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From the series Syria, 2015 Photo courtesy of the artist

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From the series Iran, 2013 Photo courtesy of the artist

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From the series Election, 2009 Photo courtesy of the artist

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From the series Look, 2012 Photo courtesy of the artist

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From the series Iran Portrait, 2014 Photo courtesy of the artist

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From the series Iran Portrait, 2014 Photo courtesy of the artist

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From the series The Day I Became a Woman, 2010 Photo courtesy of the artist

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Imaginary CD cover for Maral Afsharian, from the series Listen, 2010–11 Photo courtesy of the artist

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From the series The Soul of Iran, 2008 Photo courtesy of the artist

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From the series Maria, 2007 Photo courtesy of the artist

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From the series Mothers of Martyrs, 2006 Photo courtesy of the artist

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From the series Ghana, 2013 Photo courtesy of the artist

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Portrait of Afghanistan’s first lady Rula Ghani, 2015 Photo courtesy of the artist

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From the series Hajj, 2008 Photo courtesy of the artist

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LATIF AL-ANI Musayib, Floating Bridge, 1959 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image Foundation

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LATIF AL-ANI Housing Projects Office, Yarmouk, Baghdad, 1961 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image Foundation

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Bank Street, 1961 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image FoundationLATIF AL-ANI

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LATIF AL-ANI Women’s clothes shop, Nahr Street, 1960 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image Foundation

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LATIF AL-ANI Lady in eastern desert, 1961 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image Foundation

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Aerial view, Al Rashid Street, Mirjan Mosque, 1961 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image FoundationLATIF AL-ANI

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Train Station, Baghdad, 1961 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image FoundationLATIF AL-ANI

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Darbandikhan Dam, 1960 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image FoundationLATIF AL-ANI

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Chicago, 1963 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image FoundationLATIF AL-ANI

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Mosque, Damascus, 1956 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image FoundationLATIF AL-ANI

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LATIF AL-ANI Berlin, 1965 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image Foundation

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Al Aqida High School, Baghdad, 1961 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image FoundationLATIF AL-ANI

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LATIF AL-ANIPolicemen riding on the back of a police truck in Cairo, Egypt, 1964

Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image Foundation

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American couple at Ctesiphon, 1965 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image FoundationLATIF AL-ANI

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Rasheed Street, Hayder Khana, 1961 Courtesy of the artist, the Ruya Foundation and the Arab Image FoundationLATIF AL-ANI

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AMAKHOSI

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A view of the Amakhosi Cultural Centre, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, 2010 Photo courtesy of the artist

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A new intake of first-year students of theatre, film directing and dance, 2015 Photo courtesy of the artistAMAKHOSI

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Cont Mhlanga working with students, 2015 Photo courtesy of the artistAMAKHOSI

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Cont Mhlanga with students, 2015 Photo courtesy of the artistAMAKHOSI

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A class in one of Amakhosi's practice rooms, 2015 Photo courtesy of the artistAMAKHOSI

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Inxusa Re-Launch at the Amakhosi Cultural Centre, Bulawayo, 2014 Photo courtesy of the artist

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JELILI ATIKU

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Nigerian Fetish (Occupy Nigeria #1), Ejigbo, Lagos, Nigeria, Friday 13 January 2012 © Jelili Atiku

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Holy Ovonramwen Cathedral, Igun Street, Benin City, Nigeria, 6–7 December 2014 Photo by Andrew Esiebo © Jelili AtikuJELILI ATIKU

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Holy Ovonramwen Cathedral, Igun Street, Benin City, Nigeria, 6–7 December 2014 Photo by Andrew Esiebo © Jelili Atiku

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JELILI ATIKU Senator Yerima's Wedding, Ejigbo, Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday 10 August 2013 Photo by Omotunde Ayodeji © Jelili Atiku

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Senator Yerima's Wedding, Ejigbo, Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday 10 August 2013 Photo by Omotunde Ayodeji © Jelili Atiku

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Obaranikosi (In The Red Series #16), Hanover, Germany, Saturday 27 September 2014 Photo by Edson Chagas © Jelili Atiku

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Kill Not This Country (Maanifesito II), Ejigbo, Lagos, Nigeria, Thursday 5 February 2015 Photo by Omotunde Ayodeji © Jelili Atiku

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Egungun Alabala Mandela (Oginrinringinrin I), University of Texas at Austin, USA, Friday 11 April 2014 Photo by Hakeem Adewumi © Jelili Atiku

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JELILI ATIKU Cain's Feast (The Feast Series #1), Yaoundé, Cameroon, Saturday 7 April 2012 Photo by Emkal Eyongakpa © Jelili Atiku

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Cain's Feast (The Feast Series #1), Yaoundé, Cameroon, Saturday 7 April 2012 Photo by Emkal Eyongakpa © Jelili Atiku

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Lord Lugard Sings Blah Blah Green Sheep (Maanifisto I), Ejigbo, Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday 1 January 2014 Photo by Latifat Bashiru © Jelili AtikuJELILI ATIKU

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Lord Lugard Sings Blah Blah Green Sheep (Maanifisto I), Ejigbo, Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday 1 January 2014 Photo by Latifat Bashiru © Jelili Atiku

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JEAN-PIERRE BEKOLO Poster for Le President, 2013 Photo courtesy of the artist

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JEAN-PIERRE BEKOLO Poster for Les Saignantes, 2005 Photo courtesy of the artist

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JEAN-PIERRE BEKOLO Poster for Quartier Mozart, 1992 Photo courtesy of the artist

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JEAN-PIERRE BEKOLO Poster for Les Choses et les Mots de Mudimbe, 2015 Photo courtesy of the artist

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Still from Le President, 2013 Photo courtesy of the artist

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Still from Les Saignantes, 2005 Photo courtesy of the artist

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Still from Le Complot d'Aristote, 1996 Photo courtesy of the artist

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Still from Les Choses et les Mots de Mudimbe, 2015 Photo courtesy of the artist

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Still from Le Complot d'Aristote, 1996 Photo courtesy of the artist

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'Argentina vs Argentina' Escrache to General Galtieri, performance – public intervention, Buenos Aires, 1998 Photo courtesy of Etcetera Archive

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Mierdazo (The Big Shit), foundation of the International Errorist Movement, action in framework of Fourth Summit of the Americas, Mar del Plata, Argentina, 2005 Photo courtesy of Etcetera Archive

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Artistic protest during the crisis in Argentina, Buenos Aires, 2002 Photo courtesy of Etcetera Archive

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Errar de Dios (Erring from God), participatory installation co-created with Franco Berardi 'Bifo', featuring works by Leon Ferrari, 31st São Paulo Biennial, 2014 © Leo Eloy and Fundacão Bienal de São Paulo

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Errar de Dios (Erring from God), participatory installation co-created with Franco Berardi 'Bifo', featuring works by Leon Ferrari, 31st São Paulo Biennial, 2014 © Leo Eloy and Fundacão Bienal de São Paulo

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Operation BANG, foundation of the International Errorist Movement, action in framework of Fourth Summit of the Americas, Mar del Plata, Argentina, 2005 Photo courtesy of Etcetera Archive

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PERHAT KHALIQ

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Photo from the China Tour by Perhat Khaliq and the Morgenland All Star Band, Beijing, 2015 Photo courtesy of Mukaddas Mijit

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FATOS LUBONJA

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Original text of The Final Slaughter written on cigarette papers in Burrel Prison, 1989, installation, Tirana, 1994 Photo courtesy of Barbara Haussmann

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View and detail of installation titled Endeavor, Burrel prison 1989–Tirana 1994 based on The Final Slaughter, Tirana, 1994 Photo courtesy of the artist

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Book cover of Liri e kërcënuar (‘Freedom Under Threat’), Përpjekja, 1999 Photo courtesy of the artistFATOS LUBONJA

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Book cover of Intrevista Sull' Albania, Dalle Carceri Di Enver Hoxha Al Liberismo Selvaggio (‘Interview About Albania: From the Prisons of Enver Hoxha to Wildcat Liberalism’), Ponte Editrice, 2004 Photo courtesy of the artistFATOS LUBONJA

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Book cover of Në vitin e shtatëmbëdhjetë (In the Seventeenth Year), Marin Barleti, 1994 Photo courtesy of the artistFATOS LUBONJA

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Book cover of Nëntëdhjeteshtata-Apokalipsi i Rremë (The False Apocalypse), Marin Barleti, 2010 Photo courtesy of the artistFATOS LUBONJA

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Book cover of Ploja E Mbrame (The Final Slaughter), Marin Barleti, 1994 Photo courtesy of the artistFATOS LUBONJA

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Book cover of Ridënimi (Second Sentence), Botime Përpjekja, 1996 Photo courtesy of the artistFATOS LUBONJA

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Book cover of The False Apocalypse, Istros Books, 2014 Photo courtesy of the artistFATOS LUBONJA

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Book cover of Second Sentence, I.B. Tauris, 2009 Photo courtesy of the artistFATOS LUBONJA

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OSSAMA MOHAMMED

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Still from Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait, 2014 Photo courtesy of the artist

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Still from Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait, 2014 Photo courtesy of the artist

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Still from Nujum al-Nahar (Stars in Broad Daylight), 1988 Photo courtesy of the artist

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Still from Sunduq al-Dunya (Sacrifices), 2002 Photo courtesy of the artist

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OKSANA SHATALOVA SPA Mummification, photo and video installation, Central Asia Pavilion at the 53rd International Art Exhibition la Biennale di Venezia, 2009

Photo courtesy of the artist

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SPA Mummification, photo and video installation, Central Asia Pavilion at the 53rd International Art Exhibition la Biennale di Venezia, 2009 Photo courtesy of the artist

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OKSANA SHATALOVA

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The Natural Work, stills from the video, 10''22'', 2012 Photos courtesy of the artist

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From the series Tortures of Beauty: Face Aerobics, 2007 Photos courtesy of the artist

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Red Flag, five lambda prints on dibond, 180 x 155 cm each, 2008 Photos courtesy of the artist

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From the series Preservation, 2007 Photo courtesy of the artist

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From the series Preservation, 2007 Photo courtesy of the artist

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Preservation, stills from the video, 4'57'', 2007 Photos courtesy of the artist

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The Romantics, stills from the video, 6'47'', 2007 Photos courtesy of the artist

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Y’EN A MARRE Sensibilisation, 9 June 2011, Senegal Photo courtesy of the artist

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Sensibilisation, 20 July 2011, Senegal Photo courtesy of the artistY’EN A MARRE

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Y’EN A MARRE Sensibilisation, 27 September 2013, Senegal Photo courtesy of the artist

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Y’EN A MARRE Sensibilisation, 24 March 2014, Senegal Photo courtesy of the artist

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Action citoyenne, 28 August 2012, Senegal Photo courtesy of the artistY’EN A MARRE

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Y’EN A MARRE Action citoyenne, 29 August 2012, Senegal Photo courtesy of the artist

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Action citoyenne, 1 September 2012, Senegal Photo courtesy of the artistY’EN A MARRE

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Action citoyenne, 29 September 2013, Senegal Photo courtesy of the artistY’EN A MARRE

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Y’EN A MARRE Mobilisation, 23 December 2011, Dakar, Senegal Photo courtesy of the artist

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Y’EN A MARRE Mobilisation, 16 January 2012, Dakar, Senegal Photo courtesy of the artist

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Formation, 27 December 2013, Senegal Photo courtesy of the artistY’EN A MARRE

2015PRINCE CLAUS AWARDS

p r i n c e

c l a u s

a w a r d s

CONTENTS

FOREWORDHRH Prince ConstantijnHonorary Chair of the Prince Claus Fund

INTRODUCTIONHenk Pröpper, Chair of the Prince Claus FundJoumana El Zein Khoury, Director of the Prince Claus Fund

PRINCE CLAUS LAUREATES 2015

PRINCIPAL PRINCE CLAUS AWARD 2015NEWSHA TAVAKOLIAN

FURTHER PRINCE CLAUS AWARDS 2015 LATIF AL-ANIAMAKHOSIJELILI ATIKUJEAN-PIERRE BEKOLOETCETERAPERHAT KHALIQ FATOS LUBONJAOSSAMA MOHAMMEDOKSANA SHATALOVA Y’EN A MARRE

CEREMONIESAWARDS COMMITTEE 2015AWARDS POLICY AND PROCEDURESCONTRIBUTING AUTHORSTHANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSPRINCE CLAUS FUNDLAUREATES PRINCE CLAUS FUND 2015–1997

IMAGE TEXT 182

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182 2015 PRINCE CLAUS AWARDS

FOREWORD

BY HRH PRINCE CONSTANTIJNHONORARY CHAIRMAN OF THE PRINCE CLAUS FUND

The 2015 laureates offer us a panoply that shows the multiplicity, diversity and uniqueness of cultural expression around the world.

They show us that despite diversity of cultural expression’s form, language or medium they are bringing their voices to the masses. They are all – in their own way – building a relation with the Other by seeking meaningful connections to communicate beyond the boundaries of their own worlds.

Martinican writer, poet and philosopher Édouard Glissant believed that the future of humanity lies in the relation to the Other. In the possibility of changing by exchanging without losing one’s self. Glissant believed that our world is defined by its diversity. That our richness lies in our possibility to exchange and benefit from each other’s cultures.

This is precisely what the 2015 laureates aim to do through their work.

Perhat Khaliq transforms traditional music from the Uyghur heritage – a minority group in China – by giving it a contemporary breath and bringing it to the masses. Y’en a Marre opens the minds of people in Senegal and all over Africa by discussing serious political problems through rap and hip-hop. Through his camera and aesthetic narrative, Ossama Mohammed is able to bring the terrible Syrian tragedy to a human level.

183FOREWORD

Establishing a relation however cannot be better captured than through the work of the Principal Prince Claus Laureate of this year: Newsha Tavakolian.

