Trickster-p

In 2024, the Swiss Theatre Days land in Canton Ticino under the motto «Future!». In this context, a round table will be held on Saturday 25th May at LAC in Lugano, inviting both representative of institutions and of artistic initiatives active in the region to project themselves into the future of the Italian-Swiss theatre scene. Cristina Galbiati and Julie Paucker, artistic director of the Swiss Theatre Days, will moderate this time travel in which possible futures and how to realize them will be discussed.
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On 8th March, Cristina Galbiati will participate in the symposium Theater für junges Publikum in einem vielsprachigen Land which will involve professionals from the performing arts field in a discussion on multilingualism in theatre for young audiences. The symposium – organized by the Institute of Theatre Studies of the University of Bern as part of the Jungspund Festival (St. Gallen) – will take an in-depth look at the current situation, comparing possible strategies for addressing a multilingual young audience and proposing an artistic project in different language areas.
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From 23rd to 27th January 2024 Trickster-p will be in residency at Casa degli Artisti in Milan. This production residency will be mainly focused on the game mechanics of the new participatory project The game, a Trickster-p and LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura production, in co-production with ROXY Birsfelden, Theater Casino Zug, Theater Chur, Theater Stadelhofen Zürich, TAK Theater Liechtenstein, Triennale Milano Teatro in collaboration with Casa degli Artisti Milano. The game will be first presented in Lugano on 21st March 2024.

From 1st to 22nd November, Trickster-p will participate in the collective exhibition The Seashore of Endless Worlds at Le Commun in Geneva. TSOFW will address the phenomenon of the game as a contemporary and global paradigm, as well as an invitation to imagine new possible forms of participation and inclusion, of collective reflection and exchange between audience and artists. In this perspective, the audience will have the opportunity to explore different proposals by playing them first-hand: building on the experience of the first prototypes of The Game, Trickster will hold two short workshops focused on the theme of the game as a possible performative device (10-11 November).

From 4th to 9th September, Mauro Danesi, production manager of Trickster-p, will take part in the second edition of PAM Factory, a national research and exchange programme conceived by RESO and aimed at Performing Arts Managers, which will be held in the spaces of Cima Città in the former Cima Norma chocolate factory. The main objective of this moment of shared work is to develop ideas and skills for fairer working conditions and more sustainable modes of production in the performing arts. The outcomes will be collected in two publications aimed at other professionals in the field.

On June 13th, on the occasion of the LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura press conference, Trickster-p presented the 2023/24 creation The game, which will open in Lugano in spring 2024. The game arises from the desire to deepen and expand the research on game design as a possible artistic form begun with Eutopia. This new creation will therefore investigate the relationship between performance, game and society, exploring the potential that may be revealed in the creation of devices that highlight these very aspects.

Trickster-p's latest production Eutopia has been included in the Swiss Theater days 2023 Shortlist, which brings together the most interesting projects of the 2022/2023 season. Eutopia is a Trickster-p co-production together with LAC Lugano, Theater Chur, ROXY Birsfelden, Südpol Luzern, TAK Theater Liechtenstein, FOG Triennale Milano Performing Arts. After being translated into English, French and German the work is currently touring national and international theatres and festivals.

The journey of Awaken the sleeping giants continues, this time the core group of art practitioners involved in the biennial research project is meeting in India, home of Sandbox Collective. Two workshops will be taking place in February: first in Kamshet (1-5 February 2023) and then in Bangalore (8-12 February 2023). Calls to participate are open. The project is kindly supported by Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council under the “To-gather” programme.

On Saturday 3rd December 2022, Trickster-p will conduct a Masterclass dedicated to the students of the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst (HGK/FHNW), now a regular, unmissable appointment when touring Basel. The work will be developed from the experience of Eutopia, which will be presented at ROXY Birsfelden from 30th November to 4th December and will deepen the investigation of the scenic space that, over the years, has become a distinctive feature of the poetics of Cristina Galbiati and Ilija Luginbühl.

In November 2022, the fascinating setting of the Teatro San Materno in Ascona will host a focus dedicated to the work of Zeno Gabaglio, visionary composer and valuable collaborator of Trickster-p. In this framework, on Saturday, 19th November, Cristina Galbiati will participate with film director Erik Bernasconi in a talk dedicated to Gabaglio's creations for theater and film, in which they will discuss the possibilities and challenges opened by these transdisciplinary collaborations.

