History

Clowns without Borders was founded in Barcelona in July 1993. This creation fructified starting from a request on the part of the collective that carried out the project ìEducation for Peace to invite an artist, Tortell Poltrona, to perform in the refugee camp Veli Joze (Savudrija) in Croatia, the 26th of February 1993. This performance, which was seen, breaking all forecast, by more than 700 children, proved the use of the job as clown in these situations where humor serves as a psychological recourse or support for individuals and communities that suffer some kind of crisis.

After this positive experience was organized another expedition the 19th and 20th of May the same year, this time with the artists Boni & Caroli together with Tortell Poltrona, to the refugee camps Barracks of 15th May, Centar Privat Progranika Izbljegica, in Varazdin, and Zaprude, in Zagreb, both en Croatia.

What followed was a wave of performers and shows traveling to the ex-Yugoslavia region, from Spain, and soon followed by CWB organizations that grew in France, Sweden and other groups such as Serious Road trip. The CWB movement expanded into other areas of conflict, to the Western Sahara, to Israel/Palestine, to Columbia and many of the Central American countries. By the year 2000, over one hundred expeditions had been launched and today that number is still growing.