Thirteen minutes in front of programmers at the Biennale Internationale des Arts du Cirque, for a 360° project still in creation.
No money attached to this one. What you get is thirteen minutes in front of the room, during the week when the contemporary circus sector is all in Marseille at the same time.
The condition most people miss is the marraine or parrain. You have to name a professional who is actively backing your project at the moment you apply, and they can only back one project in the session.
The session runs on Friday 12 February 2027, 9h30 to 12h, in the conference room of the Bibliothèque L'Alcazar in Marseille, followed by drinks. ARCHAOS organises it as part of the BIAC's Rencontres Professionnelles, in partnership with ARTCENA.
That context is what makes a free pitch slot worth the paperwork. The Rencontres Professionnelles run 9 to 13 February 2027 inside the Biennale, which itself runs 21 January to 21 February across Marseille and the Région Sud. In 2025 the Rencontres drew more than 400 people, programmers, artists, companies, production offices, federations, circus schools, journalists, researchers and institutions, from more than 300 organisations across 30 countries.
Six projects maximum. Each company gets 13 minutes with its marraine or parrain, as a conversation led by Gwénola David, the director of ARTCENA, and you can project your own slides alongside it. The aim is visibility and finding partners to produce and tour the work.
Selected projects also get listed on ARTCENA's agenda des repérages, its register of creation projects.
ARCHAOS makes the selection and announces it in mid-December. It is based on the quality of the projects, but also balances project types and formats, the regions and countries the companies come from, and gender parity among both the project leaders and the marraines and parrains. Priority goes to projects that have not been through this before.
- ·Professional contemporary circus companies based in France or internationally.
- ·The project's staging has to place the audience at 360°, with or without a big top.
- ·The official premiere has to be planned between January 2028 and June 2030. A project opening sooner or later than that window is out.
- ·You need a marraine or parrain: a professional, such as a venue director, programmer or public body, who actively supports the project or the company's work more broadly. You name them and their organisation when you apply, so confirm they are available before you fill in the form.
- ·Your marraine or parrain cannot already be backing another project in the same session. Non-cumulation is one of the selection criteria.
- ·The artist leading the project has to commit to being at the Bibliothèque L'Alcazar in Marseille on Friday 12 February from 9h to 13h.