Amoukanama is a citizen initiative that was initiated by a group of circus artists from Belgium and Guinea. Their dream is to establish a circus school in Matam Conackry in Guinea, where Guinean artists learn about acrobatics and further develop their life skills. For Frame, Voice, Report, they created an acrobatic show on migration. In this show, migration is seen through the eyes of a young African migrant and it shows the different steps of migration.

Changing the storyline
Many challenges occurred while preparing the show. It was impossible to get the circus artists from Guinea to Belgium due to very strict visa regulations. Amoukanama soon decided to integrate this challenge into the storyline of the show, to illustrate the obstacles that young people from Africa face if they want to travel to Europe.

It also showed how these restrictions impact cultural exchanges: since no Guinean acrobats could come, the performances had to be rescheduled. A group of Guinean acrobats, already living in Belgium, took part in the project and over the summer of 2019, a total of 22 shows and 30 acrobatics workshops were given in 22 Belgian cities and in 1 Dutch city.

Identify with the artists
The performances were seen by hundreds of people, and the workshops, while smaller, created a space for building a connection with the, mostly young, audience. The circus performance brought about a different perspective on migration. The show allowed the spectators to identify with the artists and the story told. The performance appealed to empathy and compassion, creating a feeling that we are all human beings, dealing with similar challenges in life.

An important factor in the success of the shows was that they gave a human face to the often-dehumanized SDG themes of migration, poverty, education and employment. The show enabled the spectators to see that these issues are not some abstract notions and come to the realization that how we tackle the common challenges, has meaning for real people across the world.