In 2009, Baboró was invited to join the “Small size, big citizens’ project” and become a part of this network of artists with an enthusiastic passion for developing artistic work for younger audiences.

When they became involved with a second project with Small size, Baboró was delighted to not only produce their first production with Branar Téatar de Pháistí as part of the project, but to host the project’s final event: ‘Wide Eyes’ A European Celebration of Performing Arts for the Very Young.

Wide Eyes

Over 200 European arts professionals travelled to Galway from Small size Partner organisations, in addition to national and international artists, delegates, and audiences to be a part of this very special event for Early Years.

In early 2018, Baboró hosted ‘Wide Eyes’ A European Celebration of Performing Arts for the Very Young. This one-off, four-day event featured a host of:

• Performances for school, crèche and families
• Professional development workshops
• Industry symposia
• Opportunities for European exchange

The event featured fifteen new productions for 0-6 year olds, all of which had been developed specifically for this project. The individual companies each had to create theatrical work under the project’s overarching theme of ‘Wide Eyes’.

The incredibly diverse array of performances for the event similarly conveyed the “wide eyes” of the participating artists, who created deeply innovative and moving ways of opening the audience's eyes to the world around them. The challenge set by this project was for the artists to step out of their comfort zone and take artistic risks in creating their performances.

Wide Eyes marked the culmination of Small size, Performing Arts for Early Years, a four year long project funded by Creative Europe, involving a collaborative effort between seventeen Early Years festivals and production companies throughout fifteen European countries.

Download a PDF of the Wide Eyes Programme.