Tavakolian is committed to exchanging and sharing views of the society she comes from. Her poetic, strong, revealing, humane and deeply personal work is a window into the Iranian society that offers us the opportunity of changing our perceptions by exchanging with a mosaic of faces and untold stories.

I wish to thank the nominators for each year opening our world to new and inspiring individuals as well as the members of the Awards Committee who, through their work and dedication, continue to enable us to award inspiring and unique cultural practices around the world.

The Prince Claus Fund is proud to support and present the 2015 Prince Claus Laureates.


INTRODUCTION

BY HENK PRÖPPER, CHAIR OF THE PRINCE CLAUS FUNDAND JOUMANA EL ZEIN KHOURY, DIRECTOR OF THE PRINCE CLAUS FUND

The Prince Claus Fund is best defined by our network. These are the people who share our passion for culture in its many forms and believe in its role in development. This network acts as a mirror and a guide for the Fund.

It is the size, diversity, loyalty, trust and reach of our network that make it possible for us to understand the different contexts, as well as the upcoming trends, in the areas where we work. And our network collaborators and partners are essential allies in multiplying the effects of our awards, grants and ‘first aid’ to cultural heritage. The openness and the curiosity that define our network enable us to build bridges by supporting cultural and intellectual mobility around the world. After 19 years of existence, it is our network that we are most proud of.

It is also thanks to this remarkable network that we present to you the recipients of the 2015 Prince Claus Awards, who, through their diversity, quality and engagement, show us that today, more than ever, culture has an integral and essential part in development. Pro-active public art interventions prevent the normalisation of injustice; insightful photography shows us where we come from and who we are; and innovative film offers us new angles to approach a problem in order to better understand it.

The 11 laureates are presented the 2015 Prince Claus Awards by the Fund’s Honorary Chair HRH Prince Constantijn at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam on 2 December. This Award ceremony will be followed, in 2016, by additional presentation ceremonies arranged with the Dutch Ambassadors in the countries of the different laureates.

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Nineteen years after the establishment of the Prince Claus Fund, the world is a very different place. Geography, distances, inter-culturality, migration, activism, beauty, all have different meanings. What remains unchanged is the belief the Prince Claus Fund continues to have in the power of culture.

Today, as strongly as in 1996, culture is essential in building bridges, communicating, offering new perspectives and different types of solutions. It is what the 2015 Prince Claus Laureates show us through their groundbreaking work. It is what our network fights for.

We wish to take this opportunity to acknowledge the support of our many partners and supporters thanks to whom we are able to carry out our work around the world. We would like to especially extend our regards to the Postcode Lottery who have decided to carry on their support for the next five years. Our sincere thanks go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who, for the past 19 years, has been our strongest supporter.

The Prince Claus Fund has always adapted to changing circumstances and is aware of its unique role and function. Next year will mark the Prince Claus Fund’s 20th anniversary. This will be the oppor-tunity for us, with our network’s help and advice, to sharpen our vision in order to respond to our rapidly changing world, full of increasingly complex conflict.

Thank you all for believing in a world where culture is recognised and respected as a basic human need.


PRINCE CLAUS LAUREATES 2015

NEWSHA TAVAKOLIANIRANphotojournalist and artist whose insightful, multi-layered images offer unusual perspec-tives on life in Iran and the Middle East. The subtle aesthetic and searching intellectual qualities of her work, and her courage in defying conventions and restrictions, are both revealing and inspiring for local and international audiences.

LATIF AL-ANIIRAQphotographer and creator of a vital memory bank for Iraqi society. His extensive and perceptive record of daily life in Iraq between the 1950s and the 1970s is vivid and healing testimony of the nation’s spirit, achievements and cultured ethos.

AMAKHOSIZIMBABWEcommunity-oriented theatre group and cultural hub led by Cont Mhlanga that empowers, uplifts and encourages critical thought through its dynamic performances on crucial issues. Its training courses, activities and outreach provide oppor-tunities for self and social development through cultural creativity.

JELILI ATIKUNIGERIAperformance artist who combines elements of Yoruba culture with international practices. The first to introduce contemporary performance art on the streets of Lagos, his striking presentations engage local communities and stimu -late debate on subjects from art and family to politics and pollution.

JEAN-PIERRE BEKOLOCAMEROONfilmmaker whose highly original films range from documentaries on cultural icons to action-packed futuristic thrillers and political satires. Confronting stereotypes and cinema conven -tions, Bekolo fuses dramatic aesthetics and story telling with deep socio-political content to showcase under-recognised aspects of African philosophies and lives.

ETCETERAARGENTINA/CHILEart collective that uses humour, confusion and surprise to interrogate subjects such as the war on terror, financial crises and the notion of hell. Their extra-ordinary perform -ances and installations in public spaces overturn established formulas, stimulate audience participation and mobilise communities.

187PRINCE CLAUS LAUREATES 2015

PERHAT KHALIQ CHINAmusician and singer-songwriter who extends and popularises Uyghur cultural heritage by melding its classical opera and ballads with contemporary folk rock. His fresh compositions, poetic lyrics and charismatic performances move people deeply, building bridges across cultural divides in his multi-ethnic homeland and beyond.

FATOS LUBONJAALBANIAauthor, editor, public intellectual and leading critical voice in his country. Independent and consistently objective in his analysis, he works through diverse media to inform and engage people, examine recent history and tackle controversial contemporary matters. He speaks truth to power.

OSSAMA MOHAMMEDSYRIAfilmmaker who creates unflinching, profound and poetic insights into the Syrian context and culture. His bold films and methodology – from biting satire to innovative use of internet postings, reflections from exile and street recordings – examine power, conflict and humanity.

OKSANA SHATALOVA KAZAKHSTANvisual artist, curator and key figure in advancing the visual arts in Central Asia. Her artworks provide critical commentary and feminist perspectives on regional realities, and her writings, teaching, cutting-edge exhi -bitions and mentoring of young artists open new avenues for local communities.

Y’EN A MARRE SENEGALcollective of young musicians and journalists using their talents to stimulate peaceful social change. Their stirring rap songs on democracy and people’s rights reach a huge audience through mobile phones, internet, radio and concerts, rousing individuals to action in Senegal and beyond.

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NEWSHA TAVAKOLIANI want to show the tragedies of life without exaggerating them. From childhood I have been moved by those who have difficulty expressing them selves, the ones who are marginalised, be it by the popular kids, if you will, or in the media. I am angered by injustice, by abuse of power, by the sidelining of some. If I can in any way bring a subject to the minds of people, helping them think about something they otherwise might have ignored, I feel successful.— Newsha Tavakolian

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2015 PRINCIPAL PRINCE CLAUS AWARD

NEWSHA TAVAKOLIANIRAN VISUAL ART, PHOTOGRAPHY, MEDIA & JOURNALISM

Newsha Tavakolian (1981, Tehran) is a trailblazing artist and photo -journalist whose work offers a compelling insider’s perspective on contemporary life in Iran and the Middle East. Putting people at the centre of her practice, she fuses artistic work and docu -mentary reportage to create intimate portraits and unexpected human stories that enable us to look deeply inside societies.

A self-taught photographer, Tavakolian started working at age 16 when there were only a handful of professional female photo-journalists in Iran and since then she has shown her commitment to bring news from her country and beyond, despite numerous challenges. She covered the 1999 student riots in Tehran, worked for reformist newspapers and extended her practice to Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Yemen. Fearlessly recording events in often dangerous situations, her photographs have been widely published in international media.

When it became difficult to work as a photojournalist in Tehran after the 2009 elections, Tavakolian searched for quieter, more allegorical ways to evoke Iranian realities. Moving seamlessly between photojournalism and visual photographic art and referencing contemporary global art discourses, she developed a strong, personal aesthetic and visual vocabulary. The complex layered narratives expressed in Tavakolian’s stills, videos, instal lations and photobooks challenge stereotypes and the simplification of Iranian lives and perspectives. Look, a series of candid images of her friends and neighbours, conveys the uncertainty and insecurity of middle-class youth in a repressive context. Listen enables Iranian women, forbidden to sing in public or to record CDs, to perform silently through her camera. Other series explore female Kurdish fighters, the measures governments take to influence youth, Iranians affected by sanctions, and elderly women whose sons died in the Iran-Iraq war.

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Deeply committed to her society, Tavakolian actively mentors young Iranian photographers and her art is inspiring a new generation of photographers across the Middle East. She is a founding member of the EVE international collective of women photojournalists, and facilitated the formation of the Rawiyah collective of photographers.

Newsha Tavakolian is awarded for her beautiful and moving testimony of the complexities and ambiguities of contemporary Iran; for effectively combining photojournalism and art in a potent visual language; for her commitment to women’s voices and her support of young photographers; for courageously persevering in conveying social and political realities of Iran’s history and culture, providing critical insight; and for evoking human bonds through photography, creating intercultural understanding and compassion.

From the 2015 Prince Claus Awards Committee Report

2015 PRINCE CLAUS AWARDS


NEWSHA TAVAKOLIAN: THE LENS THAT CAPTURES CONTEMPORARY IRAN

BY SHIVA BALAGHI

In 1978, my neighbourhood in Tehran started to change. Banks, pizza parlours and movie houses were bombed. Graffiti covered the walls. Bonfires made with old tyres blocked the streets. As the revolution intensified, I grew accustomed to a new normal. My hometown increasingly resembled the photojournalistic images I saw from civil wars in Beirut or Latin America. As the street fighting and protests escalated, martial law kept us in our homes and though we were living in the heart of the revolution, we’d often rely on the BBC on our radio and photographs in the newspapers to keep us updated on what was happening across the country. As a young girl, photographs became embedded into my way of seeing the world.

Two decades later, another young Iranian saw Tehran’s streets shift during the 1999 student protests. Newsha Tavakolian took her camera to the streets. Climbing trees, from a bird’s eye view she shot the protests for a week. A self-taught photographer, Newsha learned from that experience how to frame the historic. She went on to establish an illustrious career as a photojournalist, shooting Iran for leading outlets like Time, the New York Times and Le Monde. By 2002, she extended her practice and began covering regional conflicts.

In 2008, Newsha’s photographs of Persepolis graced the cover of National Geographic. Typically, photographers take majestic long shots of the iconic ruins framed against the turquoise sky. Eschewing the expected, Newsha photographed ordinary Iranians in jeans and black veils alongside the ancient monuments. Whatever her subject, Newsha always seems to snap Iran’s people, focusing on the flow of their quotidian lives.

Following the violent crackdown on the 2009 protests in Iran, it became increasingly difficult for Newsha to continue her work in Tehran’s streets. The authorities bore down on the press and fearful Iranians turned away from her camera. Like many Iranians,

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Newsha turned inwards, spending most of her time in her apartment in one of Tehran’s many high-rise buildings. A quiet malaise fell over the place, and gradually Newsha came to see a powerful subject there in that building. Her aesthetic shifted from the photojournalistic snapshot to the staged art photograph. This series of stunningly beautiful, moving and evocative images, which she called Look, reflects a more subtle side of Iran than her photojournalistic work. She managed in the series to capture the interiority of Iranian life. Though the photographs are still, they are hardly static, showing the vicissitudes of lives lived behind closed doors. After 2009, Newsha became an artist.

Subsequently, Newsha’s art photography has been exhibited in numerous museums worldwide, such as the Boston MFA, LACMA, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum. But more often than not, Newsha’s work is exhibited in Tehran’s galleries. Though her work extended to new audiences in the West, Newsha remained very much focused on Iran and Iranians. In Azadeh Moaveni’s article ‘Through Story, a Look into Iran’, Newsha is quoted as saying: “When we’re stuck on getting the West to understand Iran, our work remains on the surface. I want to tell Iranians’ story to Iranians them selves, this is where I can challenge myself to go deeper into the more complicated layers.”

I first met Newsha at an exhibition of Iranian women photographers that was curated by Faryar Javaherian and Haleh Anvari in London in 2008. Our rapport was immediate. We found a quiet corner and she spoke to me at length about her projects and about Iran. Newsha is incredibly social and articulate. Connecting Iranians to other Iranian perspectives is central to her practice and to her way of being.

Newsha is devoted to mentoring young Iranian photographers and women photographers across the region. An important part of her work is to create and support various artist collectives that provide critical tutelage and practical support for aspiring artists. Through her mentorship, she helps create active communities of support and exchange for young photog raphers, encouraging them to develop careers in social documentary.



Iran has a rich tradition of photojournalism with such renowned photographers as Abbas, Kaveh Golestan and Reza Deghati whose work offers an archive of recent history. Newsha Tavakolian represents a new generation of Iranian photog raphers. Her work bridges photojournalism and art photography, presenting an entirely new visual aesthetic that captures the struggles and sensibilities of contemporary Iranians.

In order to continue her work as a photographer, Newsha regularly rubs against Iranian authorities. Her work is sometimes condemned in the local hardline press, and her travel is at times restricted. Undeterred, Newsha and her camera continue to capture photo-graphs that document the history of the present. Her work – both her social documentary photographs and her art projects – serve as a critical visual link amongst Iranians themselves and those who seek clearer perspectives on Iran from beyond its borders.

Newsha Tavakolian receives the Prince Claus Award in Amsterdam in December 2015. Her work indeed embodies the essence of that meaningful award for outstanding achievements and cultural actions that have a positive impact on the development of society.

The morning that Newsha heard she had won the award, she took the time to send me a little note, thanking me for having supported her as an artist. It was a typically kind and humble gesture by Newsha. It was in news reports that I later read she planned to donate a significant amount of her prize to help Syrian refugees and charities in Iran. “Unfortunately it is hard for me to enjoy this prize as much as I would like to,” she explained, “seeing the region where I work and live in flames and tens of thousands seeking refuge in far away lands.” Such a sincere and spirited gesture is not surprising from an artist who is completely embedded in the social landscape she captures with her lens.

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Honest photography, good execution and curiosity about the lives of others can move people. Photographers are the eyes of a society, especially when a society is blind, or short-sighted. So it is up to us to reflect what we see, but also to tell the story in a honest way that attracts attention.