On 21st and 22nd September, Trickster-p will be hosted by the University of Pavia in the frame of the VI edition of the International Summer School, which is titled Self Ecologies | Images, Bodies, Technologies curated by Giada Cipollone and Federica Villa. Building on the sharing of Eutopia, Trickster-p will articulate a two-day seminar for students on the topic of new ecologies and hybridization as a possible model of interaction.

Trickster-p has been invited to create a site-specific piece that will be presented as part of Finisterre, 2023 edition of the Rümlingen Festival. In preparation for the work, Cristina Galbiati and Ilija Luginbühl will immerse themselves in the landscape among the forests and trails of Monte Verità and the Onsernone Valley.

Applications are open for Awaken the sleeping giants_hybridizations a workshop hosted by the FIT Festival Internazionale del Teatro e della scena contemporanea, in collaboration with LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura and artlink, that will take place in Lugano from 30th September to 3rd October 2022. The workshop is aimed at creators in different art disciplines with a keen interest in the development of unconventional artistic formats and in the topic of possible relationships between humans and other living forms. It will feature the participation of 10 resident artists accompanied by the stable group of art practitioners which is the core of the biennial research project.
Application deadline: Friday, 19th August

Launched by Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council in autumn 2021, To-gather open call aims to supports the development and testing of new long-term frameworks and methodologies for working internationally. Within this frame Trickster-p and Sandbox Collective (India) have deviced a two years research and transmission project entitled Awaken the sleeping giants. Awaken the sleeping giants brings together artists and experts from India and Switzerland to explore interspecies entanglements and hybridization as a possible key to read future relations between Humans and Nature.

What does "doing together" mean and especially what does it mean in the theatre? As a prologue to the premiere of the new creation Eutopia, Cristina Galbiati will discuss this with scholar and critic Carmen Pedullà, author of the book Il teatro partecipativo. Paradigmi ed esperienze (Participatory theater. Paradigms and Experiences). The event will take place on Wednesday, 16th March at 18.30 at LAC Lugano and will be moderated by journalist and curator Tiziana Conte.

Cristina Galbiati and Ilija Luginbühl will tutor the creative process of the new artistic project of the German group Rue Obscure. The Münster-based collective is developing a poetics in which the presence of "live" performers is not necessarily essential, and the experience developed by Trickster-p in recent years is a reference model for them.

From 24th to 26th November 2022 Trickster-p will be in residency at Südpol Luzern. This second production residency will be mainly focused on the performative and dramaturgical aspect of the participatory project Eutopia, which is approaching its premiere in Lugano on 18th March 2022.

From 1st to 5th November 2021 Trickster-p will be in residency at Le Grütli - Centre de production et de diffusion des Arts vivants, in Geneva. This first production residency will be mainly focused on testing the mechanics of the participative project Eutopia, a Trickster-p and LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura production, in co-production with Theater Chur, ROXY Birsfelden, Südpol Luzern, TAK Theater Liechtenstein, and the support of Le Grütli - Centre de production et de diffusion des Arts vivants. Eutopia will be first presented in Lugano in March 2022.

For several years, Pro Helvetia - Swiss arts council, Cantons and Cities have been actively collaborating to ensure that Swiss dance and theatre companies of cross-regional and international importance can plan their activities over the medium term by means of three-year support contracts. Thought these support agreements, the funding parties express their trust in the artistic qualities and organisational skills  of the dance or theatre companies concerned and give them leeway to develop new productions and formats. For the three-year period 2021-2023, Trickster-p is one of 13 companies benefiting from this national cooperative support agreement. Partners of the support agreement are Pro Helvetia, Cantone Ticino, City of Lugano, LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura and Municipality of Novazzano.

Trickster-p was proposed by ROXY Birsfelden to create an audio walk through a legendary forest on the outskirts of town, stretching between Birsfelden and Pratteln. The work will be an invitation to plunge step by step into the possible relationship between human bodies and vegetable bodies. Hardwald walk will be first presented on 9th May, as part of Vier eins zwei sieben los, a triptych of audio projects developed by three different artists.

