After the residency, we spoke with Benjamin Kuitenbouwer (aka Monki) about thinking Futures literacy, failing without breaking your neck, and what children can teach us about sticking to our dreams.
1. Uitkijkers focuses on interaction between acrobats and the audience. What does that mean in concrete terms?
Monki: “I’ve been working on the theme of sharing optimism and giving each other hope for about five years now. Ironically, in my previous two performances, I was always alone on stage. This time, I really wanted to work collectively. To engage with others. Because my work revolves around the choices we make to live together and organize that life together.”
Uitkijkers is inspired by Futures Literacy. A movement that believes that, as a society, we are not very good at talking about the future. A small group of people are good at it, but we are mainly recipients of the visions of the future that they sketch for us. Quite limiting, of course. Because there is no single future. There are still endless possibilities because the future does not yet exist. That does not mean we should deny important issues such as global warming or the impact of AI. We need to be aware of what is going on. But we should not fixate on a single scenario.”
“That’s why this performance is all about multiple voices. During each residency, we organized workshops in which we challenged people to dream and fantasize about the future. The focus was on questions such as: ‘What are you looking forward to? What gives you energy?’ We incorporate the stories that emerged from these workshops into the performance.”
“So we don’t work with endless forms of public interaction, but we do invite you to think about the future and express what you want to see happen.”
There is no single future. There are still infinite possibilities because the future does not yet exist.
2. During your residency, you organized a workshop with children aged 8 to 12 from our organization.
Monki: “It was the first time we had worked with children. That made it different, especially in terms of concentration. We asked ourselves whether it would be more useful to work with adults only. But it is precisely from children that we can learn to make fantasy and imagination self-evident.”
“Adults are quicker to censor. During the workshop, someone said, ‘I want world peace.’ You immediately think, ‘How cute! But of course, that’s not possible.’ It’s a shame that we dismiss such an important human desire so quickly. People should be able to say that, and we should take it seriously.”
“Because children don’t think about what’s realistic, they often come up with crazy ideas. Of course, there were trees made of candy. But also the idea that all plants and trees are intertwined so you can climb them. Someone dreamed of a world without leaders. And another said, ‘No, I’m the leader.’ It was so truthful. What’s more, they were all quite knowledgeable about the world. Everyone knew who Trump was. It’s unfortunate that children of that age are already preoccupied with such matters.”
3. What else did you focus on during your residency weeks?
Monki: “Especially on the development of physical material. De Uitkijk is a trailer that we use as a stage. It has ten Chinese poles and lots of cross connections. The construction calls for innovative, challenging, and exciting circus material. A typical black box space is not always suitable for developing that.”
“During our residency at ECDF, we were able to use Blikfabriek, where space could be quickly made available. We were also able to use safety mats for the first time. When you want to explore ideas in a physical and technical way, you need to be able to fail. You’d rather not do that when you know you’ll hit concrete. It meant that during this residency, we were able to create material that otherwise wouldn’t have been included in the performance.”
“If you want to explore ideas in a physical and technical way, you have to be able to fail. You’d rather not do that if you know you’re going to hit a concrete floor.”
4. What was the highlight of the past few weeks for you?
Monki: “I have two. That enormous trailer with all those poles stands completely on its own. No anchor points, concrete blocks, or spikes. We spent two years thinking about how to build it, but never had the chance to test whether it would work as intended. Until we arrived at the Blikfabriek. There, they quickly cut a piece out of a wall so that the Uitkijk could fit inside. And then we finally saw the result of two years of work.”
Another highlight was the first run-through at the end of the residency. That’s when you put all the material you’ve created together and perform everything without thinking about the order. With circus work, you’re often working down to the second. Four hours of work to create 30 seconds. It’s wonderful to see everything come to life in one go.
5. The show will premiere during MAD Festival. What still needs to be done?
Monki: “The actual ‘making’. Writers are working with the material from the workshops. Music still needs to be composed. Over the past period, we have all gathered ingredients: short sequences, physical material, and ideas for content. Now we have to start cooking. At the beginning of March, we will bring everything together and explore how text and movement can influence each other. That way, everything can merge.”
ECDF supports Monki Business with a creation residency at the Blikfabriek. The performance Uitkijkers will premiere at MAD Festival, from April 16 to 19 in Antwerp.