When working in difficult or repressive contexts it’s important not to become too obsessed, or too emotional, or too involved in your subject or project. Personally this is very hard for me, but what matters is your honest judgement. This is a very fine, undefinable line.



A THOUSAND WORDS FOR A PICTURE THAT I NEVER TOOK

BY NEWSHA TAVAKOLIAN

Sitting in a car with the window rolled down. The hot forty-something degree breeze from northern Iraq blows straight at my face. I have all these thoughts on my mind, but I have put them aside, because of the disaster that I am witnessing.

We arrive at the village to pick up the man who has promised to take us to an abducted girl who has been rescued recently: a forty-five-year old, thin guy, dark skinned. He is wearing brown pants, a brownish checked shirt and a pair of worn out slippers. He started talking the second he got in and has not stopped since.

My two colleagues and I are crammed in the back with almost no wiggle room. We are so exhausted that we cannot even process his words. We just nod. We still have one more hour to go before we arrive in Khanke.

The Yazidi guy stops talking for a second and I wonder why he is suddenly silent. As I try to figure out what is wrong, I see he is trying to pick up this winged ant from his forearm without hurting it and he carefully places the insect on the dashboard: almost an absurd thing to do in a country where brutal death has become a normal everyday incident. Seeing this I feel a pleasant warmth run through my body.

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We pass by village after village packed with refugee camps: women washing their clothes; children running around in the dirt; men sitting around aimlessly while morbidly staring at some point in the horizon.

For a moment I ask myself, how would I feel if this guy in the car was my father, struggling to stay alive. As I am wrestling with this thought, I notice the sunburn marks on the back of his head and neck. I ask him the reason and he says he has walked barefoot for nine days straight in the mountains of Sinjar. I do not ask him any other questions.

I walk in the room. There is this fragile underweight girl, wearing a dark brown shirt sitting in front of me. Her hair is pulled back with this flowery hair pin that was probably once an ornament used to dress up for some happy gathering. But now she is in this half constructed house, where now five Yazidi families live together. As Samiya starts to tell her story, I pull my camera out of my bag and begin photographing her. She covers her face with her hands and tells me that she doesn’t want her picture taken. My friend Catalina Gomez, from a Columbian TV channel, insists. She tells her how important it is to document her story with pictures, because then the whole world will know what has happened to her.

Her mother is sitting right there with no expression on her face. She says what if the whole world knows? What can they do?

We stop trying to take pictures.



Samiya is telling us how that day that ISIS attacked her village, she was at home when they raided her house and kidnapped her along with other young girls from the village. They were all placed in buses. Two days later she was given as a present to a man in Falluja, where she spent 25 days in one single room. The Falluja man was asking her to convert to Islam and become his wife. But she insisted that she did not want to marry him.

The things she is saying makes me think that ISIS is not that much of a savage organisation, at least not as savage as the media depicts it to be. Her younger sister, whom I guess is around 12, is sitting behind Samiya. The room they are in is no bigger than 15 square metres and the only furniture it has are a bunch of ragged cushions placed around the walls and the single appliance to be found is a small TV set. For a second I get distracted by the TV: an Indian movie is on, in which this pretty girl is frolicking with a young man, with her long hair flowing over her shoulders and the boy chasing after her. Samiya’s sister and I get sucked into the scene for a moment. But the guy who has brought us here speaks so loudly that I find myself back in the room.

Now Samiya is telling us that in Falluja there was a sudden shooting outside the house, and when the man who had taken her rushed outside, he left the door open. So she took the chance and ran, along with Samira, the other girl who was there with her. They ran along the Falluja expressway until they found a public phone booth from which she called her family. A relative who lived close to

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Falluja rushed to her rescue and took her to Baghdad.

Catalina asks her if she was in touch with her family during the 25 days of her abduction. She says that the guy let her call her father once. She says she kept asking her father to come and save her. She says this and goes silent. Catalina asks her what her father would say. Samiya says: my father told me, my daughter how can I help you? I can’t do anything for you. I cried for three days, because even my own father could not do anything to help me.

This is her story, we think.

We thank her for her time and say goodbye. We leave the room and enter the small yard that is located between this room, the kitchen, and two other smaller rooms. In the small yard, men, women, and kids – about 20 to 25 people – are sitting around the walls. A mother is tending the wound on the foot of a young boy. I ask them if they are also coming from the Sinjar mountains and they say yes. I start taking pictures of the mother and son. But suddenly Catalina screams my name: Newsha!

I run back to the kitchen and make my way to one of the small rooms. I find myself holding my camera as Samiya lies on the floor, shouting and trying to strangle herself. There are about ten women around her, with their kids hanging on them crying, while they try to stop her. It is such a powerful image of pain and hurt.



I really want to take this picture of her struggling and crying with ten pairs of hands all over her body trying to restrain her. But I remember that even when she was calm she didn’t want to have her picture taken. So she definitely won’t like me to point my camera at her as she is lying on the ground, experiencing a pain I have never seen in my life.

A young mother of two who’s standing beside me tells me that Samiya has these episodes at least twice a day and that she never tells anyone what really happened to her, but the first time she had an episode, they realised what had really happened in Falluja: she was given narcotics everyday, and was raped multiple times.

I run out and call her mother to her side. She looks at me, as if nothing strange has happened, then she strides back to the room and sits beside Samiya, who is still struggling, trying to strangle herself. Now her mother’s eyes fill with tears. She tells me that Samiya does not even say a word about what she’s been through. She says: when ISIS attacked us, they forced me into a room and locked me in as they shot my sons to death in the adjacent room; how am I going to live with this?

Samiya calms down for a few seconds. It is as if she is waking from a nightmare. She sits up, fixes her hair and smiles bitterly at me. She sits beside her mother. Her mother kisses her head and puts her hand over hers, as they hold their heads close to each other for a couple of minutes.

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I have seen many horrific scenes in wars and other disasters. But this is perhaps one of the first times that I myself felt like I was suffocating by the intense pain I just witnessed.

I leave the room and go back to the packed yard, and sit on the ground. I cannot move. I look so disturbed that everyone figured out what had happened. Someone brought me a glass of water. After a few minutes Samiya comes out and places her hand on my shoulder. She is 14, but now looks like 40. She tells me: everything’s going to be OK.

I kiss her goodbye and we leave.

It is 2pm. The day has reached its hottest point. The window is rolled down and a breeze hotter than the morning breeze blows at my face. And now I am trying to bring back the thousands of thoughts to my mind so I can push away Samiya’s image and hide her heart-wrenching story behind them. But I just can’t.



To me there is no gender in taking images, but unfortunately there are relatively few female photographers both in Iran and in world. It is a fact that women photographers have to fight harder and get fewer oppor-tunities. Especially when women portray females, there is more sympathy and under -standing, naturally this leads to different images. Still, that said, both female and male photographers can produce mind-changing work. We cannot generalise. It is about the person and how she or he sees the world.

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LATIF AL-ANIThrough my work with the New Iraq magazine, which belongs to the Ministry of Guidance, I used to record the social, industrial, cultural and artistic sides of the Iraqi society. My intention was to emphasise these sides and shed some light on them, hoping that these photos will increase Iraqis’ knowledge of their society. — Latif Al-Ani Translated from Arabic by Basma Al-Rawi

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LATIF AL-ANI IRAQPHOTOGRAPHY, CULTURAL HERITAGE

Latif Al-Ani (1932, Karbala) is a perceptive witness and pioneering photographer whose work provides a unique record of everyday life in Iraq from the 1950s to the 1970s. His prolific practice documents the spirit of that period, the diversity of an active society, the changes and modernisation going on. Alongside photo journalistic reports on urban construction, new archi tecture and industrial projects, he records street scenes, shop windows in bustling city centres, workers, students and families, holiday outings, festivals, official gatherings, social and domestic events as well as rural landscapes and seaside resorts.

Al-Ani’s skillful compositions and sharp contrasts of light and depth capture a lively sense of animated daily life. Part of a generation that engaged innovatively with modern art, his beautiful, mainly black and white images perceptively reveal the social narratives of the time: the status of women, the robust civil society, the construction of national culture and Iraq’s relationship with the world. They provide insight into this flourishing and culturally significant time in the region and, in the wake of Iraq’s destruction, open channels for research of social, historical and personal importance.

Al-Ani established the photography department at the Ministry of Information, played a leading role in the Iraqi Society for Photography, and is considered the founding father of photog raphy in the country.

Latif Al-Ani is awarded for creating an extraordinarily rich and multi-layered archive of unique historical images of Iraqi society; for providing Iraqis and the world with an essential memory bank that bears witness to the modern, prosperous and forward-looking country Iraq was before the devastation of the Gulf War; and for his leadership in the development of documentary photography in Iraq.


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I wish that my photographs will be a motivation to bring Iraq back to how it was.

In the past, the value and uniqueness of a photo was much more than nowadays because producing a photo was a very complicated and expensive process. Photography, now, is a universal language – it is easily available to everyone. Photos spread widely using the social networks; their effect has become direct and instant.


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WITH OR WITHOUT A CAMERA: LATIF AL-ANI’S IRAQ

BY CATHERINE DAVID

For the readers of newspapers and magazines who have sadly become accustomed to images of checkpoints, barricades, soldiers and the burnt out remains of car bombs, and for the visitors and young Iraqis who knew nothing of pre-war Iraq (neither Iranian nor Gulf conflicts), Latif Al-Ani’s images recreate another world, one that has since disappeared – violently erased from the map – but one that is still vivid in his memory, and one to which at times, it seems that he has chosen to retire.

Whether sitting at a table in Haywar, the café-gallery of Qasim Sebti, or in the nearby offices of the Society of Photographers (that he helped to establish), Latif Al-Ani scrolls through the scans that remain from his archive (now held at the Arabic Image Foundation, Beirut), on a computer screen. Revisiting them, he tirelessly recounts tales to his audiences, from what appears – to today’s collective conscience – as Iraq’s belle-époque: the years from the end of the 1950s, until 1979, when Saddam Hussein seized full power.

Through his work in the petrol industry with the Iraqi Petroleum Magazine in the 50s, and then later across the rest of the country, he accompanied, and very systematically documented the planned modernisation of Iraq’s economy and society – in schools and offices, and in fields and factories. He also witnessed the changes that took place in Baghdad, as it was transformed by the projects of great architects such as Kahtan al Madfai and Rifaat Chadirji, or of artists like Jawad Selim.

His images form part of a defence and an illustration of Iraqi culture – in all its diversity and complexity – that resonate cruelly today: the Mesopotamian antiquities and the splendour of the archi-tectural and decorative Islamic heritage, the crafts and traditional dwellings, the hubbub of marketplaces and urban pleasures such as picnics and mazgouf on the banks of the Tigris, maqam concerts, or even the little bouquinistes (secondhand booksellers) and cafes of Muntanabi and Rachid Street.

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I had interest in documentation even though I didn’t know that these things which I photographed were to be destroyed.

However, his coverage of the political sphere (official voyages, inaugurations, parades and speeches), for the Iraqi News Agency offers another perspective on those very same years, depicting the forms and figures of political power, but also the early glimpses of the shadows lurking in the decor of these golden years…

Whilst it is always difficult to believe a photographer who assures you he is not going to take any more pictures, Latif Al-Ani officially broke away from his work in 1979. Such a radical decision has no real equivalent in the recent history of photography, and thus stands out as a personal response to the lived dramas of his country and its citizens, but also as a strong metaphor of their shared tragedy: Latif Al-Ani lived through Iraq’s terrible years of war and destruction with his eyes open, but his lens closed.

In this way, we are left to consider how the unusual, eventful history of Al-Ani’s archive and photographic practice bears an essential and yet paradoxical witness to the recent history of Iraq.

Translated from French by Fred Andrews


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Naturally, the Iraqi society is eager for culture and knowledge – there was even a saying that “Egypt prints boos and Iraq reads them”. The number of publications increased in the 1960s and 70s and they had an important role in disseminating pictures to a wide audience, increasing the public’s awareness of the significance of photos.

The value of my work increased after the huge decline in all life aspects in Iraq, after years of suffering and destruction. My work strongly shows the scale of deterioration. People cannot believe the vast difference between now and the past. This is photography’s role as documenting witness to life.

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AMAKHOSIWe are spirit beings first before we are human beings. Culture speaks to the spirit being while development speaks to the human being. Both of these influence human behaviour and hence action for social change.— Amakhosi

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AMAKHOSI ZIMBABWECULTURE & DEVELOPMENT

Amakhosi (1980, Makokoba, Bulawayo) is a dynamic, community-oriented theatre group empowering people through collective creativity and social activism. Presenting stories of ordinary citizens in down-to-earth, engaging and often humorous performances, their subjects include the politics of land, wealth and ethnicity, marriage, the family, AIDS, corruption and abuse of power – always looking at how these impact on people’s everyday lives. Grounded in local society and aesthetics yet open and experimental in approach, Amakhosi’s productions combine local performance styles incorpo -rating dance, comedy and song with international theatre traditions.

Founding director Cont Mhlanga is the author of numerous hard-hitting plays and satires such as Nansi Le Ndoda, Workshop Negative, Stitsha, The Members, Dabulap and The Good President. He believes artists should be the conscience of society and continuously questions his own role. Passionate about art’s transformative power, Mhlanga is outspoken in defence of artistic expression and human rights in the face of censorship and arrests.

Based in Zimbabwe’s second largest city, Amakhosi Cultural Centre has activated the country’s performing arts for more than 30 years, training several generations in theatre, dance, music, video/film and arts management. Alongside practice spaces, its open-air stage hosts performances, concerts and open sessions where groups and indi-viduals show works and receive critiques. Constantly looking to reach wider audiences, Amakhosi has recently set up two radio stations.

