Clowns Without Borders Switzerland is an association gathering performing artists, clowns, musicians, dancers, play workers, play specialists, social workers and intellectuals concerned by the world in which we live in. Inspired by the work of CWB International (www.cwb-international.org), we have as main objective to encounter populations, especially children in distress living in areas of crisis across the world. Throughout our interventions, we create spaces to heal from traumatic experiences caused by war or displacement, bringing laughter as a form of humanitarian aid to people living in the gravest, most disaster-stricken and war-torn zones of the world. The story of Clowns Without Borders started in 1992, when by petition of children belonging to a school in Barcelona, catalan clown Tortell Poltrona decided to go and spread laughter amongst refugee children living in the Istrian Peninsula, in what is now known as Croatia. They were refugees of the terrible war exploding in the ancient Yugoslavia. That first “Mission” was a success beyond expected, and not only the public but also the artists and NGO personnel were favorably surprised by the results that such representations had in the refugee families. After that first representation of February 26 1993, more than 4 million children have laughed along their families during CWB interventions in areas of crisis across the planet. After all these years, artists coming from 15 different countries have join the honorable mission of bringing resilience through laughter amongst those who need it the most, vindicating the right of children to be children again. Origins in Switzerland:
In january 2015, Venezuelan Clown and performer Paul Gomez landed in Switzerland for doing MA studies at Academy Dimitri. After working for 7 years with the Belgian section of CWB, he threw himself to the task of gathering artists and volunteers for putting together a Swiss section of CWB. Switzerland is a country characterized by solidarity and great artists in the Clown domain and after some months, the Idea became project and the project became a reality. It was December 13th 2015 when together with artists coming from different corners of Switzerland and europe they launched the rocket of CWB in a big Clown Gala at Dimitri Theater. The funds of that Gala went straight to finance the first mission of the Clowns Without Borders Project dedicated to victims of the earthquake that shocked Nepal during the spring of that year. After that first experience, many more artists and volunteers manifested their intention to join the CWBCH troupe! It’s been since then lots of actions that led to the invitation from the CWB International Federation to join as an official chapter in may 2017. Clowns Without Borders Switzerland was Officially Born.
