Clown City

(a fragment from the memory of someone who may never have been there, but always longed to go)

On my way between errands and forgetfulness mestoI stumbled upon a city that wasn’t on any map. It had no addresses, no towers, no offices. There were no doors through which one could enter. And yet, right there at a nameless stop, the bus paused for a moment – and I stepped off, as if something had called me. The first thing I saw was a man balancing the world with the soles of his feet – carefully, as if trying to persuade gravity not to lose its meaning. Beside him, another was spinning planets on an invisible axis: the discs glowed and sang, as if playing the melody of the solar wind. It was puzzling, but not senseless. 

I noticed others: someone juggling balls that returned to his hands like they had travelled from a distant planet, another climbing a ladder with no end, leaning against the sky, and one walking on a tightrope stretched above the pavement – as if walking the line between life and vanishing. Below him, two friends signalled with gestures to guide his steps, so he wouldn’t fall into the abyss or into forgetting.

They didn’t speak – they communicated with movement, with flowers, with soap bubbles, ropes, knives, with dance. Every gesture was a word, every glance a voice. They all cooperated – no one was playing. They took risks, but they didn’t fall. And if anyone lost their balance, they caught him gently in silence.

When I came closer, they looked at me, just for a moment. As if to say:"You could be one of us too. If you can walk the fine line that separates light from shadow. Between laughter that echoes and the silence of a fall that still resounds. And every time you fall, you rise with an invisible song – one the world hears only if it remembers how to listen to what was once said without words.".«

(un frammento dai ricordi di uno che forse mai ci è stato ma che sempre desiderava andarci)
Andando a compire le solite facende e dimenticanze, mi trovai in una città che non esiste su alcuna carta geografica. Le vie senza nomi, niente grattacieli, nessun ufficio. Non c'erano porte dove io potessi entrare. E proprio lì, ad una fermata anonima, la corriera si fermò per un attimo – ed io scesi come se qualcuno mi avesse chiamato.
Per prima cosa vidi un uomo che con le piante dei piedi stava appiannando il mondo – cautamente, come se volesse convincere la forza di gravità a non perdere il significato. Accanto a lui, un altro stava rotando i pianeti attorno un'asse invisibile. I dischi giravano raggianti e cantavano – era come sentir suonare la melodia del vento solare. Intrigante, ma non insensato.
Vidi anche altri. Uno che getta palline in aria, ma quelle gli ricadono sempre nelle mani – come stessero tornando da un pianeta lontano. E poi un altro che sta salendo una scala senza fine, appoggiata all'arco del cielo. E uno ancora che cammina su uno spago disteso oltre il marciapiede. Come se camminasse sul confine tra la vita e la sparizione. Sotto, i suoi due compagni gli indicano gesticolando dove mettere il piede per non cadere nella rovina o sparire in dimenticanza.
Non parlano. Si fanno comprendere con gesti, con dei fiori, con le bolle di sapone, con spaghi o coltelli, o perfino con passi di danza. Ogni gesto è una parola. Ogni sguardo è una voce. Collaborano tutti, nessuno gioca. Rischiano, ma nessuno cade. Se uno perde l'equilibrio, lo acchiappano dolcemente nella rete del silenzio.
Quando mi avvicinai mi guardarono per un po'. Come per dirmi: »Anche tu puoi essere uno di noi. Se solo sei capace di camminare su quella linea sottile che divide la luce dall'ombra. Quella linea tra la risata che fa eco ed il silenzio della caduta che risuona nel tempo. Ogni volta però che tu cadi, ti rialzi cantando quella canzone invisibile. La canzone che il mondo sente solo quando ricorda come risuona ciò che da tempo ormai è già stato detto senza parole.«