Amakhosi is awarded for its engaging, humorous and perceptive por -trayals of the struggles of ordinary people; for mentoring and support -ing critical voices and empowering people to shape their own future; for extraordinary resilience in upholding the value of art in society; for putting the needs of the community at the heart of their activities; and for creating courage, reflection and laughter in a difficult context.


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Power is embedded in the cultural elements of the community. This power can then be used positively or selfishly in a negative way. Those that take time to understand the meaning of various cultural elements and heritage symbols of a particular community will find it easy to influence social change in that community for whatever end purpose.

Theatre arts promote open dialogue on taboo issues and break down cultural barriers between young people and parents, boys and girls, men and women, citizens and political leaders. Theatre promotes collaboration and integration in communities.


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AMAKHOSI: CULTURE OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE

BY PRAISE ZENENGA

Zimbabwe’s Amakhosi Theatre represents a confluence of culture, activism, performance and politics. In terms of quality of productions, public recognition, longevity, educational programmes, employment creation or social and political critique, it ranks as the country’s “most successful theatre company”. The numerous invitations to perform at top theatre festivals in Europe and the USA and the various scholarly books and dissertations written on Amakhosi across the globe are testimony of the quality and impact of their work.

Since its formation in 1981, Amakhosi has persistently pursued its core goals to take theatre to the people, to integrate the arts and culture with social development, and to promote human rights, democratic governance, and political and economic processes that are participatory, representative and inclusive through theatre and performance. Besides equipping young people with artistic skills and preserving oral histories and cultures, Amakhosi has evolved into a vital cultural institution that provides the much needed checks and balances to various social and state institutions in Zimbabwe. For over 30 years, Amakhosi has been deeply involved in human rights and social justice issues and has engaged communities in addressing such pertinent topics as gender, bad governance, unemployment, corruption, nepotism, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and drug and alcohol abuse, among others. Amakhosi’s plays and activities have influenced and transformed the wider Zimbabwean society in practical, tangible and measurable ways.

Amakhosi’s sustained desire and determination to keep the most pressing issues on the front burner does not just help to keep government working, but has also led to state censorship and retribution in the form of detentions, harassment and banning of some their most controversial productions such as Workshop Negative, The Members, Everyday Soldier and The Good President. The story of Amakhosi is one of bravery, resilience, sacrifice and

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courage in the face of widespread restrictions and prescriptions. To date various state, quasi-state and pro-establishment agencies not only compete to enforce overt traditional censorship methods but also institute and craft new, subtle ‘soft’ tactics via sanctions, bureaucratic red tape, infiltration of the organisation, staging of competing events, and denial of access to performance spaces and licences.

Amakhosi has scored many firsts that affirm its iconic stature in Zimbabwean theatre history. It was the first to win the main prize for the inaugural 2008 Freedom to Create Prize, “an international award which celebrates the power of art to promote social justice and inspire the human spirit”. Workshop Negative was the first Zimbabwean play to critique the new nationalist regime’s ideological pretensions and expose its hypocrisy and corrupt tendencies. Amakhosi was the first community-based theatre company to build its own cultural centre, the first to popularise the use of multiple national languages in a single play, and the first to successfully build and maintain a large audience base throughout Zimbabwe’s diverse communities. It was the first company to successfully integrate music, dance, film, community radio and the preservation of rituals/ceremonies, monuments and heritage sites into their theatre and performance programmes in practical terms. Amakhosi also became the first company to have a production stopped mid-stream by state authorities when heavily armed police stormed the Bulawayo Arts Theatre during the premiere of The Good President and ordered the audience to leave. To date Amakhosi continually modifies its vision, objectives, approaches and techniques in response to changing times and issues.

Amakhosi’s tenacity, sustained creativity and efforts to engage the Zimbabwean public with artistic excellence are truly remarkable. For its staunch belief in the transformative power of theatre and for its unwavering commitment to defending human rights in Zimbabwe through theatre, Amakhosi deserves special recognition and commendation.


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Self-development starts with self-behaviour and culture is the tool that influences that very behaviour which then impacts on the environment around the person.

Amakhosi’s intention is to influence young people from all walks of life to do what is within their means to create sustainable democratic spaces, practice and promote a culture of defending all freedoms that are enshrined in our national constitution.

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JELILI ATIKUMy intention in making art is simply to connect and co-work with those energies that help in the sustenance of the human; and I strive through my artworks to assist viewers in understanding our dynamic world and expanding their understanding, appreciation and experiences, so that they can be pro-active, activate and renew their lives and their environments.— Jelili Atiku

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JELILI ATIKU NIGERIAPERFORMANCE ART

Jelili Atiku (1968, Ejigbo, Lagos) is an imaginative performance artist whose provocative spectacles use striking attire, unsettling body language and unusual props to open up dialogue and influence popular attitudes. He drops himself right into the heart of Lagos, into the realities of the streets, of densely populated, poor areas, and entices people to interact and respond to his visual presentations.

Rooted in Yoruba performance traditions, Atiku brings local elements to international performance practice, creating an extraordinary mix of action, symbolism, storytelling, disguise, costume, colour coding and theatricality. A rigorous researcher, his subjects include commentary on Nigerian human rights in the Assassination of a Political Prisoner; politically charged critiques of the ruling class and Boko Haram; site-specific interventions on climate change, e-waste and fuel subsidies; and Araferaku (loosely translated as A Part of Me is Missing), a moving personal eulogy to his father.

Breaking new ground in contemporary performance art in Nigeria, Atiku’s sustained experimentation is pushing the boundaries of artistic communication and strengthening public understanding, participation and appreciation. He is an inspi rational figure for younger generations and a voice of the future.

Jelili Atiku is awarded for creating a new artistic language combining Yoruba traditional art forms with international performance practice; for his thought-provoking performances that challenge assumptions and stimulate dialogue in an unconventional and dynamic form of community education; for taking personal and artistic risks in order to open new possibilities and reach wider audiences; and for his pioneering dedication to establishing space for contemporary performance art in Nigeria.


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Traditions embody a broad base of human knowledge that goes to the level of wisdom, which is potentially useful to human growth and wellbeing. The old performance tradi -tions bring to contemporary arts a depth of context, theme and content that integrate human values and impulses, meanings and philosophical ideas, materiality and respect for the topography of the environment.


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JELILI ATIKU: INSPIRED EXPRESSION OF THE INEFFABLE

BY CHIKA OKEKE-AGULU

The artist Jelili Atiku has built a substantial reputation in the past decade as, arguably, the leading performance artist working in Nigeria today. Trained at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the University of Lagos where he respectively earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sculpture, Atiku began enacting politically charged public performances in 2004, in Zaria and Lagos to wide popular acclaim. In doing this work, he has faced tremendous personal risk and has, for years, received little support and acknowl -edgment from the Nigerian art world. In more recent years, however, his performances have received increasing critical acclaim and have taken him to major events, festivals and exhibitions in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. In Nigeria’s fraught socio-economic and political environment, Atiku’s performances are nothing but unprecedented radical interventions and artistic statements. His fearless acts of speaking truth to power at the local and national levels; his willingness to take his work to the unknown but ever-present dangers of the Lagos streets; and his champion ing the cause of performance as an artistic genre in Nigeria clearly recommend him for the 2015 Prince Claus Award.

It is important to emphasise the fact that in describing Atiku as a performance artist, we must understand that his work transcends that genre, which has normatively been limited to the sanitised, elitist space of the gallery or museum-controlled environments where the artist and his audience are united in their mutual investment in the integrity and autonomy of the work of art. When Atiku takes his performances to the busy and densely populated Ejigbo section of Lagos, he submits himself and his art to the vagaries of the uncontrolled public space. In doing this, he is compelled by an inner urge to directly interact with his neighbours and strangers about particular local, national and international socio-political events or issues that impact the lives and the body politic. According to the artist, he puts his work “at service of the prevailing concerns of our times; especially those issues threatening our collective existence and the sustenance of our universe.” Thus,

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one of his most recognisable works, The Red Series, draws attention to the state of insecurity and wasting of lives in Nigeria by criminal and state agents, while other projects, including his multimedia installations, have engaged political assassinations, environmental degradation and traumas of the postcolonial condition.

But these enactments, because they combine an inventive range of costume and intense dramatic action, constitute in themselves an inspired expression of the ineffable. And it is here that one sees the artistic inspiration for Atiku’s performance in the masking and ritual drama of the Yoruba and other African peoples rather than in the existentialist utopianism of the Situationists and their allied performance projects in Europe and the United States. For, as in Yoruba masking, Atiku’s work thrives on the charged, organic, symbiotic relationship between the performer and his hetero-geneous public – an interaction that can lead to ritual and aesthetic catharsis, but also sometimes to violence and bodily harm. It is the unpredictability of the public’s response and his vulnerability in the shadow of ever-present security agents that give his performance art its psychological and aesthetic charge.


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Jawaharlal Nehru said, “Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.” Culture is an indispensable element and effective agent that provides the context, values, subjectivity, attitudes and skills within which development process flourishes. The relationship of culture and development is like the relationship of water to the existence of humanity.

As an artist working with pragmatic principles, ideas and ideals, I constantly wish to serve humanity in the role of a watchtower or watchdog, or what the scientist will call ‘impulse response function (IRF)’.

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JEAN-PIERRE BEKOLOWe live in a society in which men and women are victims of all kinds of abuses. What is alarming though, is the silence. Through cinema, the filmmaker is able to say, ‘Look at what you are currently doing!’ His job is above all to observe society, to see and then to communicate what he has seen. He must also be able to do so in a cinematic language, one that amplifies this outcry that aims to shame those who abuse the weakest amongst us.— Jean-Pierre Bekolo

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JEAN-PIERRE BEKOLO CAMEROONFILM

Jean-Pierre Bekolo (1966, Yaounde) is an avant-garde filmmaker and socio-cultural activist whose imaginative work overturns stereotypes of Africa and African cinema. His entertaining films operate on multiple layers, engaging viewers with thrilling stories, biting humour and dramatic aesthetics.

An advocate of artistic freedom, Bekolo is committed to realising Africa’s philosophies and cultures. Quartier Mozart shows the hybridity, complexity and humour in urban Yaounde in a playful, hip-hop reinvention of a traditional tale about gender, power, magic and politics. Aristotle’s Plot parodies rules and definitions, action movies and ‘African’ cinema made for European audiences, while aesthetically reflecting on the nature of existence, its ambiguities and absence of rigid categories. Aiming to incite viewers to conceive an alternate reality, his fake documentary The President is a hilarious, biting satire on African leaders who cling to power, and his dystopian, sci-fi comic thriller with stunning surreal visuals, Les Saignantes, presents extreme corruption, feminism, social decay and intergenerational conflict for review.

Bekolo’s work on the re-representation of Africa also includes insightful documentaries that seek to educate, such as Grandmother’s Grammar on groundbreaking Senegalese filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambety, and Les Choses et Les Mots de Mudimbe on the renowned Congolese philosopher, multi-linguist and uber-polymath.

Jean-Pierre Bekolo is awarded for his creative resistance, irreverence and eclectic African reworking of dominant cinema conventions; for creating a unique body of innovative work that both entertains and transmits profound socio-political messages; for his highly original aesthetics; for challenging misrepresentations of African cultures; and for re-affirming the power of film.


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Cinema holds an integral place in our societies – even if political regimes remain suspicious of it in contexts in which it is not exploited for their own ends. Unfortunately, many of our own African filmmakers collaborate with the dictators in order to gain access to the means to make films. I am firmly against this opportunism, which lends itself to the dangerous idea that we must make films at any price. We have a role to play in our societies, and our function is noble and demands much dignity, because he who is charged with watching and observing society must always say what he has seen. He is a servant of beauty and truth.



JEAN-PIERRE BEKOLO: L’ENFANT TERRIBLE OF AFRICAN CINEMA

BY MANTHIA DIAWARA

Without a doubt, Jean-Pierre Bekolo is the most avant-garde and the enfant terrible of La Guilde du Cinéma Africain, a movement of young and talented filmmakers based in Africa and the diaspora. Already in his first feature film, Quartier Mozart (1993), one could detect his penchant for a meta-language of cinema with original use of voice-over to comment on fictional images and the sampling of the jump-cut and repetitions made famous by Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It. With Aristotle’s Plot (1996), Bekolo’s metafilmic and political film language reached full maturity.

The most radical and self-reflexive film in African cinema, Aristotle’s Plot tells the story of the beginning of African cinema, at the end of the millennium, when Europe and America are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the invention of cinema. As the film’s narrator says, it’s like beginning a race when your competitors are at the finish line. By the time the African cinéaste comes to the scene, the spectators are already addicted to Western and Kung Fu films. Bekolo, who plays himself in the film as an aspiring filmmaker working as a bartender, states that the whole thing is a conspiracy theory set in motion by Aristotle. Why else does Aristotle’s Poetics talk about politics instead of art, and why is the second chapter of the book missing? It is clear that Aristotle’s formulaic scripts – the ‘how to’, the ‘what to do’ and ‘what not to do’ – have trapped African cinema too. Essomba, the cineaste and other main character, decides the only way to free the African spectator from Aristotle’s trap is to shut down all Western cinema outlets in Africa; to kill cinema, in other words. He enlists the help of the Ministry of Culture to achieve his plan. But another character, called Cinema because of his love of film, fights back with his gang of cinéphiles. The cinéphiles criticise the African filmmakers for making only ‘calabash’ films, i.e. with the screen full of donkeys, goats and primitive people. The cineaste, on the other hand, faults the spectators for being like zombies of Western gangster and cowboy movies to the point that they only know how to behave like the characters of the films

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they watch. As for the government, it is as corrupted as the cinéphiles, afraid of any creative force in Africa, and worried only about maintaining itself in power. There are plots within plots, repetitions, the pastiche of actions and quotes made famous in other films, and misesenscenes that recall theatre more than cinema, with the same stage being split between simultaneous and parallel events.

