PhD Projects
Division Dialogues: On the Components and Practice of Juggling
A PhD project by Erik Åberg. Erik successfully defended his thesis on 2 June.
Erik Åberg began his PhD studies at Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH) in 2021 and defended her thesis on 2 June 2026.
Link to DiVA: Doctoral thesis
Link to Research Catalogue: Doctoral thesis
This project examines historiography as a creative element in circus making. It involves drawing inspiration from historical sources within the circus domain, including characters, events, objects, and activities and re-configurating, re-contextualizing and repurposing them to inform new artistic practices. The specialization of circus mainly utilized is juggling, although it touches on other disciplines.
Aim and research questions
The purpose of this project is to investigate and define the practice of a circus artist who also is the maker of the objects they use.
Research implementation and anticipated impact
The aim of the project is to define a practice that emerges from the meeting point between juggling and sculpture, by exhibiting examples and documentation of practice and process, as well as articulating the theories and strategies used.
In the process, archival material is utilized, primarily articles about circus and variety shows from newspapers dating from the period 1885-1914. An ensemble of artists from this period constitutes the focus of the archival search.
Principal Supervisor
Kent Olofsson
Supervisor
Martin Hargreaves
Schedule
2021-2 juni 2026
