After more than 10 years of integrative theater work with psychiatry-proven and borderline experienced people, and with theatre production noted worldwide, Theater Sycorax has set new impulses for the arts and against the stigmatization of psychic ill people. For the first time on the European continent (after the madness & arts world festival 2003 in Toronto), a new forum was opened and created for professional artist working with the creative potential in the territory of psychic health and illness. Festival directors Paula Artkamp and Manfred Kerklau had invited to a fluorescing, blazing, crazy and inspiring program and called for global madness. It was a daredevil idea and the echo was stupendous. Their gratitude goes to all partners, sponsors, the artists from all over the world, the countless helpers, and the audience and to all who had the courage for madness and the openness for the art of an extraordinary kind.

15 Theatre productions by professional and international ensembles from Czechia, Italy, Russia, Germany, Poland, Denmark, France, Belgium and Canada had been programmed. The performances in the ”Theater im Pumpenhaus“ and in the ”Städtische Bühnen Münster“ were extremely divergent and showed high authenticity in their diversity. Strongly picturesque, bizarre, experimental, full of connotations and refreshingly remarkable. The ensembles consisted of between 4 and 20 actors on stage. A ”world premiere“ had the madness & arts catwalk - a unique fashion show about psychiatric disease-patterns after a Europe wide bid for artists and designers. The symposiums: ”Art and Craziness“ and ”The View from within“ in the festival tent were an immensely exiting platform for the discourse of directors and artists from all over the world. Different methodical and aesthetical approaches were communicated by the invited groups in 6 workshops.

A series of special films in cooperation with the ”Programmkino Cinema“ and the Film Festival Toronto showed five magically touching feature films and documentaries, the lectures in cooperation with the ”Volkshochschule Münster“ put a light on different aspects of writing between art and mental illness. The art exhibition ”Wavelength“ in ”Kunsthaus Kannen“ presented collective works of artists from the psychiatry and ”professional“ artists. The concept artist Stephan US carried the subject of craziness and normality right into the heart of the city with his performance ”How crazy is normal?“. An Air streamer, placed at different locations in the city, was base station for this action and festival mobile as a rolling advertiser. The university for applied sciences NW accompanied the festival with a seminar. The festival tent was the pivotal center for artists, audience, experts and media, it served as a podium for both symposiums, as catering location and was an ideal place for conversations, for getting to know each other and for celebrations. The sold out performances were shown on a big screen in the tent.