For Bekolo, film audiences everywhere have become so addicted to the repetition of the same violent actions that they no longer have the capacity to recognise a different way of telling a story. It is as if the story has ceded its place to the plot, or to the device of storytelling. This mechanism has become so sophisticated and pervasive that, by the time we get to films like The Terminator, The Matrix and Kill Bill, all we have left in the story is the repetition of the same actions in different ways: different ways of fighting and different chase scenes. The action scenes become bigger than life, more mechanised and mechanistic, aestheticised and rhythmic, anti-human and governed only by their own laws.

African audiences have had no alternative to this Western style of film. They have assimilated all the feelings, speech mannerisms and body dispositions of Hollywood stars. They live in the real world as if they were acting in a Hollywood film. What’s an African filmmaker to do, a hundred years after the invention of cinema, to counter this alienation of African youth under the effect of action flicks? Bekolo’s preferred film language is the deconstruction of established conventions of storytelling. He makes films that lay bare the process of genre construction and therefore liberates the spectator from the tyranny of plot. He asks questions such as how to produce an action scene in the film and then proceeds to show different levels of action, each scene more ridiculous than the preceding one, thereby debunking the very idea of a film being good because it relies on many action scenes. He aims for an improvisation of styles borrowed from everywhere, including African oral traditions, song, dances, legends, documentaries, the fantastic and magical realism. And the deployment of parody brings an extra edge to the humour in his films.



The pleasure of Bekolo’s films comes not from the stories, but from the political connotations of the way they are told. His cinematic representations are abstract and conceptual; he presents the spectator with things that symbolise other things, instead of representing their likeness. For example, one policeman sitting on a chair, in the middle of the street, with an iron cage behind him, represents the police station in Aristotle’s Plot. This complexity of symbolic representation is consistent with Bekolo’s view of Africa and how to represent it in film. He believes that African cinema should be independent and without any inferiority complex. To move away from stereotypes, new African cinema should be a combination of “the old that is still good, and the new that fits”. The originality of African cinema comes with the recovery of stories that fit contemporary Africans, regardless of the genre and the style.

Considered the most innovative practitioner in African cinema, moving freely between science fiction, political cinema and comedy, Jean-Pierre Bekolo is undoubtedly one of the most provocative and exciting African filmmakers today.

If I make films it’s because, one day, I would like this realm of dreams, speculation, utopias and miracles to be able to go beyond the screen, to let us to live out beautiful stories in our own lands – dreams that come true because they were dreamt up in order to snatch back paradise from the devil that currently reigns over it.

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ETCETERAThe arts have multiple functions: to provoke, to reflect, to understand the world. This is possible through exhibitions but also through carrying art to the streets, occupying public spaces to support social movements.— Etcetera

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ETCETERA ARGENTINA/CHILEVISUAL ART

Etcetera (1997, Buenos Aires) is a provocative, public-art collective that responds to and creates awareness of political and social problems. Bold, direct and transgressive, their accessible, playful yet serious interventions are characterised by theatrical display, parody, absurdity, confusion and surprise. Generating active participation, they blur the boundaries between art and life.

Co-founded by Loreto Garín Guzmán (1977, Valparaíso) and Federico Zukerfeld (1979, Buenos Aires) together with other artists and activists, Etcetera takes art to the streets at specific sites and political events and also presents problematic social and political issues in official art institutions.

Etcetera staged stunning theatrical pieces, such as masked people playing out torture scenes with huge dummies, to protest against the impunity ofArgentina’s military dictatorship in the 1990s and the 2001 crisis. In 2005 they founded the International Errorist Movement – with the manifesto declaration ‘We are all errorists’ – to protest George W. Bush attending the Summit of the Americas. Actions included the landing of an errorist army carrying toy guns, triggering a major police deployment, and the invasion of Buenos Aires streets by masked errorists driving commando trucks and armed with cardboard machine guns emitting the word ‘Bang’, satirically reproducing the constructed enemy in the war on terror and denouncing its absurdity. Their intervention on religion’s relation to global financial crises, Errar de Dios (Erring from God), is a theatrical installation featuring characters like Angela Merkel, God, Monsanto, St Paul and Goldman Sachs among others, and includes a ‘Petition to Pope Francis for the final abolition of hell’.

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Arts and performance impact in various ways. Playful provo cations penetrate and go beyond the field of art. They open the way to social participation in relation to social struggles, as a generator of catharsis, as a tool for dissemination in mass media of struggles that are often otherwise invisible, as a means of deeducation.

Etcetera is awarded for developing participatory art practices and public interventions in Argentina and internationally; for their creative originality; for their refusal to allow the normalisation of injustice; for insisting on relating history to the present moment and the local to international struggles; and for their profound, responsible social engagement and mobilisation of communities in Argentina and beyond.



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ETCETERA: THINKING THE WORLD DIFFERENTLY

BY CHARLES ESCHE

One of the questions any politically active artist or curator is regularly asked is: do you think anything you do makes a difference? There are many answers to this slightly cynical question. They revolve around how social change originates and where the imagination is born that stimulates the human capacity to think the world differently.

In Etcetera’s case, however, the answer is more straightforward than usual. Their projects in Argentina make a real and vital contri -bution to the campaigns for justice and social movements there. In the late 1990s, their contribution to the escrache movement denouncing government-backed torturers was pivotal to the success of the actions. By creating a carnival of resistance and theatricalising human rights and their abuse, they subverted the usual cries of the victims and allowed the actions to gather widespread support. From 2005, they focused on the International Errorist Movement (IEM) that was established in protest against George W. Bush attending the Summit of the Americas. The play of words is telling of their strategies of co-option of the vocabulary of neo-liberalism. As political and business leaders worldwide extend the definition of terrorist to anyone who opposes their will – from whistleblowers to social activists – the IEM turns the word against them, embracing a slightly altered accusation as a way to switch the power of words and turn the accusation back on the accuser. More recently, the group has tackled the authority of religion by posthumously collaborating with the great Argentinian artist Léon Ferrari in a work called Errar de Dios (Erring from God). This intelligent use of a predecessor’s work is rare in the art world and shows the group to have an awareness of the importance of what they do beyond their positioning in the art and theatre worlds. In Errar de Dios, they updated Ferrari’s play Palabras Ajenas and also realised his proposal to set up a petition calling for the Pope to abolish hell as an unchristian concept. The petition was signed by thousands in São Paulo during its 2014 Biennial and continues to gather support.

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Their latest project involves a critique of what they call neo-Extractivism, a description of the neo-liberal economic system as applied to all former colonial and semi-colonial states. Under the terms of neo-Extractivism, large local and transnational corporations defended by state shock-troops pillage the agriculture of a post-colonial outpost for a brief period of time before moving on. In Argentina, one of the worst offenders is Monsanto and they have been the target of a recent campaign that involves members dressing up as maize cobs and other produce to defend the rights to vegetables and other plants.

The Prince Claus Award is a very worthy recognition of the work of the group, which was founded and is centred around Loreto Garín Guzmán (1977, Valparaíso) and Federico Zukerfeld (1979, Buenos Aires). Their capacity to mobilise support amongst different communities and raise awareness of injustice is precisely what these awards should be about. Etcetera have made a difference in Argentina and are already finding a growing international public who, like them, question the value system of the neo-liberal hegemony. This award will contribute significantly to that process and I am sure it will encourage them enormously to continue their efforts.


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Etcetera always walks with “one foot on the asphalt and the other in dreams”, i.e., always connected with the current sociopolitical context, with the reality and the conflicts, but imagining poetic forms of action for creating other possible worlds. From the arts we expect nothing and everything: transforming lives into poetry, to imagine that it is still possible to change the world, and then to err in the attempt.

Our ideaideal about the role of artists today is that artists are those who carry on collaborative practices based on ethical positions, uniting art and life – with politics – actively participating in and out of structures of representation.

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PERHAT KHALIQ When I compose a song I always think about what this song will bring to people. It should always be something good. I want my songs to be useful. My intention in composition is to touch the deepest emotions of people. For example, I com -posed a song for prisoners and I went to a prison to sing it for them. I wanted to make some connections with them through this song to let them know it’s never too late to be good people again. I don’t want to compose music just to compose music, I want songs to have meanings in life, for me and for others.— Perhat Khaliq

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PERHAT KHALIQ CHINAMUSIC

Perhat Khaliq (1982, Ürümchi) is a charismatic singer-songwriter and guitarist whose music comes straight from the heart. He sincerely expresses deep human values and emotions in an authentic voice that resonates with people’s inner beliefs. Khaliq’s music fuses traditional Uyghur music with rock and blues styles, and his poetic lyrics, mostly in the Uyghur language, have strong personal and local relevance.

A self-taught musician from the Autonomous Uyghur Province of Xinjiang, Khaliq earns a living playing with his band in bars in his home city. In August 2014, watched by an audience of many millions, he was runner-up in the Voice of China contest playing an acoustic guitar and one of his own songs. Singing passionately in his gravelly voice, his performance spoke deeply to people of all ages who are tired of facile music and the commercialisation of life. Taking his personal social impact beyond his music, a stunning moment for the massive Voice of China audience was Khaliq’s choice not to have his hand raised in victory showing that in the Uyghur ethos respect and friendship are more valued than the individual triumph so promoted in many societies. Ethnic differences fall away in the face of the direct human connection Khaliq makes with his compelling music and gracious character, bridging fissures in the complex multi-ethnic Chinese landscape.

Perhat Khaliq is awarded for his skilled, expressive vocals, poetic lyrics and outstanding musical performance; for breathing new life into traditional Uyghur musical forms, both conserving and extending this unique cultural heritage; for bringing his music beyond his community and demonstrating that music can be used to communicate authentically with millions of people; and for bridging cultural differences, touching people’s hearts and minds.


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The most valuable thing in life, for me, is to live a natural life and have good intentions in everything I do. I love nature, and I don’t want to become a slave of modern society, or of so-called ‘development’. I search for goodness and joy in everything I do.

Music is bringing more meaning to people’s lives and they have a growing demand for good music. This means the whole society is growing and searching for different meanings that didn’t exist before.


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PERHAT KHALIQ: UNITING PEOPLE THROUGH CREATIVE MUSIC

BY MUKADDAS MIJIT

When music stems from the very depths of the artist’s heart, it has the power to change things. Simply put, Perhat is one of these artists who manage to touch upon the most profound of sentiments. Since his first appearance in the 2000s, he has continued to keep his audience guessing. His voice – serious and melancholic – touches, transforms and surmounts obstacles, and adapts the rules.

Before talking about his music though, we must first speak of his courage and his way of life – for he is an artist whose creation is born from his own story. Having grown up in an industrial working-class district, he knows poverty, the street and hard work all too well. At times in his music we can really hear the troubled neighbour -hoods of Ürümchi. He also suffered the disappearance of those close to him, losing his parents and eldest brother in quick succession. It is not difficult to detect the immense sadness that is present in his music. But he knows joy too, and in equal measure, for he is forever young at heart. He never abandons the happiness of life, and constantly enchants those around him with his presence and his music.

His style and the work that it produces combine all of these elements, and make him unique across both the Uyghur and Chinese music scenes.

His influence on the Uyghur music scene in Ürümchi is considerable. He figures amongst the first to have launched himself into a ‘mixed-race’ musical world – a blend of genres and styles. His reworkings of traditional chants and his own compositions have both brought a freshness to Urumchi’s music scene. Furthermore, his ability to relate to the youth and contemporary society has opened a channel through which to share real emotions, and to discover acoustics as well as diverse musical traditions. His compositions are simple yet direct. Despite having stirred up controversy in the

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past by setting himself apart from the traditional styles, today he is firmly establishing himself as an artistic necessity for the Uyghur region of Xinjiang.

Perhat is also an artist who creates encounters – not only musical, but human too. Since the birth of his group Qetiq, he has worked with musicians from diverse communities including both Kazakhs and Hans. Most recently, he collaborated with native musicians from six different countries for a historic tour, comprising 20 concerts across all of China.

It could be said that his appearance on television has worked miracles. Thanks to his music, people never before united have come to love the same voice – that of Perhat Khaliq. His voice has made them forget their differences, whether ethnic or cultural. He has become a symbol of understanding between the many different peoples of China. With his ‘rock’ voice and unorthodox approach, he is currently writing a new page in the musical history books – both Uyghur and Chinese alike.

Translated by Fred Andrews


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The traditional and the contemporary depend on each other. Modern music should work for traditional music, to make it even better. We are living in a modern world but traditions make music more diverse. I think modern music can make traditional music more accessible for younger generations.

I don’t know what my role is in this world or in China, because I don’t do what I do to become someone important. I never thought of being someone influential. I just make the music that I love. I express myself. It’s up to others to judge what my role is.

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FATOS LUBONJAWriting is for me a way of thinking my life, living it a second time on another plane, spiritual and intellectual. Sharing it with others is my way of passing on to them this sort of condensation of my life experience, which I consider the best of what I can give to society. As a publisher, I try to give to others the best of myself through the work of my preferred authors.— Fatos Lubonja

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FATOS LUBONJAALBANIALITERATURE, MEDIA & JOURNALISM

Fatos Lubonja (1951, Tirana) is a journalist, author, television commentator and leading critical voice in his country, often shocking the nation into necessary reflection. Seventeen years of imprisonment for ‘agitation and propaganda’ – due to critical writings and for supposedly belonging to a dissident under ground movement – only strengthened his fiercely democratic approach. While in solitary confinement, Lubonja wrote The Final Slaughter, a compelling Stalinist-Albanian re-interpretation of the Oedipus story, and later published Second Sentence describing his incarceration and the totalitarian labyrinth. Released when everyone was praising the new so-called demo cratic government, Lubonja was one of the first to denounce the ongoing human rights abuses including those against his imprisoners, former functionaries of the deposed regime.

