonds, Le Spot Sion, Le Théâtre Silvia Monfort, REVOL Porcelaine
Location: @Klaipėda drama theater (Teatro str. 2, Klaipėda).
Duration: 60 min.
Recommended for children from 7 years
Critiques corner**
“Ceramic Circus plays with the art of catastrophe.” Le Monde / “A stunning and formidable creation!” Télérama / “Julian Vogel pursues the chimerical aim of breaking nothing, even as everything around him teeters on the brink of collapse.” Libération / “The fragile art of a dizzying chaos.” L’oeil d’Olivier
With Ceramic Circus, Julian Vogel creates his own circus. Pure, simple, clear—yet daring and luminous. He challenges the audience’s intuition. We long for the crash of shattering ceramics while simultaneously hoping to preserve the fragile. A paradoxical desire expressed in an endless drumroll. In a bicycle that defies all convention. In plates dancing on the finest rods. And in a body on roller skates constantly seeking balance. Amidst this sensory overload, a spinning ceramic orb brings calm.
If one surrenders to the silence hidden behind the noise, new perspectives unfold with every movement. Suddenly, we hear things we were deaf to just moments before. We forget all expectations. Ceramic Circus is an invitation to question the obvious and transform the ordinary into something magical through a festive act.
After studying psychology and art history at the University of Bern (2014), Julian Vogel specialized in the discipline of diabolo at the Academy of Circus and Performance Art in Tilburg, from which he graduated in 2019. His solo Transition Nr. 1 was nominated for the BNG Bank Prize. Since then, he has been working on CHINA SERIES, a collection of performances, installations, and videos centred around the diabolo, which he crafts himself from ceramic. With this interdisciplinary project at the crossroads of circus, performance, and visual arts, he was a laureate of Circus Next 2020/2021.
Based in Basel, J. Vogel is involved in various European artistic projects as an author, performer, producer, or sound designer. He co-founded the company Trottvoir (2012) and KLUB GIRKO (2017), with which he created several works. He has also collaborated with Compagnie sh. and Panama Pictures, where he is also associated artist since 2021. In 2023, he founded his own company, Cie. unlisted. https://www.cieunlisted.ch/
In 2024, Les SUBS in Lyon commissioned him to create their summer scenography: CRESCENDO, a monumental 9 meter high and 70 meter long artwork made up of a hundred ceramic tubes. That same year, he created CERAMIC CIRCUS. As part of this creation, he developed a close collaboration with porcelain manufacturer REVOL, which is committed to producing and recycling the plates used in the show. Julian Vogel has been selected for the Artist-LAB program at Kaserne in Basel for the season 2025-2026.
Photo: from company archive
