commonlab 2025

Lisbon, Portugal | Cologne, Germany | Cairo, Egypt | Bobigny, France

We are looking for 7 theatre directors, playwrights, choreographers or performance makers to take part in Common LAB 2025. This itinerant, eight-week laboratory will provide opportunities to experiment with collective and individual devices for knowledge sharing and the development of artistic research, with the goal of broadening European narratives.

Common LAB 2025 is part of Common Stories, a project that brings together performing arts organisations, artists and audiences to address the dynamic notions of identity and cultural diversity in a changing European society.

Identity constructions are based on and strengthened by stories and experiences. Stories tell us who we are and who we strive to become. They question and challenge the way we see ourselves and others. We believe that a diversity of stories and a multiplicity of perspectives will allow for a more accurate and fair understanding of the political, cultural and social challenges we face in creating common grounds in European societies, which are characterised by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity, and the struggle for social justice. European societies are historically built upon inequalities that, we believe, need to be addressed. Cultural sectors, both concretely and symbolically, are riddled with colonial tensions and rationales, as well as logics of domination and power relations. In the performing arts sector, resources, decision-making and programming positions are still mostly in the hands of a white, male, middle-and-upper-class majority, while artists and art professionals from different cultural, social, gender and ability backgrounds are largely underrepresented on and off stage, especially in decision-making and leadership positions.

Each year of Common LAB is comprised of four two-week modules in four different cities, including one location outside of Europe, for a total of eight weeks. This will be the last edition of Common LAB, which will have brought together 24 artists between 2023 and 2025. Information about the previous editions and participating artists is available here.

In designing the programme of Common LAB, we pay particular attention to artistic practices and stories that are underrepresented or absent from our institutions, as well as to the relevance of diversity in language, aesthetics and representation. The programme provides opportunities for artists to exchange, share, and learn from each other and from other guests artists; to research their individuals proposals; and to present their projects to the Common Stories partners and other professionals.