Consistently objective in his analysis and maintaining complete independence from all political parties, Lubonja speaks out against oppression and wrongdoing in different guises regardless of the perpetrator. He exposes the frauds and abuses of those in power as well as those who seek to replace them, both on the left and the right. His semi-fictional book The False Apocalypse reports his experience of the political struggle in 1997 and Albania’s descent into anarchy.

A regular contributor to newspapers and television, Lubonja edits and publishes the periodical Përpjekja (Endeavour), which tackles sensitive issues such as Albanian nationalism, identity and myths, the growth of crony capitalism and the destruction of local architectural heritage.

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Fatos Lubonja is awarded for his honest and lucid literary accounts of crucial episodes in Albania’s recent history; for maintaining his intellectual integrity and independence in extreme circumstances; for continuously fighting for democracy, human rights, free speech and the right to tell his country’s story in a context where that freedom remains fragile; for broadening the scope of public debate and providing platforms for other critical voices; and for fearlessly speaking truth to power.


Writing my memoirs is an endeavour to overcome the traumas of communist dictatorship. It is a way to repair the irreparable, to establish justice at least in our collective consciousness. To fail to do this would be to keep the trauma inside and to transmit it to the next generation as a burden. I think that even if we have lived in much more ‘normal’ societies, we need to do the same if we want to create a better future for our children.


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FATOS LUBONJA: PRINCIPLED PROPONENT OF CRITICAL DEBATE

BY JOHN HODGSON

Fatos Lubonja, writer, activist for human and political rights, editor, journalist and television commentator, has been an outspoken and principled voice in Albanian public life for more than 20 years. Fatos was born in Tirana in 1951. He was arrested at the age of 23 after the police, while searching his home, discovered his writings, critical of the dictator Enver Hoxha. He has described his 17 years in the prisons and labour camps of communist Albania, in his memoir Second Sentence, his prison diary published as In the Seventeenth Year, and in short stories. In these works, Fatos focuses on the human ability to adapt, resist and survive, even in the most adverse circumstances. He reflects on the relationship between courage and fear, and the necessity of both. Although Fatos, in his prison writings, has borne witness to history, he has spoken of the need for a writer to do more than this – to be a prophet and judge. His novel The Final Slaughter, written on cigarette papers in prison, is a mythology of tyranny, describing how dictators too, in their crimes, are also following the instinct to survive. After his release in 1991, Fatos became chairman of the Albanian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights. He founded the quarterly periodical Përpjekja (Endeavour), with the aim of “encouraging a critical spirit in Albanian culture” and, at first, distributed the magazine personally by bicycle. For more than two decades, Përpjekja has been a scourge of conformity and careerism. In this magazine, and in his numerous articles in the press and his television appearances, Fatos has taken a stand against conventional ideas and lazy thinking. He has defied unpopularity by exposing cultural survivals of the communist era and the myths of romantic nationalist history, and he has inveighed against the despoliation of Albania’s natural environ ment and the disfigurement of the city of Tirana.

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He has denounced electoral fraud, cronyism and corruption, and spoken out against abuses of which every Albanian is aware, but few dare mention. Accused of lack of patriotism, he has retorted that his country needs critical debate more than flag waving.

In 1997, when Albania sank into anarchy following the collapse of the country’s numerous financial pyramids, Fatos played a key role in political events as chairman of the Forum for Democracy, a union of opposition forces. His most recent book The False Apocalypse looks back to the upheavals of this time, and also lays bare the subterranean continuities between the communist past and the neo-liberal present. The story of this book shows how Albania acted out, in extreme form, the tensions and illusions of Eastern Europe’s transition to capitalism.

Fatos Lubonja comes from a small European country with a distinctive history. But his writing is poised, as he has put it, “between the local and the universal” and his lucid, combative voice resonates with the wider experience of Europe at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries.


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If by culture we consider our way of living and thinking, then democracy, human rights and freedom of speech must go together with culture. Culture should create more room for democracy, human rights and freedom and vice versa in an unending process because, as Goethe says: “Freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew.”

Literature, among other things, helps us to understand and express ourselves, to understand and communicate with others, to develop our sympathies and our capacity for empathy. These are very important for becoming more responsible towards ourselves and to others.

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OSSAMA MOHAMMED

One generation after the other, Syrian cinematographers have built an inde-pendent light in their films. Defending cinema became a metaphor to the right of life. Syrian society invented its secret cells, pirated the cinema, regained stolen time, watched their imagination in secret.— Ossama Mohammed

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OSSAMA MOHAMMED SYRIAFILM

Ossama Mohammed (1954, Latakia) is a humanist filmmaker who powerfully conveys aspects of Syria’s complex history showing how abusive power destroys the fabric of society. Step by Step documents young men’s experiences with ideology and authority and their recruitment into the army. Stars in Broad Daylight is a scathing satire of authoritarianism, patriarchy and corruption. Innovative and artistically bold, with striking imagery and visual composition, it contributed to defining the language and aesthetics of Syrian cinema and profoundly impacted local culture.

Although public screenings were forbidden by the regime, his films were clandestinely watched and discussed, inspiring social and artistic courage. Until his exile following a statement on political prisoners at Cannes film festival in 2011, Mohammed ran a weekly show and debate on art and cinema, supported fellow filmmakers and was behind manifestos such as the 1999 Framework for the Development of Syrian Cinema.

Shot by ‘1,001 Syrians’ and co-filmed with Wiam Simav Bedirxan, a Kurdish activist in Homs, Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait combines shocking atrocities captured on mobile phones and collected on YouTube, the desperation of an exile watching from afar, and moving footage shot by Bedirxan on the streets of Homs in her courageous quest to be a reliable witness. Unflinching and poetic, it brings us to our emotions and the realities of the Syrian conflict in a profound way.

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Syria is a fountain of images that will not stop; the image of freedom; the freedom of the image, plurality and new aesthetic questions.

Ossama Mohammed is awarded for his potent use of film to interrogate humanity, power and conflict; for his innovative, poetic, aesthetic and practical contributions to Syrian cinema; for confronting numerous predicaments and obstacles in realistic and creative ways; for opening up debate about Syria and the use of violent images; for inventing a new cinematic mode based on social media to talk about the realities of exile and war-torn homeland in a dense pluralistic narrative; and for reaffirming the human need to bear witness and use the power of creativity and culture during conflict.



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OSSAMA MOHAMMED: RESILIENCE AND POETIC CREATIVITY AGAINST ALL ODDS

BY LISA WEDEEN

Ossama Mohammed is one of Syria’s most important directors, whose auteur style of filmmaking is responsible for films ranging from trenchant, dark satirical commentaries of regime rule to quasi-documentaries that defy conventional genre distinctions. Nujum alNahar (Stars of the Day, aka Stars in Broad Daylight,1988) is perhaps the most politically critical film ever to have been made in Syria. An insightful and revelatory critique, the film’s plot is a thinly disguised metaphor for political power and for the now deceased President Hafiz al-Assad’s ‘cult’ of personality. In the film, Mohammed depicts the moral crisis of a rural ‘Alawi family, some of whose members have moved to the city and succumbed to urban life and corrupt officialdom. As characters, they represent the regime’s vulgarity and brutality. The main male protagonist – who looks uncannily like the former ruler – is the controlling, manipulative, stingy brother and the de facto patriarch of the family, an association that explicitly connects patriarchal family life to martial rule and political violence. Drawing on his intimate knowledge of sectarian and regional specificities, Mohammed parodies the emptiness and tedium of official discourse, at the same time lamenting the beautiful but ultimately unlivable countryside. Overrun with petty familial disputes and patriarchal violence, rural life offers no refuge, even while collective fantasies of national belonging have themselves been reduced to vapid slogans – devoid of the hope or sense of community that animated the early days of post-colonial rule. These themes – patriarchal violence and rural disrepair, in particular – also motivate Mohammed’s stunning and brave first film, Khutwa, Khutwa (Step by Step, 1979), an experimental work he completed for his MA in Moscow. In this first major effort, Mohammed blurred the conventional boundaries between documentary and fiction, producing a poetic tour de force whose aesthetic and political sensibilities have continued to inspire new generations of Syrian filmmakers.

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Mohammed’s attention to the juxtaposition of beauty and violence in everyday life also finds expression in Sunduq al-Dunya (or ‘Camera Obscura’ – oddly translated as Sacrifices in the English version, 2002), another account of familial conflict in Syria’s coastal countryside. Less overtly political than Nujum alNahar, Sunduq al-Dunya focuses on a grandfather who wants to bestow his name upon one of his three grandchildren but dies before fulfilling his wish, consigning the children to a life of namelessness. Each grand-child finds meaning and pleasure in different ways over the course of a quasi-allegorical tale of human frailty, political power and the seductions of violence. The first child practices restraint and composure, the second, love, and the third, cruelty and caprice. Again we see power corrupting, even as the countryside, the filmmaker and the audience bear witness to life’s beauty and brutality. Symbols of fecundity and openness suggest the power of regeneration, while simultaneously producing a sense of being boxed in, not unlike an actual camera obscura, in which light from an external scene passes through the aperture into an enclosure, generating an inverted image.

In all of his films, Mohammed uses the symbols and language of political power to subvert official systems of signification. He brings to his cinematic object a profound sense of displacement born of his knowing a place extremely well. This displacement has now found tragic expression in the director’s own forced exile since 2011, as well as in his artistic efforts to grapple with the shift from peaceful protests to catastrophic war.

Ma’ alFidda (Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait, 2014) is a chronicle toggling between political possibility and agonising grief. Divided into two parts, the film first draws on Syrians’ cell-phone footage of peaceful demonstrations countered by regime ruthlessness to tell a story of ongoing courage and perseverance in the face of relentless efforts to destroy them both. In the second part the film narrates the director’s Facebook friendship with a young Syrian-Kurdish woman (Wiam Simav Bedirxan), who passes film footage of the destruction of her city of Homs on to him. Simav registers not only the inhumanity of war, but also her attempts to cling to the revolution’s promise. Like the shots of the clothes peg clasping


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to a makeshift line, Simav is hanging on – to the memories of her family, to the pleasure of music she happens to discover in an abandoned home, to a sense of the ordinary achieved in washing the laundry, to the hopes of a better future for the city’s remaining children, and to her felt duty to bring the images of war to the attention of the global public. Maimed and burned animals, bloodied bodies retrieved from decimated streets, scenes of irrevocable loss – these are some of the horrific images from the film that continue to generate controversy. Silvered Water garners acclaim, but also stimulates critical and necessary debate, about the role and obligations of cinema, the representation of victimisation, and the relationship between aesthetics and politics. Mohammed himself probes some of these issues in extradiegetic moments of questioning ‘what is beauty?’ and ‘what is cinema?’ drawing our attention to the artifice of the medium, to the beauty lurking in the grotesque, and to efforts to recover stories of human resilience and connection in the face of annihilating violence. This is ultimately a film that cannot be reduced either to its shocking scenes or to any romanticisation of resistance. It is, as the English subtitle suggests, a ‘self-portrait’ of 1,001 Syrians and the director, a film whose poetry resides in its unwavering insistence on the human capacity to make something new – as well as to destroy.

The image is similar to the human senses. Cinema, beauty, knowledge are the harmony of imaginations toward an endless life. Cinematic truth is an added truth, a new time in time, the dialogue of the senses of the filmmaker and the audience. The senses are the smartest – they are the energy of the times, past, present and future.

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OKSANA SHATALOVA I see the role of a curator as that of a public intellectual and the main goal of a public intellectual is a social critique of the dominant power relations.— Oksana Shatalova

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OKSANA SHATALOVA KAZAKHSTANVISUAL ARTS

Oksana Shatalova (1972, Rudny) is an influential artist, curator and art critic living in a small industrial town in the Central Asian region. Her engaged practice interrogates Kazakh society and its representations in sophisticated photographic and video-based work dissecting the Soviet past and daily social and economic problems.

The state-citizen relationship is explored with irony in The Romantics, which examines workers’ attitudes to the shift from socialism to capitalism, and in Conservation, which questions state-endorsed norms of progress through depiction of abandoned buildings. Her works on the politics of the body offer witty feminist commentary on Kazakhstan’s current context of inherited patriarchy and commercialisation in videos that deploy her own body as a coquettish witch (Witches), a mechanical slave doll (Biotech), a factory worker (Red Flag), and women doing facial exercises (Tortures of Beauty) or in a milk-and-roses bath (Mummification).

Shatalova’s curatorial work, such as ‘Stills’, a Central Asian photo project involving more than 80 artists and at the Central Asian Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale, demonstrates how artists move in and out of the centres and peripheries, looking both ways. One of the most active art critics in Central Asia, she frequently publishes incisive contributions on the state of art in her region and abroad in catalogues, art journals and online. She is a co-director of the School of Theory and Activism – Bishkek, a cultural and research institution, giving regular lectures and mentoring young Tadzhik, Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Kazakh artists.

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Oksana Shatalova is awarded for her exceptional commitment to multiple art roles in an isolated and difficult context; for combining her complex awareness of Kazakh society and contemporary conceptual languages to express meaningful realities across cultural boundaries; for intelligently articulating a critical position and sharing her ideas through her writings; for consistently turning her artistic work to socially relevant issues particularly gender inequality; and for generously mentoring, curating and promoting Central Asian artists.


Feminist art brings in a perspective that makes patriarchal power relations apparent and that challenges traditional gender roles and biological determinism in general.


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OKSANA SHATALOVA: EXPANDING THE AESTHETIC, INTELLECTUAL AND POLITICAL IMPACT OF WOMEN

BY BERAL MADRA

After the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, all the former Soviet states restructured their political, economic and cultural systems in accordance with Neo-capitalism; as a result we, as professional culture experts, have to base our knowledge of the once obscure Modern and Postmodern art scenes of Central Asia on authentic information and meticulous research. The term Post-Soviet Contemporary Art now refers to a vast research field. The artists, curators, galleries and related institutions have positioned themselves in the sophis ticated and complicated global culture industry. Since the exhibition Shamans, Mythmakers and Imagined Places curated by Viktor Misiano at the 51st Venice Biennale and a series of exhibitions realised in EU museums and galleries, they are within the main stream.

