The European Union is planning new projects and funding for cultural activities across Nigeria, its Ambassador to Nigeria, Gautier Mignot, has said.

Mignot disclosed this during the maiden edition of Circus in Motion: The Lagos Contemporary Circus Festival, a two-day event held from October 3 to 4 at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

The festival brought together performers from Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Nigeria and Switzerland, combining acrobatics, dance, movement and other contemporary circus techniques.

Speaking during the festival, Mignot said the EU was developing new cultural projects with partners including the National Theatre, while also supporting collaborations between European and African artists.

“The European Union is coming up with new projects and funding for cultural events across the country with partners like the National Theatre,” he said.

He noted that the EU had supported the recent Kano Creative Summit organised by the National Theatre and was partnering with a number of film festivals across the country.

Mignot also said the EU would partner with the Lagos Biennial of Contemporary Art in November, while new projects were being developed to empower artists across Africa and support more co-creations between European and African artists.

According to him, such partnerships should go beyond performances to include training, workshops and artistic exchanges.

“What we hope is to create a dynamic because beyond these shows, there are co-creations, trainings, workshops between all these artists,” he said.

Mignot described the maiden edition of Circus in Motion as a successful beginning, noting the international representation and audience response.

He said the performances were “very international, colourful, full of energy and very modern”, adding that the venue was filled with audiences enjoying the performances.

“We are very happy to partner with the National Theatre for this first edition,” he said.

The ambassador expressed the hope that the festival would continue in subsequent years, attract more sponsors and develop into a regular platform featuring artists from Africa, Europe and beyond.

The two-day festival featured performances and collaborations involving Fekat Circus from Ethiopia, Cirque Décalé from Côte d’Ivoire, SenCirk from Senegal, GKB from Nigeria, Sam Udoh of Nigeria, WAO Factor from Nigeria and Swiss circus artist Jessica Arpin.

The programme also featured an Ethiopia-Nigeria co-creation, bringing performers from both countries together on stage.

Tola Akerele, MD/CEO of the National Theatre, said the festival’s success would be measured partly by how well audiences understood contemporary circus and recognised its potential in Nigeria.

She said the festival had demonstrated that Nigeria had the talent needed to develop its own contemporary circus stories.

“Contemporary circus is dance, it’s movement, it’s acrobatics, it’s sport, it’s physical as well. We have what it takes to create our own contemporary circus stories,” Akerele said.

She said the National Theatre was interested in developing opportunities for Nigerian performers to gain skills, build careers and potentially take their work to international audiences.

“Circus happens, you can travel the world. You can go all over the world, as a young Nigerian,” she said.

Akerele also noted the diverse audience at the festival, including children, young adults and older people, describing the turnout as encouraging.

She said the National Theatre wanted to see more cultural experiences that could be accessed by the public, adding that partnerships would be necessary to sustain such initiatives.

According to Mignot, the continued development of Circus in Motion would depend on broader support and collaboration.

He called for other sponsors to support the festival so it could become a regular event and attract more international performers.

The maiden edition therefore marked the introduction of contemporary circus to a wider Nigerian audience and early step towards building stronger artistic exchanges between Nigerian, African and international performers.