Please ASK!

Please ASK! – Art Science Kick is an European project that will produce and showcase nationally and internationally three science theater productions. Please ASK! brings together three innovative cultural organizations: Arte Urbana Collectif from Sofia, Pro Progressione from Budapest and Dafa Puppet Theatre from Prague. The project is an important milestone in establishing an European network of science theater practitioners. Please ASK! also aims to make artists more responsible towards filtering knowledge attained through the use of scientific method from assumptions that may seem appealing but that are not rooted in scientific evidence. 

In the initial stage of Please ASK!, the focus will be on sharing artistic know-how and practices and creating a laboratory for different approaches for performing art – science collaborations. The developed methodology will be then implemented in creating  science theater performances. Each of these performances will explore different scientific topics and will target diverse audiences. Arte Urbana Collectif will work on Astrobiology towards a general audience, Pro Progressione – on Evolutionary Biology towards a family audience and Dafa Puppet Theatre – on Quantum Physics towards young audiences.

Please ASK! is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme and National Culture Fund in Bulgaria. Important partners of the project are the Astronomy Department of Sofia University, Municipal Centre for Extracurricular Activities – Baykal village, Association of Hungarian Women in Science, Technical University of Prague and QWorld – QCzech. 

Who are we?

Arte Urbana Collectif is an artistic collective based in Sofia, Bulgaria. The collective was created in 2016 by Ralitsa Assenova and Dimitar Uzunov who later were joined by other artists and cultural managers. The collective organizes various cultural events such as festivals, theater productions, workshops, master classes and other educational forums in Bulgaria. It aims to create an international artistic and cultural dynamic in the country.

Pro Progressione is a Budapest-based artistic hub that connects people, professions, and ambitions by designing international collaborations in the field of culture. From this combination, creative ideas emerge – artists, cultural activists, scientists, and experts of various fields meet and give cutting-edge answers for the questions of our age.

Dafa Puppet Theatre is a Czech-based multi-awarded puppet theater company based in Prague, Czech Republic. It was co-founded in 2015 and is co-run by Husam Abed, a director, puppeteer, and musician, and Reka Deak, a puppeteer and stage designer, both of whom are graduates of the Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU)/Czechia. Since its establishment Dafa has created many performances for children and adults and is invited on a regular basis to take part at international festivals in Europe, South East Asia, and across the Arab world. In their performances, Dafa combines principles of puppetry, devised, “alternative” theater, physical theater, music, and multimedia design to build new and exciting productions based on both fiction and documented history. The company regularly collaborates with multidisciplinary artists in the Czech Republic and abroad.

Learn more about Please ASK!