Taking the rather complicated path towards global recognition, the artists of Central Asia have paved their way to critical thinking and artmaking by utilising their own resources, going back to Suprematism and Constructivism as well as the new concepts and forms of today’s relational aesthetics. Through their works and activities they improved the communication and exchanges between the local-regional and global artistic and theoretical discourse and practice. For most artists of the first Post-Soviet generation the rupture of Soviet Modernism from the traditional or indigenous cultures has been a field of research and sceptical scrutiny. Oksana Shatalova is one of the prominent artists of the younger generation that had to face the realities of Neo-capitalism and consumerist culture and she has developed her artworks and curating practices within this complex context. Shatalova, with her artmaking, curating and teaching gives a perfect answer to the question: What is the role and function of the artist throughout the political and economic turbulence of the last 25 years?

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For Shatalova the past serves as a memory hub and a tool for analysis and criticism of the new order. Even these basic issues need an effort and good planning to be transformed into effective art works not only because of the still transforming infrastructures, but also because of the Modernist nature of general public appreciation that consigns contemporary artworks somewhere between handicraft and decoration. Photography and video, being the most used tools of today’s artmaking, are the two techniques that give Shatalova the upper hand in bypassing these obstacles and prejudices. She uses, recycles or re-evaluates retrospective themes of influence as a vast pool of visual, verbal and documentary material within the multifarious technologies of today’s artmaking and strategies. Without doubt a dissident individual and a feminist, Shatalova has a visible and active presence within the local socio-political panorama and can also reach global audiences.

Her performances in four video works Open Air Tango (2008) and Red Flag (2008), SPA-silk-milk-mysterious life (2009, exhibited in the Central Asia Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale), and Warning Woman (with Alla Girik, 2013) please the global viewer’s spirit with their enjoyable, amusing and ironic atmosphere and their ambitious and teasing presentation of women and identity before they shake our clichéd view of the Post-Soviet state of affairs. Content-wise these works challenge the viewer in a particular way, proposing self-identification as the female individual within the current state of affairs. The ludicrousness of the dedication to the red flag, the absurdity of the tango in no man’s land, the dictums of consumption culture such as organic life, the power of nature and affluence in the milk bath divert the viewer to place direct references to the influences of past and present ideologies and their new forms and practices in Neo-capitalism. The subversive and appalling images of Warning Woman are the culminating critical statements in this respect. We observe more direct associative elements of the conflict of the past and the present in Shatalova’s semi-documentary videos The Romantics (2011) and Rainbow Dreams (2007), in which the paradoxes of the current economic realities are juxtaposed with the individuals’ romantic and naïve approach.


255OKSANA SHATALOVA

Oksana Shatalova is resplendently contributing to the sustainability and expansion of the aesthetic, intellectual and political impact of women in visual arts, art history and art practice.

I think that art’s primary expertise is radical imagination. It’s in the milieu of art that we can imagine a better society.

Art can be seen as the territory on which various discriminated and minority groups can have a voice and can have access to political participation.

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Y’EN A MARRE

A youth that does not hold itself to account, and that is not constantly interrogating its society, is doomed to perpetuating the errors of the past, the same defects of its own society. Y’en a Marre instead represents a youth that is rebelling against itself, yearning for tangible change.— Y’en a Marre

257Y’EN A MARRE

Y’EN A MARRE SENEGALMUSIC, MEDIA & JOURNALISM

Y’en a Marre (2011, Dakar) is a multidisciplinary collective of popular rappers and investigative journalists using hip-hop culture to refashion citizenship. Fed up with recurring problems and knowing that everyone had that Y’en a Marre feeling (‘We’re Fed Up. Enough’s Enough’), co-founders Thiat, Kilifeu, Fadel Barro, Denise Sow, Aliou Sané, Djily Bagdad, Ahmed Seck, Abdoulaye Niass, Fou Malade and Simon decided to use their celebrity and skills to produce change.

Their first action was a citizens’ petition, ‘1000 Complaints to the Government’. The collective then mobilised protests to stop President Wade changing the constitution to retain power, and played a leading role in motivating voters to prevent his re-election in 2012 through campaigns and songs like ‘Register and Vote, That’s Your Weapon’.

Y’en a Marre performs directly in community spaces as well as rapping and rhyming their messages via concerts, radio, mobile phones and internet. They use both French and Wolof and incorporate colloquialisms, attracting all social groups. The track ‘Walking with Your Community’ and Observatory of Democracy and Good Governance strategy assist citizens to take ownership of local affairs and make elected officials accountable.

Independent of political parties, committed to peaceful means, and in the face of police violence, arrests and bribes, Y’en a Marre is nurturing strong civic responsibility. Its spirit and strategies are spreading to young activists across Africa.

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Y’en a Marre is awarded for re-inventing Senegalese rap through their socially-engaged lyrics and music; for putting hip-hop at the heart of their campaigns in an potent culture-and-activism mix; for their courageous and energetic commitment to informing and mobilising citizens to peacefully reclaim their role in governance and shaping the future; and for creating popular songs and strategies that speak convincingly to youth, inspiring action and reawakening the democratic spirit across West Africa and beyond.


When we speak of a new type of Senegalese, or a new type of African, it means that we believe dissidence has a role to play in establishing an opposition to such social malaises as pessimism, lack of civic spirit or neglect of public interest, in the hope that a more active and partici -patory form of citizenship might emerge.


259Y’EN A MARRE

Y’EN A MARRE: RAPPING FOR DEMOCRATIC CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT

BY SOULEYMANE BACHIR DIAGNE

In 2015 the Prince Claus Fund has once again resoundingly justified its raison d’être and its importance by choosing to celebrate the Y’en a Marre movement.

When talking about this group of rappers and journalists, it seems more appropriate to speak of a ‘movement’, in order to pay homage to the scale on which both their art and actions have been a catalyst for change. They have truly instigated a democratic shake-up – the effects of which are still being felt, both in Senegal and across the whole African continent, from Burkina Faso to Congo…

In selecting Y’en a Marre, the Fund has recognised art in its most instrumental form: when it becomes political intervention in the name of core values. The art of the rappers Kilifeu, Thiat and Fou Malade is indeed activism in itself – that much is evident in the video of their main hit, the single ‘Faux! Pas Forcé!’, which offers a superb illustration of the combined power of images and words. What better expression of the visceral pull of democracy than the spectacle of people leaving their houses to join a crowd that swells, united by the simple demand that their constitution be respected? What more eloquent image than that of this woman wrapping her shawl around her waist, ready to join the protest against state intervention?

If we look at the expression of the refusal found in the title ‘Faux! Pas Forcé!’ we find that it is polysemic in nature: a group of words that can be arranged and broken down in a variety of ways to suggest a plurality of meanings. The exclamation mark after ‘Faux!’ (‘Wrong!’) brings with it a definitive element, as if to say that anyone intent on meddling with what the rappers call ‘our constitution’ has made a serious error of judgement. But you can also find the term ‘faux pas’ within the title, and the rappers sing of how the president, ‘Abdoulaye’, was wrong-footed by succumbing to the temptation of hanging onto power instead of leaving through the

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front door with his head held high. There is of course the phrase ‘faut pas forcer’, (‘don’t force us’) which summarises the overall message. Finally, the inclusion of lyrics in Wolof serves only to heighten the powerful visionary appeal of the track.

The Prince Claus Award pays tribute to the insurrectional power of rap when channelled into a non-violent movement for democracy and citizenship.

A nonviolent movement: founded and developed on the singular notion of joining forces to reclaim the rights of the people, the movement aims to oppose force with truth and the sacred essence of fundamental law.

Armed only with the right to vote: faced with the challenge of amplifying the non-violent power of refusal, Fadel Barro, Denise Sow and Aliou Sané used their talent and experience as journalists to strengthen the movement through a masterful blend of communication and networking.

A movement for democracy: because it was necessary to defend core principles against a cynical politics that reserves the right to revoke its promises and claims that the constitution of a country can be adjusted to suit the will of those who are too quick to forget who they govern. This attachment to fundamental values is reflected in the group’s decision to hold its protests in the Place de la Obélisque, surrounding the monument that bears the emblems of the Republic of Senegal.

A movement for civic rights: for Y’en a Marre, in fact, beyond defending the rights of the population and the constitution, it is about engaging collectively with the aim of bringing about a ‘new type of Senegalese’ – one who is conscious of his/her civic responsibility in the life of the city, the preservation of the environment and the pursuit of the common good.


261Y’EN A MARRE

It is fortunate that the Prince Claus Award has been bestowed upon Y’en a Marre more than three years after the political changes that resulted in the victory of our current president – a transition that the movement was instrumental in bringing about. These three years have proved that Y’en a Marre has not compromised its integrity by aligning itself with the powers that rose from the transition. Instead, the movement remains a bastion of civic vigilance whilst keeping the insurrectional power of rap firmly intact.

Translated from French by Fred Andrews

Africa boasts a strong oral tradition – people are more reactive to speech than to the written word. What’s more, a large number of young people are into hip-hop and identify strongly with that kind of music. When you use music – especially rap music – to awaken consciousness and raise awareness of democracy and civil rights, you are sure to hit the mark.

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CEREMONIES

The 2015 Prince Claus Awards are presented by HRH Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands on 2 December 2015 at the Royal Palace, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The Prince Claus Awards are presented in the laureates’ countries by:

Ms S. Terstal, Netherlands Ambassador to IranMr J. Waltmans, Netherlands Ambassador to IraqMs G.A.A. Sneller, Netherlands Ambassador to ZimbabweMr J.C.M. Groffen, Netherlands Ambassador to NigeriaMr J. Frederiks, Netherlands Ambassador to CameroonMr M. de la Beij, Netherlands Ambassador to ArgentinaMr A. Jacobi, Netherlands Ambassador to ChinaMs D. van de Weerd, Netherlands Ambassador to AlbaniaMr E. Kronenburg, Netherlands Ambassador to France Mr H. Driesser, Netherlands Ambassador to Kazakhstan Mr T. Peters, Netherlands Ambassador to Senegal

The Prince Claus Fund is grateful for their co-operation and their advice.


263CEREMONIES

2014 Prince Claus Awards Ceremony (front left to right)Henk Pröpper HRH Princess MabelHM Queen Maxima 2014 Principal Laureate Abel RodriguezHM King Willem-AlexanderElisa Payeu CumemarimaHRH Princess BeatrixHRH Prince Constantijn HRH Princess LaurentienChrista Meindersma(back left to right)2014 Laureate Tran Luong2014 Laureate Ignacio Agüero2014 Laureate FX Harsono2014 Laureate Gülsün Karamustafa2014 Laureate Chitoor Lakshmi (SPARROW)2014 Laureate Rosina Cazali2014 Laureate Karen Bernedo (MIAxM)2014 Laureate Lav Diaz2014 Laureate Lia Rodrigues

Photo by Frank van Beek

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PRINCE CLAUS AWARDS COMMITTEE 2015

BREGTJE VAN DER HAAK (Chair) is a docu -mentary filmmaker and journalist. Since 1997, she has been directing international documentaries on social change, most recently for the VPRO Backlight series. Her documentaries have been shown on television, in film festivals and in art exhibitions around the world and include Lagos Wide & Close (2005), Saudi Solutions (2006), Satellite Queens (2007), Grand Paris: the president and the architects (2009), Aftermath of a Crisis (2011), DNA Dreams (2013), Digital Amnesia (2014), Access to Africa (2015) and Gimme Shelter (2015). As a creative director, she also developed several collaborative transmedia projects including Metropolis TV (2008), Urban Century (2009), Aftermath Project (2011), Atlas of Pentecostalism (2014) and Multiple Journalism (2014). Van der Haak is a board member of the Prince Claus Fund and the Praemium Erasmianum and has been a Visiting Associate Professor at the School of Creative Media, City University, Hong Kong, and a visiting scholar at USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism in Los Angeles.

SUAD AMIRY is a Palestinian architect, writer and community activist. She studied architecture at the American University of Beirut, urban planning at the University of Michigan and a PhD in archi -tecture at the University of Edinburgh. Amiry has taught at the Departments of Architecture in the University of Jordan and Birzeit University. She is the founder and the Director (1991–2012) of RIWAQ: Center of Architectural Conservation, which received the Prince Claus Award (2011) and the Aga Khan Prize for Architectural Restoration (2013). In addition to her numerous books on architecture, Amiry is the author of internationally acclaimed memoirs Sharon and My MotherinLaw (2006), which has been translated into 20 languages and was awarded the prestigious Viareggio Prize in Italy in 2004. She is also the author of Nothing to Lose But Your Life (2011) and Golda Slept Here (2015), which won the Italian Nonino Prize in 2014. Amiry was a member of the Palestinian-Israeli Peace Talks in Washington (1991–93) and the Vice President of Birzeit University’s Board of Trustees.

SALAH M. HASSAN is based at Cornell University where he is Goldwin Smith Professor and Director of the Institute of Comparative Modernities, Professor at the Africana Studies and Research Center, and Professor of African and African Diaspora Art History and Visual Culture in the Department of History of Art and Visual Studies. He has taught at the universities of New York and Pennsylvania, and the College of Fine and Applied Art in Khartoum. He curated Authentic/Ex-Centric (49th Venice Biennale, 2001), Unpacking Europe (Rotterdam, 2001–02), and 3x3: Three Artists/Three Projects, David Hammons, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Pamela Z (Dak’Art, 2004), among others. Founding editor of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, he has served as consulting editor for African Arts, Atlantica and the Journal of Curatorial Studies. His books include Diaspora, Memory, Place (2008), Unpacking Europe (2001), Art and Islamic Literacy among the Hausa of Northern Nigeria (1992), Darfur and the Crisis of Governance: A Critical Reader (2009) and Ibrahim El Salahi: A Visionary Modernist (2012).

