Idea and History of clownin

Since the beginning of time it has always been laughed at the world but the laughter was mostly a one-sided male, which lacked the female perspectives. Women were fun objects and allowed to laugh and did it well, but were not allowed to define what's funny.
In contrast to that the rare species of clown women are able to gain the power of naming what is funny as they highlight artisticly the absurdity of the situation. The subversive view, the critical distance to themselves and others, philosophical depth and at the same time playful lightness are effective resources to question hierarchical structures.

To make this large but largely unknown potential of female clown visible and tangible, initiators Pamela Schartner and Gaby Pflügl - with the support of Barbara Klein – started to launch a festival for women clown.
The International Women's Clown Festival clownin happened for the first time in 2006 and was from the beginning a great success - in artistic and as well in terms of the degree of capacity utilization.

In the first year, more than 1,400 visitors were welcomed within the 9 days (87% utilization), 2008, 2010 and 2012, the number of visitors rose to nearly 2,100 and 99% utilization.
clownin in Vienna has established itself as one of the biggest festivals for Clown women worldwide. clownin works closely with Brazilian partners "Festival Esse Monte de Mulher Palhaça" in Rio de Janeiro and "PalhaçAria" in Recife, thus achieving global international response. The big stars never miss the Austrian festival. Also many newcomers have been discovered as many festival organizers form around the world as well as the Casting Department of Cirque du Soleil have the festival on their schedule.