Buffer Fringe 2018
From the 25th October to 4th November 2018, the Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival returned to the stage, increasing its influence as a common space for creation and experimentation. In this fifth edition the team selected 15 local and international artists, by focusing on innovative artistic practices, including physical-visual-and devised- theater composition and encouraging performances in different languages as well as applications that do not exclusively rely on languages.
The fifth Edition of the Festival had a special focus on the relationships of the arts as a catalyst for critical dialogue, and a generator and transmitter of new impulses to support the work of the Home for Cooperation in their efforts to strengthen civil society and the ongoing work to build peace and trust in the community. Under the Artistic Direction of Achim Wieland, the Festival in 2018 showcased new and experimental work by local and international artists on the Main Stages, as well as creating more opportunities for artists to meet and exchange ideas in the frame of the accompanying Micro-Formats program.
The invited performances, questioned preconceived ideas of the performing arts, challenged the relationship between artists and audience and shed new light on both the arts and society. Buffer Fringe 2018 focused on experimental approaches to performance work including physical-visual-and devised- theatre formats. In this fifth edition, the team encouraged and accepted performances in different languages as well as applications that do not exclusively rely on language.
In an increasingly divisive world and an environment of social upheaval, the Festival 2018 introduced a festival theme to encourage the participation of artists to not only engage in a critical-aesthetic discourse exploring the limits of their art forms, but to identify work that engages in a dialogue around socio-political narratives expressing urgent matters of our times. To accommodate this, Buffer Fringe Edition V invited artists and performances that deal with the concept of a “Breaking Point”, exploring the theme on a broader social, global, or very intimate and personal level: “the point at which a situation becomes critical, the point at which an entity gives way under stress, or the point at which something loses its force or validity”.
In addition to the two main stages in Bandabulya and the Old Market Nicosia, the 2018’s edition also allowed international artists and participants from across the island to benefit from Micro-Formats program, where they have been paired up in 5 DUETS for a week-long exchange and successful cross-disciplinary collaborations. Moreover, a selected group of performers took part in the ‘Buffer Fringe on Tour’, expanding the festival to the coastal cities of Limassol, Kyrenia and Paphos through partnerships with local organizations.
Finally this edition was marked by a sharp increase in international participation and interest with over 300 applications, receiving positive feedback and high participation from the audience too.
