Melic – Knitting Memories

Name: Melic – Knitting Memories
Start: 2026-05-01T14:45:00+02:00
End: 2026-05-01T15:30:00+02:00
Location: Soccer field – Rue de Verdun

If circus

Friday 01.05

14:45

45'

Soccer field – Rue de Verdun, 1130 Haren

for all ages

Melic – Knitting Memories is a poetic aerial circus performance, a tribute to grandmothers and knitting.

Melic* aims to pay tribute to our grandmothers and the art of knitting. Using ropes hand-braided during a recent workshop at the GC De Linde, the two artists interact. These ropes transform, tightening or loosening, coming together or breaking apart. Little by little, a dance of shapes and colors unfolds, a captivating dialogue full of contrasts, vulnerability, and resilience. Melic is a poetic performance that celebrates the ancient art of knitting and the reclaiming of our ancestors’ knowledge.

*Melic means “navel” in Catalan.

On stage: Mar Olivé, Shalom Gramiccioli

Artists and creators: Mar Olivé and Shalom Gramiccioli

Sound and original music: Rogier Hornman

External consultants: Júlia Clarà, Ganna Poppea Veenhuyseen, Margot Jansens.

Sign language interpreter: Meritxell del Mastro Ochoa

Costumes: Levi Almedras and Paquita Garcia

Lighting: Gabriella Bianchi

Videos: Bibiana Gispert

Special thanks to: Júlia Villier, Natalia Graus, Giulia Poltroneri and our grandmothers, Cati, Cuca (Roser), Trini, Rossana, Antonietta and Paquita.

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If circus

If Circus is a contemporary circus company founded in 2019 by Mar Olivè Nieto (Barcelona). In 2022, Shalom Gramiccioli (Albano Laziale, Rome) joined the venture, bringing their creative backgrounds together under a shared artistic vision. The duo met while studying at ACAPA (Tilburg, Netherlands), where they discovered a shared language: using the circus as a space to explore memory, heritage, and the profound wisdom of traditional craftsmanship.

Their first creation, Somehow, in which Mar worked with knitted ropes alongside cellist and performer Rogier Hornman, won the Keep an Eye Foundation Award in 2020 and was shortlisted by CircusNext Netherlands. The piece stands out for its poetic and multidisciplinary atmosphere.

Today, Mar and Shalom lead If Circus and devote all their energy to their latest creation: Melic. This piece delves into personal and collective memory through ropes, gestures, and textures, drawing inspiration from knitting traditions and stories passed down from generation to generation. In their work, the rope is not merely a circus apparatus: it becomes a symbolic thread connecting the body and memory, tradition and innovation, the stage and the audience.

With Melic – Knitting Memories (a project nominated for the 2025 ZIRKÓLIKA AWARDS), the company creates a circus that listens, remembers, and uses movement to convey meaning, fostering a sense of connection, presence, and care.

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Practical infos

Friday 01.05

14:45

45'

Soccer field – Rue de Verdun, 1130 Haren

Access from train stations: Haren Sud Station or Haren Station (SNCB). Please note that the stations are not accessible to people with reduced mobility.
Bus (Lines 65, 80): Haren or Twyeninck.

for all ages