PROGRAMME 

Sunday, 29 June 2025

  • 18:30 Clown City - clown performances, Borov Gozdiček (park behind the theatre) 
  • 19:15 Pau Palus (ES): Embolic – nonverbal, integrational clown show for a family audience, Borov Gozdiček (park behind the theatre)
  • 20:00 Teatro Necessario (IT): Clown in libertà – musical clown performance, in front of the Slovene National Theatre Nova Gorica
  • 21:00 Anna de Lirium & Colette Gomette (A, FR): THE ONE & the one – physical comedy, Slovene National Theatre Nova Gorica

Monday, 30 June 2025

  • 20:00 Clown City Performance featuring artists from Slovenia, Italy, Spain, Montenegro, Estonia, Austria, and France, Europe Square

Tuesday, 1 July 2025

  • 19:00 Alenka Marinič & Giovanni Fusetti (SI, IT): Welcome to Slotalia storytelling theatre, Borov gozdiček
  • Zavod Bufeto with guests: Biti klovn work in progress, international production, Slovene National Theatre Nova Gorica

Parallel Experience

 Admission to all events is free.

We reserve the right to programme changes.

Programma

Domenica, 29 giugno 2025

• 18:30 Città dei Clown – spettacoli di clown, Borov Gozdiček (parco dietro al teatro)
• 19:15 Pau Palus (ES): Embolic – spettacolo clownesco non verbale e inclusivo per famiglie, Borov Gozdiček (parco dietro al teatro)
• 20:00 Teatro Necessario (IT): Clown in libertà – spettacolo musicale clownesco, davanti al Teatro Nazionale Sloveno di Nova Gorica
• 21:00 Anna de Lirium & Colette Gomette (A, FR): THE ONE & the one – commedia fisica, Teatro Nazionale Sloveno di Nova Gorica

Lunedì, 30 giugno 2025

• 20:00 Città dei Clown – spettacolo con artisti provenienti da Slovenia, Italia, Spagna, Montenegro, Estonia, Austria e Francia, Piazza Transalpina

Martedì, 1 luglio 2025

• 19:00 Alenka Marinič & Giovanni Fusetti (SI, IT): Welcome to Slotalia – teatro di narrazione, Borov Gozdiček
• 20:00 Zavod Bufeto con ospiti: Biti klovn – work in progress, produzione internazionale, Teatro Nazionale Sloveno di Nova Gorica

Esperienza parallela
 28 giugno alle 18:05 Audiobus, prodotto da Zeroidee – un viaggio sonoro e visivo, stazione ferroviaria, Gorizia (IT)
Il viaggio si svolge in lingua italiana.
È richiesta la prenotazione anticipata.


L'ingresso a tutti gli eventi è gratuito.


Ci riserviamo il diritto di modificare il programma.

About the project

Joke, fun, comedy and stupidity – the characteristics of the Clown, we expect him to make us laugh! What do we laugh at and what makes us cry? What else can we marvel at? And why aren't we amazed by the most wonderful self-evident facts?

Welcome to the City of Clowns, a city of free, liberated play. Let the play begin!

… but we haven't fully agreed on the rules of the game yet: Clowns are unpredictable and mysterious creatures, and there can be tricky plots in which many things are illogical, meaningless or incomprehensible. But clowns already know how and what, just as every child is right with his own idea of ​​the world. And clowns each have their own reason for tears or laughter. As the controversial Polish theater critic and theorist Jan Kott wrote: “Only laughter respects no taboo, /…/ only the sense of the comic has within itself the power to help us endure the tragedy of existence.”

The City of Clowns is being created as a continuous collaboration between professional clown artists from Slovenia and renowned circus artists from all over Europe. The content developed through workshops and artist residencies will be presented in the form of joint performances and performances and interventions in public space. Audiences of all ages and random passers-by will be presented with circus tricks and skills, modern clown characters and comic plots, expressed through the physical clown language, which knows no boundaries and is understood by everyone.

