We’re celebrating 25 years of Cirque Bijou. Each month we are looking back on some of our favourite projects from the last quarter of a century…
Starting it all off, we want to champion our home city of Bristol.
Bristol Green Capital 2015
In 2015 Bristol won the European Green Capital award and Cirque Bijou were invited to launch the initiative.
Our show ‘Bridging the Gap’ symbolised the difference between our green intentions and our actions. It highlighted the bridge that we all need to cross to start living more sustainably.
It also introduced the Bristol Green Capital logo to international press and media, through the images we created in the show.
The Show
We opened the show with videos created by award winning local artist Kathy Hinde. These were projected on to two of Bristol’s heritage harbourside warehouses. The Create Centre was one of these buildings – Bristol’s flagship centre for environment and sustainability.
Composer Dom Coyote wrote the accompanying musical score with a vocal ensemble arranged by Jennifer Bell. World-famous tightwire artist Jade Kindar-Martin made a memorable crossing on a 120 metre wire set between the two buildings.
Suspended below the bicycle, Hollywood stuntwoman Karine Mauffrey performed a dramatic aerial trapeze routine. She wore an LED lit dress that we had made specially for the occasion. The dress was made from recycled materials in collaboration with students from the Arts University Bournemouth’s Costume Design course.
Below them, local community groups carried LED umbrellas (another brand new creation), converging together to create the green circular logo of Bristol Green Capital 2015.
Significance
This is a memorable project for us at Cirque Bijou. We have been a key part of Bristol’s cultural ecology since our inception and it was an honour to be involved in the launch of this important environmental initiative. Bringing together local communities with local and international artists to create impactful, highly visual and innovative work is the blueprint for all of our shows.
Significantly, this project also saw the creation of our first LED Umbrellas! Now on their third iteration, our Umbrella Project has travelled the globe, lighting up festivals, parties, public and private shows and parades. They have become recognisable as one of Cirque Bijou’s calling cards.
You can read more about our Umbrella Project here, and we’ll also be talking about it in more detail next month as our second ’25 Years of Cirque Bijou’ highlight… stay posted!
Check out our favourite videos on our Vimeo Showcase, and continue celebrating 25 years of Cirque Bijou with us!
Photo Credits: André Pattenden and Jon Craig