Small Arts Platform 2025: International Workshop Series on Curating in Queer Performing Arts

In November 2024, representatives of organizations committed to promoting inclusive and marginal artistic practices, Emanat (Slovenia), Koalicija MARGINI (North Macedonia), and the Festival Jerk Off (France), met in Ljubljana as part of the Small Arts Platform. Their goal was to imagine future collaborations between organizations that support underrepresented artists and practices in their theatrical contexts, as well as communities often rendered invisible in society.

With the support of Teatroskop, these partners launched the creation of a network for exchange, learning, and joint participation in future international funding calls. The first step of this cooperation will take the form of an international workshop series dedicated to curating in the field of queer performing arts.

Workshops and professional exchange

Designed as a space for collective reflection, these workshops aim to contextualize queer artistic practices in Southeast Europe, explore mechanisms for recognition and professionalization, and analyze the social questions they raise, in particular, the position of women and queer communities in contemporary performing arts.

Led by Linn J. Koletnik, the workshops will feature experts from France (Bruno Péguy, Festival Jerk Off), Slovenia (Maja Delak, Small Arts Platform), and North Macedonia (Slavčo Dimitrov, Skopje Pride). They will be held online and later presented in person during the Small Arts Platform, from 12 to 15 November 2025, at the Mladinsko Theatre in Ljubljana.

Small Arts Platform 2025

The Small Arts Platform is an international festival dedicated to urban performance genres and independent stage practices. Cabaret, queer burlesque, stand-up, clowning, and unclassifiable hybrid performances take center stage, free, hybrid, and subversive works that challenge social, political, and aesthetic norms.

The 2025 edition will feature numerous local and international artists through performances, workshops, lectures, and evening events. Among the international guests is the French collective Cirque Queer, joined by transformative and performance artists Charlie d’Emilio, Olympia Bukkakis, Maria F. Scaroni, Jeremy Wade, Androkill, and Claire Lefèvre.

Cirque Queer, Between Spectacle and Resistance

Cirque Queer (France) will present a neo-traditional circus cabaret that balances spectacle and resistance, feral beauty and raw desire. As performers move along a tightrope stretched between the deeply personal and the unapologetically intense, between brilliance and collapse, they confront themes of harassment, violence, and profound loneliness, while opening a space for activism, collective joy, celebration, and empowerment.

Founded in 2020 by Lia Rose Plissot, the collective brings together cabaret and circus artists, clowns, and queer activists determined to reclaim the public sphere in a world where existence is increasingly at risk. Over time, the collective has grown stronger and more diverse. Today, it presents a variety of cabarets, night shows, live techno performances, DJ sets, and street shows.

Partners

• Festival Jerk Off – France
• Emanat – Institute for the Affirmation and Development of Contemporary Art, Slovenia
• Mladinsko Theatre – Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Koalicija MARGINI – Skopje, North Macedonia