The clown, as the archetype of the child, is pure and free, and as such is perhaps the last bearer of the fundamental message that he had a duty to convey long ago, when he was still a court jester, by all means of expression. In this, words were not in the first place. A thought expressed in words is already its interpretation. Therefore, the clown's primary mission remains his free thought, which he knows how to express without words. The clown says a lot, although he is often silent.

Team

Vodilno The leading role (artistic direction, mentoring, direction, performances, production) in the City of Clowns project is played by the founders and members of the Bufeto Institute, Ravil and Natalia Sultanov, top creators in the field of clowning and new circus, graduates of the State School of Circus and Theater Arts in Moscow.

Zavod Bufeto is the first professional organization in Slovenia that creates and develops clown-circus theater and the field of new circus. In addition to the production, organization and performance of the central segment – ​​the international festival of contemporary clowning and new circus Klovnbuf – it also implements its own educational program, Laboratorij Bufeto, for young professionals, and a creative-educational program for children and youth.

The institute creates its own productions and post-productions in Slovenia and internationally, collaborates with professional theatre institutions at home and abroad, and with established international partners and individuals working in the field of clown-circus theatre and new circus. In this way, it actively follows and co-shapes the most current guidelines within the genre and responds to contemporary tendencies in the performing arts.
In addition to the co-founders, Ravil and Natalia Sultanova – graduates of the Moscow Academy of Circus Arts – the Bufeto Institute is staffed by renowned professional and amateur artists of different generations.

Since its founding in 2007, the Zavod Bufeto has accomplished the following:
17 international festivals,
more than 30 productions,
several co-productions and post-productions,
the Circulation – Culture at Your Doorstep project, a multi-year program of circus events in public spaces,
Educational program Laboratory Bufeto for the development of clown and circus arts.
 
They have performed throughout Europe and beyond with their solo clown performances and as collaborators of the Slovenian Youth Theatre. They have been delighting Slovenian audiences with their programs for more than 25 years, and they also collaborate with central Slovenian theatre institutions such as the SMG, MGL, SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana, Cankarjev dom, Puppet Theatre Maribor and Ljubljana, SNG Nova Gorica, Koper Theatre, MG Ptuj, etc.
They have worked as lecturers at RTV Slovenia, JSKD RS, and Šugla (School of Street Theatre), and they also run their own educational program, the Laughter Laboratory / Buffet Laboratory.

A selection of important achievements:
acting role in the film Circus Fantasticus (dir. Janez Burger, 2008/2009); Ravil received the Vesna Award for Best Supporting Actor (FSF), and together with Natalia also the Golden Arena (Pula 2011)
As an actor, Ravil appeared in the Russian film Solo in the Minefield (dir. Valentin Donskov, 2009)
Author's performance Moon on the Road (co-production of SMG and Zavod Bufeto, 2013) – Zlata paličica
The play Platnomer – a horse's tale (co-production of the Bufeto Institute, Cankarjev dom, LG Maribor, 2017) – performed in Jasna Poljana as part of the TolstoyWeekend festival
Tandem Sltnov received the Župančič Award 2018 (MOL) for outstanding creative achievements
The play 52 Hertzov (SNG Nova Gorica, 2023) – 3 awards at the 68th Sterijina pozorje festival (Novi Sad, Serbia) for creative teamwork.

Team

Natalia Sultanova executive producer, selector, artistic director
Ravil Sultanov director, mentor, artistic advisor
Adrian Schvarzstein mentor, director, consultant (help in establishing the concept)
Vida Cerkvenik Bren (KUD Ljud) – directing consultant
Nika Gabrovšek production assistant, coordinator, communications associate
Gala Jarc public relations officer
Mojca Gorjan designer
Silvie Bizjak illustrator
Simon Bezek technical manager
Evgeniia Erokhina website
Matjaž Ocepek technical support

Domestic partners in 2025

Cross-border partners in 2025

S piškotki si pomagamo pri zagotavljanju storitev. Z uporabo naših storitev se strinjate, da lahko uporabljamo piškotke. Preberi več

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