ACT has been offering a platform for art students at Swiss universities to realize performative projects since 2003.
ACT can thus be considered an open laboratory for testing performative art projects and artistic strategies. The festival also offers students an opportunity to showcase their performance art work/practices to a diverse audience. ACT 2022 will hold its 20th anniversary edition in Biel/Bienne from 6 to 8 May 2022.
ACT 2022 will draw art students to an interregional gathering that is focused on performance art. The three-day programme will take place in various locations around the city of Biel, with each site providing a unique physical and technical backdrop against which students can showcase their performance art talents. Along with the public performance programme, there will also be a daily live roundtable discussion with students and special guests on the current state of Switzerland’s performance art and the potential for interregional networks.
For the first time, ACT will function a bridge and stand for coexistence, encounters, and linguistic and cultural exchange between the different languages.
During the last few years, the number of international students attending the Department of Fine Arts at ZHdK has grown exponentially. It is crucial to offer them an opportunity to connect with students from other art schools and also give Swiss students the same chance to work in a more diverse environment. This highlights the importance of performance art festivals like ACT for art students in general. Spending three days together with students and artists from all over Switzerland will allow them to expand their network, discover new performative practices, and start new collaborations.