RIGGERS | Building an international rigging community

RIGGERS (React, Invent, Get together for a Goal: Expertise in Rigging Services) has been developed to address the needs of riggers in professional circus schools, with the aim of improving the quality of safety measures and creating an international community willing to exchange skills, advice and know-how to pass on to future generations.

The project was conducted in partnership with Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH) in Sweden, with the aim of :

sharing best practice,
searching for tailored solutions to common issues,
growing an international rigging community!

RIGGERS is a joint project with Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH), co-funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ programme.

RIGGERS, an international rigging community

RIGGERS was organised around several activities:

2 seminars

These aimed to share best practice within schools, and to:

define the work themes,
identify the pairs that will participate in the Riggers Swapping Experience (RSE),
achieve a state of the art for safety and rigging in circus schools,
share the results and outcomes of the exchanges.

Riggers Swapping Experience (RSE) and Riggers Visiting Experience (RVE)

Various study visits provided opportunities for riggers to spend time in a circus school, explore safety and rigging approaches and practices, and engage in discussions about day-to-day challenges with their local peers.

A continuous remote cooperation

After each RSE, the partners worked locally on the chosen topic, keeping in touch with the school they have been paired with using Slack, the project’s dedicated virtual platform.

What are the outcomes of RIGGERS?

The survey on the profession of rigger in circus schools

The report suggests areas of cooperation and further sustainable actions with a view to a stronger professionalisation of those operating in this field.

> Download the report

The virtual platform Slack

This has been developed to enable online peer-to-peer cooperation and dialogue. Following the project, it became an open virtual forum dedicated to the safety and rigging sector in the circus field.

> Join the community on Slack

The FED-Talks: video tutorials on rigging

This series of 11 video tutorials produced by the project partners aims to share the schools' best practice in safety and rigging with all riggers working in circus schools in Europe and around the world, and beyond.

Project evaluation by Saar Rombout

A summary of the topics discussed and an evaluation of the process by Saar Rombout, an independent rigger, artist and researcher who attended the project events and interviewed the riggers involved.

> Download the evaluation report