Abstract

ANDRE, Isabel  and  REIS, João. The circus is in town! Opportunities for socioterritorial innovation. Finisterra [online]. 2009, n.88, pp.79-94. ISSN 0430-5027.

This article discusses the role of the arts, and the circus in particular, in engendering socially creative milieux that promote place development through social innovation. These milieux - neighbourhoods, cities or regions - typically combine diversity, tolerance, participation and collective memory - features that also characterise the circus as an artistic milieu. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between the circus and social innovation, we focus on the case of Chapitô, in Lisbon. Chapitô’s presence in the city, through a variety of activities that bring together circus arts and social inclusion, is an acquired and widely acknowledged fact. However, something seems to be preventing the possibility of a “qualitative leap” that would allow this organisation to grow in terms of the scale of its activities, on the one hand, and for it to improve its own internal pool of skills and qualifications, on the other. Some broader conclusions are then outlined as to the remarkable capacity of the circus arts to drive socio-territorial innovation, both by upgrading the urban public space and through the social inclusion of children and youths at risk.

Keywords : Social innovation; socio-territorial innovation; socially creative milieux; city; circus.

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