Trickster-p's latest creation Book is a Book is a Book has been included in the selection of the Swiss Theatertreffen, which brings together the most interesting projects of the 2020/2021 season. From May 7-9, 2021, the work will be presented in Fribourg as part of the eighth edition of the festival. Book is a Book is a Book is a Trickster-p co-production together with LAC Lugano, far° Nyon, Theater Chur, ROXY Birsfelden, TAK Theater Liechtenstein, BLICKWECHSEL - Festival am Puppentheater Magdeburg, FOG Triennale Milano Performing Arts.

Cristina Galbiati has been invited to create an audio version of the play Estado vegetal by Manuela Infante in the framework of the project Lingua Madre curated by LAC Lugano. Her novel proposal will invite listeners to step out of their houses and embark on an individual sound journey. Estado Vegetal will be available online from 31st March , complemented by a talk between artist Cristina Galbiati, landscape architect Sophie Ambroise and botanist Nicola Schonenberger.

Through Die Besten, the Zurich-based magazine Hochparterre, in collaboration with Museum für Gestaltung, has been awarding the best projects in the fields of Architecture, Design and Landscape every year since 1993. On Tuesday, December 1st, Book is a Book is a Book by Trickster-p was awarded the Hase in Silber in the Design category for being able to «combine multimedia installation, performance, a book and a listening room in a new independent format in which the audience becomes the only actor».

The Double programme promoted by Migros-Kulturporzent offers the possibility of being accompanied by an expert for an entire production cycle (conception, creation, dissemination) or during the key development phases of a theatre company. Depending on specific needs, the support can last one or two years. For the two-years period 2020-2022, Cristina Galbiati is one of the mentors of the project and will offer a coaching focused on new formats of theatre and multidisciplinary projects.
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As part of Ticino in danza festival, Ilija Luginbühl was invited to collaborate in the Dancewalk Ticino by Cie Neopost Foofwa (Geneva). On Saturday 27 July, the dancers of the Dancewalk Ticino will cross the territory between Stabio and Riva San Vitale for a total of 14 kilometers of dance. Ilija Luginbühl will create a long red-wool ball that he will unroll along the route, leaving behind a thread of Ariadne carrying enchanting messages.
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On 18th March 2019, Trickster-p will conduct a Masterclass dedicated to the students of the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst (HGK/FHNW), Institut für Innenarchitektur und Szenografie. The work will be developed from the experience of Nettles, which will be presented at ROXY Birsfelden from 16th to 18th May.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Ballenberg Museum, Trickster-p has been invited to develop an artistic intervention for La Pobbia of Novazzano. The intervention will involve 3 rooms of the building going to modify the atmosphere through the use of sound and light. The visitors will be invited to spend some time in the rooms to allow their perception to be modified and their imagination to interact with the artistic proposal. The project will be inaugurated on Sunday 10th June and will be up until Sunday 12th August 2018.

From 23rd to 29th April 2018, Cristina Galbiati will take part in the second edition of the thematic residency Reposition your practice, conceived to reflect around artistic strategies and entrepreneurship in the performing arts. The process will be hosted by Arc artist residency in Romainmôtier, Switzerland.

As of 2018, Trickster-p will be company in residence at LAC Lugano. The aim of the residency is to create a synergy of intents, paths and productions. The residency project allows periods of pure research, study and production and involves the local audience through workshops, meetings and open rehearsals. Furthermore the residency intends to facilitate artists to be fed by the large number of  interdisciplinary activities organized by LAC itself.

For several years, Pro Helvetia - Swiss arts council, Cantons and Cities have been actively collaborating to ensure that Swiss dance and theatre companies of cross-regional and international importance can plan their activities over the medium term by means of three-year support contracts. For the three-year period 2018-2020, Trickster-p is one of 16 companies benefiting from this national cooperative support agreement. Partners of the support agreement are Pro Helvetia, Cantone Ticino and Municipality of Novazzano.

The whole month of August 2017 Trickster-p will be working on a site-specific project for Aarhus European Capital of Culture 2017. All This Coming and Going will be created in close cooperation with Gruppe 38 (Aarhus) and Terrapine (Tasmania) and will be developed as large scale installation on Aarhus harbour. The project will be open to the audience from Wednesday the 30th of August to Saturday the 2nd of September.