Riga Circus does not plan to create and maintain a permanent troupe, according to Riga Circus representative Zane Volkinšteine.
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The creative director of Riga Circus, Mārtiņš Ķibers, emphasizes that the environment and infrastructure of the circus is a platform that can host guest performances, and also gives local artists and associations the opportunity to train, form collaborations, stay in art residencies and attend master classes organized by the circus.
He emphasizes that the goal of the Riga Circus is to develop and promote the formation of the circus community of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and the entire Northern European region with the help of various programs.
Kibers pointed out that from 2020 to 2022 Riga circus together with the circus organization “CirkusSyd” from Sweden co-led the Baltic Nordic Circus Network, which gave the opportunity to hold various events dedicated to the development of the circus industry in Riga and elsewhere.
“Riga circus is a place where circus is created and shown. Currently, most European circus institutions have a similar model – they don’t have their own troupe, but an infrastructure to support the local circus community and local artists’ associations. Various international circus artists also train in the circus and cooperate with us , including artists from Ukraine,” says Ībers.
Riga Circus is also one of the initiators and founders of the Baltic artists’ network “Grassroot Network”. This program gives Baltic circus artists the opportunity to attend master classes of world professionals and share their experience.
On the other hand, the Baltic Circus art program “Baltic Circus on the Road” initiated by the Riga Circus introduces international festivals and event organizers to the performances of Baltic circus artists. As a result of these events, various collaborations and performances have been created both in Latvia and internationally.
Ķibers emphasizes that for the sixth season, the Riga Circus School has been operating under the auspices of the Riga Circus, where classes are held for students of various ages, starting from school age. He points out that some teenage students are already considering the idea of further studies at a circus university in Belgium, France or Sweden. After returning to the historical building, Riga Circus plans to resume the artistic residency program.
Speaking about the development of the community of circus artists and the emergence of new, internationally competitive performances, Ķibers cites the example of other European countries. He emphasizes that it takes time for a sufficiently wide community of contemporary circus artists to emerge. Kibers points out that it took ten years for Finland and Sweden.
In his opinion, the example of Belgium is interesting, where circus universities and other types of circus infrastructure have been available for a long time. During the past 15 to 20 years, the state has also invested considerable funding in the development of the circus industry, and in recent years, the results have been noticeable – many world-class circus art associations have been established in Belgium, which triumph in international circus festivals and create original performances.
Ķibers also emphasizes that currently there are different directions of circus development in the world, there are contemporary and new circus associations as well as traditional circus troupes at the same time. He points out that the Riga circus is going in the direction where most European countries are going, as well as Canada and Australia.
The creative director of the Riga Circus notes that it is the contemporary circus that offers emotionally charged performances in which one or more circus disciplines can be represented. These are shows with a strong message and an individual, unique stage design.
“In our program, we are moving away from synchronous and pompous numbers kept in a bright aesthetic – traditional and new circus is gaining more popularity in the audiences of China, Russia and several other world powers. European circus is moving away from predictability and mainly represents people’s creativity,” says Ķibers.
At the beginning of November last year, the historical building of the Riga Circus at Merķeļa street 4, Riga, was put into operation.
As the representative of Riga Circus Volkinšteine previously informed, from the office of architects “NRJA“, the first round of construction works of the circus reconstruction project developed, the main task of which was to increase the building’s energy efficiency. During the reconstruction, the integration of the building into the urban environment was also improved.
Between May 2021 and 2022, the construction contractor “Aidaco Group” carried out energy efficiency improvement works. A new dome structure made of self-supporting, multi-layer solid wood panels, load-bearing supports and foundation system was built above the historical metal structure of the dome in the direction of the outdoor space, a new roof was laid and the external rainwater system was renewed, new utilities were built, the facade was insulated and the yard was rebuilt.
The reconstruction project of the circus building developed by the architect office “NRJA” also foresees other works in the future, which include the improvement of the territory and the construction of the circus school building. Facade restoration works, including the restoration of the historic staircase, are planned to be carried out in the next stages.
The project was implemented by the construction contractor “Aidaco Group”, the construction supervisor was SIA “CMB”, the design and author supervision was carried out by the architect office “NRJA”. The total first-round investments of the project reach approximately 5.5 million euros, the eligible costs of the project co-financed by European Union funds are set at 2.9 million euros, of which the planned amount of support from the European Regional Development Fund is 2.5 million euros, or 85% of the eligible costs of the project , while co-financing from the state budget – in the amount of 447,132 euros, or 15% of the eligible costs of the project.
