Balance: A Network of Children Through Social Circus
August 2026 – August 2027
KEPEZ/ÇANAKKALE, MARDİN
Affiliate:
Kepez Municipality Children's Cultural Centre, Çanakkale
“Balance: A Network of Children Through Social Circus” is an inclusive learning and solidarity model that aims to establish a sustainable, culture- and arts-based network for children and young people between Mardin and Çanakkale. Grounded in social circus pedagogy, the project creates an environment in which disadvantaged and refugee children take an active role in cultural production and strengthen their skills and agency through peer learning and collaborative creative processes.
In Mardin, the project seeks to bring together Syrian refugee children and children from local Kurdish, Turkish and Arab communities. In Kepez, Çanakkale, it will engage children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Throughout the year, the project will deliver regular social circus training sessions, dance and creative expression workshops, collective production activities and performance development processes.
A key component of the project is an exchange programme between the two cities. Young participants from Mardin's “Circus Hero” group and children's groups from Çanakkale will take part in joint workshops, engage in collaborative creative production and experience intercultural exchange. These encounters will help challenge prejudices, foster intercultural dialogue and strengthen safe spaces where children can express themselves freely.
Through performances staged alongside international artists as part of the Flying Carpet Children's Festival, the project will reach wider audiences, increase the visibility of participating children and contribute to establishing a lasting model of cultural and artistic cooperation between the two cities.
