Clowns Without Borders at the Townhouse Gallery

How difficult is to make people, especially children laugh? Very difficult!…As I discovered at the performance of “Clowns without Borders” at the Townhouse Factory in downtown. But the talented performers of the French Clowns Without Borders made it all seem so easy!

This group of more than 400 clowns, comedians, musicians, dancers and acrobats have made it their mission to bring a smile to the lips and cheer to the heart of the displaced and the depressed. Their associations can be found in the US, South Africa, Germany, France, Spain, Canada, Belgium, Ireland and Sweden. They corroborate with local NGOs to organize performances in shanty towns, refugee camps, detention centres and orphanages. The props that they use are from daily life-brooms, saucepan, dusters, cooking pot etc. But their nimble fingers manage to coax beautiful music out of even a plastic bucket! Wearing only the simplest of clothes and a “clown” nose, they are a big draw with children. At Saturday’s performance the children seated on all the four sides got equal attention from them. Their ability to emote and their antics can bring a smile to even the most hardened

The venue for the performance, The Townhouse Factory is one of the three buildings located at the junction of two lanes in downtown that form part of the Townhouse Gallery. The main building is three-storeys high and houses exhibition halls, a library and studios. The adjoining building, which is the rear part of an erstwhile paper factory, is called the Townhouse Factory and is used for staging performances. There are two shops adjoining the Townhouse Factory at which you can buy some of the contemporary art displayed at the Townhouse Gallery. Recycled souvenirs can also be found here-laminated photographs to be used as wall hanging, used bottles beautifully painted etc.

The Townhouse Gallery is situated in a “working area” in downtown with car mechanics, sign painters, carpenters and coffee shops occupying the surrounding space. Probably the best example of bringing art to the community and integrating community into art