My name is Benjamin Kuitenbrouwer (1988, NL), also known as Monki. I started as a maker and Chinese pole acrobat (Codarts Circus Arts, 2014) with solo performances in which I combine the double Chinese pole with live music, theatre and video. I like to explore the line between performance and the raw here-and-now. Whether that's a specific story, something poetic, or just a beautiful image - that which lifts us up and takes us away for a moment holds my interest. I am also co-founder of a French acrobat collective, Collectif Sous le Manteau.
With TENT I already made the performance 3in 2015 and the basis of our collaboration can be found in our common youth circus Circus Elleboog. Between 2019 and 2021 I worked with TENT under the Nieuwe Makersregeling of the Fonds Podiumkunsten and developed Being Benjamin (2020) and my directorial debut Jack (2020).
Until 2024, I will be broadly involved with TENT as a house maker. As an artist, the time has come to take a stand. I defend those who have faith in their fellow man. In my opinion, they are the new realists (and not the cynics). With the working title Dat Kan Beter: Circus voor Cynici, I am investigating how a hopeful image of mankind can be expressed in my projects. To this end, I am again working with Chinese pole and text and am also exploring how I can work as a maker with artists from other disciplines. What drives me is the inherently human side of the circus, the ultimate here and now. Its uniqueness also offers an opportunity to search for a new reality with the audience.
MAKER FOR
two years • four years
HIS PRESENTATIONS
3 • Being Benjamin • JACK • 360 • 60% Banana • Nothing New
CIRCUSMONKI 
MONKI_BUSINESS