Engagement

In addition to our stage program, we are active volunteers and strongly committed to networking and promoting New Circus in Germany. In Germany, unlike in other countries, contemporary circus was long not recognized as an independent art form and entirely excluded from public cultural funding. Only in the last years have there been positive developments and changes in this regard, yet the deficit of the last decades has led to a serious imbalance in comparison to other forms of art. German players in the circus scene are still confronted with the fundamental question of how to finance and realize their projects.

Through an extensive national and international network, memberships and cooperation, we contribute to the visibility and further establishment of New Circus as an independent art form and advocate for a differentiated discussion of New Circus – not least on the level of cultural policy.

We are ….

• a member of the Bundesverband Zeitgenössischer Zirkus (BUZZ) ), where we are particularly active in the areas of cultural-political networking, the organizer forum, the residency program Zirkus ON and the Städtepool Berlin. BUZZ is an active member of the Alliance of the Free Arts und the Federal Association of Free Performing Arts.
• part of the Landesverband freie darstellende Künste Berlin (LAFT).
• member of the German Stage Association (Deutscher Bühnenverein).
• member of the European Network for Circus and Street Arts Circostrada.
• co-authors of the Manifesto for Contemporary Circus.
• member of INTOURA, the association of tourist attractions in Berlin.
• part of the sector committee of the IHK Creative Industries
• initiator and co-leader of a transnational Commissioning Circus Initiative
• initiator of a mentoring program in cooperation with the Staatlichen Artistenschule Berlin. This program aims to provide young artists with professional production knowledge and an insight into the working world of professional artists.

As of April 2021, our Artistic Director Anke Politz was also appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Fonds Darstellende Künste. Previously, Anke Politz was already active for the Fund as a juror for the #TakeAction funding program. Furthermore, Anke Politz is a jury member for the inaugural International Circus Awards.

In addition, Anke Politz and the Chamäleon team were honoured by the Aktionsbündnis Darstellende Künste as Bühnenheldin 2020 (Stage Hero 2020) for “extraordinary commitment to the artists of the venue and the independent scene during the Corona crisis.”

Die Vielen

As a theatre, creative centre and community, we see it as our social duty to practice diversity and tolerance and to actively oppose racism and discrimination. We are a member of the Berlin chapter of DIE VIELEN and want to demonstrate our clear commitment to artistic freedom as well as to an open, tolerant and democratically constituted society that appreciates the potential of diversity and excludes no one.

Our solidarity is with all those who are committed to the freedom of art and the freedom of thought. We strongly oppose any propagandistic or denigrating hostilities against stages, museums and other cultural producers and mediators.

Circus Sonnenstich

Since a joint charity gala in 2013, Chamäleon and Circus Sonnenstich have enjoyed a long friendship and regularly realize projects together. Circus Sonnenstich is part of the Zentrums für Bewegte Kunst e.V. (ZBK), an artistic project with social responsibility for an inclusive society. The ZBK offers a multitude of people with trisomy 21 or other learning difficulties the space and the platform to be visible as radiant personalities and competent circus trainers at the very center of society. The artists give valuable and thought-provoking impulses for an inclusive society and for new forms and structures of social and artistic coexistence.