Project Report
"Clowning Around"
Video created by BCB's Cultural Journalism team
Social and medical clowning aims to help children forget about their illness or difficult situation, supports resilience through laughter, and provides psycho-social support through play. Clowns never say “no” and always give children the opportunity to regain control over their
lives, at least for a short time, in otherwise unpredictable circumstances.
Since Fall 2016 the project has provided weekly training workshops for BCB student volunteers to help them find their inner clowns, develop their improvisational and performative skills, and deepen their sense of empathy. After the training, participants will visit relevant institutions, such as refugee camps, hospitals, or special needs schools to work with children, bring laughter, and experience being a social and medical clown.
lives, at least for a short time, in otherwise unpredictable circumstances.
Since Fall 2016 the project has provided weekly training workshops for BCB student volunteers to help them find their inner clowns, develop their improvisational and performative skills, and deepen their sense of empathy. After the training, participants will visit relevant institutions, such as refugee camps, hospitals, or special needs schools to work with children, bring laughter, and experience being a social and medical clown.
Student coordinator: Veronika Risnovska
To be honest, I did not find clowning myself, it was more that clowning found me … [Since then] my own format of teaching the art of clowning has been developing. It has been developing with every volunteer I meet, every organization I work with, every kid I meet, every moment. And yes, I use present perfect because it is still a process that is not done yet. I am a teacher but also a learner, and I learn a lot from all my clowns — from their needs, their struggles, from the new countries I bring the clowning project to, from every single interaction.
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