KETTLY MARS is one of Haiti’s most celebrated contemporary writers. A graduate in Cultural Studies, she is the author of poetry, short stories, essays and seven novels that provide new perspectives on universal human realities through the lens of individual Haitian experience. Saisons Sauvages (2010) examines the complex and ambiguous web of power under Duvalier’s dictatorial regime. Aux frontières de la soif (2013) confronts the ‘side effects’ of international aid to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake through its exposé of juvenile prostitution within the shelter camps. Her most recent work, Je suis vivant (2015), is a polyphonic story about breaking silence and acknowledging the stigmata of mental illness told through the voices of a family learning to (re)live with a schizophrenic son and brother who, after 40 years in a psychiatric institution, is ejected because of the cholera epidemic introduced into Haiti via international aid. In 1996 Mars was awarded the Prix Jacques-Stephen Alexis, in 2006 the Prix Senghor, and in 2011 the Bourse Barbancourt and a Prince Claus Award.


265PRINCE CLAUS AWARDS COMMITTEE 2015

ONG KENG SEN is festival director of the new Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) and artistic director of TheatreWorks (Singapore). He is a well-known performance director and has actively contributed to the evolution of plural Asian aesthetics, as well as the subsequent trans -globalisation of these aesthetics in contemporary arts. He studied intercultural performance in his graduate degree with New York University, and also holds a law degree. An important part of his work is creating processes (The Flying Circus Project) as well as research with emerging artists. He founded and curated the In-Transit festival for the Haus der Kulteren der Welt in Berlin from 2001–3. He has taught in many universities including Das Arts, UCLA, the University of Amsterdam and the National University of Singapore. He is also the founder of Arts Network Asia which enables collaborative projects in Asia through microgrants. A Fulbright Scholar, Keng Sen was awarded the prestigious Fukuoka Prize 2010 for his work in Asian contemporary performance.

GABRIELA SALGADO is an independent curator with an MA in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art, London. Born in Argentina, she was curator of the Collection of Latin American Art at Essex University in the UK (1999–2005) and curator of Public Programmes at Tate Modern (2006–2011); the latter included two long engagement projects with artists Cildo Meireles (Brazil) and Humberto Vélez (Panama). She curated PRAXIS: Art in Times of Uncertainty, the 2nd Biennale of Thessaloniki in Greece (2009) and La Otra Bienal in Bogotá, Colombia (2013), as well as a large number of exhibitions in the UK and Latin America. Salgado was a member of the jury of Videobrasil Festival in São Paulo in 2011. She works as an arts consultant, curator and writer in Europe, Latin America and Africa, has lectured widely including in Chile, Algeria, Mexico, Senegal, Cuba, Brazil, China, Nigeria, Tunisia, the US and Cameroon, and is currently directing a programme of artistic exchanges between African and Latin American countries.

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The 2015 Prince Claus Awards Committee(left to right)Ong Ken SenGabriela SalgadoKettly MarsBregtje van der HaakSuad AmiryFariba DerahkhshaniSalah Hassan

Photo by Khalid Najah


267AWARDS POLICY AND PROCEDURES

AWARDS POLICY AND PROCEDURES

THE PRINCE CLAUS AWARDSThe Prince Claus Awards honour outstanding achievements in the field of culture and develop -ment. The awards are presented annually to individuals, groups and organisations whose cultural actions have a positive impact on the development of their societies.

In keeping with the Prince Claus Fund’s guiding principle that ‘culture is a basic need’, the awards highlight significant contributions in regions where resources or opportunities for cultural expression, creative production and preservation of cultural heritage are limited.

PROCEDURESThe Fund invites cultural experts from its global network to nominate candidates for the awards. Research is carried out by the Fund’s Bureau and second opinions sourced for all nominations. The Prince Claus Awards Committee meets twice a year to consider the information about the nominated candidates and presents its recom -mendations to the Board of the Prince Claus Fund.

In December each year, the Prince Claus Awards are presented to the Principal Laureate and ten further Laureates in a ceremony at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam in the presence of members of the Royal Family and an international audience. The Prince Claus Awards are also presented to the recipients at ceremonies in their respective countries by the Dutch Ambassadors.

For the 2015 Prince Claus Awards, 250 people were invited to make nominations. A total of 103 nominations was received and researched by the Bureau. The Prince Claus Awards Committee met in December 2014 and drew up a shortlist for further research and second opinions from experts and advisors. During their second meeting in May 2015, the Awards Committee conducted in-depth assessments of the 38 shortlisted candidates and selected 11 recipients for the 2015 Prince Claus Awards. The Awards Committee’s recommendations were presented to the Board of the Prince Claus Fund in June 2015.

POLICY AND CRITERIA The Prince Claus Fund maintains a broad view of culture open to all artistic and intellectual disciplines. The Prince Claus Awards are presented to artists and intellectuals in recognition of both the excellent quality of their work and their significant impact on the development of their society. The awards are given to individuals, groups and organisations based mainly in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Outstanding quality is a sine qua non for a Prince Claus Award. The quality of a laureate’s work is assessed in professional and personal contexts and for its positive influence on cultural and social fields. The Prince Claus Awards recognise artistic and intellectual qualities, experimentation and innovation, audacity and tenacity. They seek to foster inspirational leadership and to enhance the positive impact of cultural expression on societies.

The complete Report of the 2015 Prince Claus Awards Committee is available in Spanish, French and English on the Fund’s website: www.princeclausfund.org

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CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS

SHIVA BALAGHI is a scholar and curator specialising in modern and contemporary art of the Middle East. She is currently a Visiting Scholar in the History of Art and Architecture Department at Brown University, US. Her recent projects include co-curating a retrospective of Parviz Tanavoli’s art at the Davis Museum of Wellesley College and curating Ghada Amer’s exhibition, titled Earth Love Fire, in Dubai. She has written widely on visual culture for publications such as Artforum, Ibraaz, Canvas, Iranian Studies, the ezine Jadaliyya and the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP). Her books include Reconstructing Gender in the Middle East (co-edited, 1994) and Picturing Iran: Art, Society and Revolution (co-edited, 2002).

CATHERINE DAVID is a curator, art historian and museum director. She was curator at the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou (1982–90) and the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume (1990–94), artistic director for Documenta X (1994–97) and curated the film and video programme of the XXIV Biennial of São Paulo (1999). Since 1998 David has been director of the project Contemporary Arab Representations, staging exhibitions such as The Iraqi Equation (Berlin and Barcelona, 2006); Di/Visions: Culture and Politics in the Middle East (Berlin, 2007); a retrospective of Bahman Jalali (Barcelona, 2009); Hassan Sharif: Experiments & Objects 1979–2011 (Abu Dhabi, 2011) and Unedited History, Iran 1960–2014 (Paris, 2014). Director of the Witte de With (Rotterdam, 2002–04) and of the first national presentation of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage at the Venice Biennale (2009), she is deputy director and head of global outreach for the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris.

SOULEYMANE BACHIR DIAGNE is a Professor at Columbia University in the departments of French and Philosophy. His field of research includes history of logic, history of philosophy, Islamic philosophy, African philosophy and literature. His latest publications are: African Art as Philosophy: Senghor, Bergson, and the Idea of Negritude (Seagull, 2011); Bergson postcolonial: L’élan vital

dans la pensée de Léopold Sédar Senghor et de Mohamed Iqbal (Paris, Editions du CNRS, 2011), which was awarded the Dagnan-Bouveret Prize by the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences; and L’encre des savants: Reflexions sur la philosophie en Afrique (Paris and Dakar, Codesria and Presence Africaine, 2013).

MANTHIA DIAWARA holds the Chair of University Professor of the Humanities and Arts at New York University. He is the author of several books on literature, film and art, including In Search of Africa (1998), We Wont Budge (2003) and African Film: New Forms of Aesthetics and Politics (2010). His recent documentary films include Maison Tropicale (2007) and Edouard Glissant, One World in Relation (2011). Diawara has served on numerous editorial boards and international juries, including the Awards Committee of the Prince Claus Fund. He is director of the Institute of African American Affairs and founding editor of Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noire.

CHARLES ESCHE is a curator and writer. He is director of the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven and co-editorial director and co-founder with Mark Lewis of Afterall Journal and Books. In 2014 he curated the Sao Paulo Biennale. In addition to his institutional curating, he has (co-)curated a number of major international exhibitions including U3 Triennale, Ljubljana (2011); Riwaq Biennale, Ramallah with Reem Fadda (2007 and 2009); Istanbul Biennale with Vasif Kortun (2005); Gwangju Biennale with Hou Hanru (2002). Currently, he is involved in the Jakarta Biennale 2015. He teaches at Central St Martins and the De Appel Curatorial Course, Amsterdam. He is a board member of CIMAM and chair of CASCO, Utrecht, NL. In 2012 he was awarded the Princess Margriet Award for Cultural Change by the European Cultural Foundation; in 2013 the Minumum Prize by the Pistoletto Foundation and in 2014 the CCS Bard College Prize for Curatorial Excellence.

JOHN HODGSON is a translator and interpreter from Albanian to English, and has worked for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. He has translated Fatos Lubonja’s Second Sentence (IB Tauris 2009) and


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The False Apocalypse (Istros Books 2014), as well as an English-language anthology from Përpjekja, entitled Endeavour (Përpjekja, Tirana, 1998). He has also translated several novels by Ismail Kadare.

BERAL MADRA is a curator, art critic and director of BM Contemporary Art Centre in Istanbul since 1984. She curated the 1st (1987) and 2nd (1989) Istanbul Biennale, the Pavilion of Turkey in the 43rd, 45th, 49th, 50th and 51st Venice Biennale (2008–2010) and co-curated the exhibition Modernities and Memories – Recent Works from the Islamic World in the 47th Venice Biennale. Visual Arts Director of Istanbul 2010 ECOC, Beral Madra has represented and co-ordinated the Federal State of Berlin’s Istanbul Scholarships (1995–2013), lectured on art manage -ment at the Faculty of Art and Design, Yildiz Technical University (1998–2002) and is a founding member (2003) and honorary president of AICA –Turkey. Along with numerous articles and essays, her publications include: Identity of Contemporary Art (1987), Post-peripheral Flux – A Decade of Contemporary Art in Istanbul (1996), Maidan Essays on Contemporary Art in South Caucasus and Middle East (2007) and Home Affairs, Essays on Contemporary Art in Turkey (2009).

MUKADDAS MIJIT is a ethnomusicologist, filmmaker, dancer and music manager. In 2003 she went to Paris to study classical music but the non-visibility of Uyghur culture made her decide to study Ethnomusicology to enable her to promote her own culture. She completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Paris West University Nanterre La Défense and at the Sorbonne, respectively, by 2009 and is currently researching her PhD on the ‘Staging of Uyghur Dance and Music’. Mukaddas Mijit has organised festivals, concerts and dance workshops about Uyghur culture, worked as a programmer and adviser for international festivals, and produced ethnographic documentary films about Uyghur music and dance. Her first feature-length docu -mentary, Qetiq, Rock’n Ürümchi (2013) received a nomination in 10th Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival in 2014. As an artiste she is involved in several dance and music projects in France and the US.

CHIKA OKEKE-AGULU is a poet, artist, curator, and Associate Professor of Art History in the Department of Art & Archaeology and Depart -ment of African American Studies at Princeton University. His most recent book is Postcolonial Modernism: Art and Decolonization in Twentieth-Century Nigeria (Duke University Press, 2015). He is co-editor of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, and sits on the editorial boards of the Journal of African American Studies, the Journal of Igbo Studies, and CallalooArt. Okeke-Agulu is a columnist for The Huffington Post and maintains an active blog, -Ãf-Õdunka: Art, Life, Politics.

LISA WEDEEN is the Mary R. Morton Professor of Political Science and the co-director of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory at the University of Chicago. She is the author of Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria (1999) and Peripheral Visions: Publics, Power and Performance in Yemen (2008) as well as numerous articles including ‘Conceptualizing “Culture”: Possibilities for Political Science’ (2002), ‘Concepts and Commitments in the Study of Democracy’ (2004), ‘Ethnography as an Interpretive Enterprise’ (2009), ‘Reflections on Ethnographic Work in Political Science’ (2010) and ‘Ideology and Humor in Dark Times: Notes from Syria’ (2013). She is the recipient of the David Collier Mid-Career Achievement Award and an NSF fellowship. She is currently working on a book about ideology, neoliberal autocracy and generational change in present-day Syria.

PRAISE ZENENGA is an Associate Professor in the Africana Studies Program at the University of Arizona. As a theatre historian and dramatic literature specialist, his research and teaching focus on interdisciplinary approaches to under -standing issues of identity (gender, race, class and language), aesthetics, politics, social justice and change in the literature and performance of Africa and African diaspora communities. He has published several dozen journal articles and book chapters on masculinities, censorship, avant-gardism, political expression and modes of protest in African theatre and performance. His work has been published by world-renowned presses including Cambridge and Oxford Universities, Duke University, Routledge and Rodopi.

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The Prince Claus Fund would like to thank all those who have advised on candidacies and on many ideas and issues put before them:

AbbasRosh AbdelfatahAzam AbidovFred AbrahamsSharon Alane AbramowitzLalita AdhinJude AkudinobiRobert AlagjozovskiShahidul Alam Sadik Jalal Al AzmBrittin AlfredReem Al GhazziYassin Al-Haj SalehJoumana Al JabriMasa Al-KutoubiJude AnogwihPatricia ArizaSaïd AtabekovMohammed Ali AtassiBart de BaereEdward BalassanianDanillo BarataEugenio BarbaYto BarradaDoruntina BashaVeronica BaxterAnthony BebbingtonSally BergerVictoria BernalKaren BernedoAshok BhalotraAspha BijnaarEroll BilibaniSusan BlankhartJanice BoddyLars BoeringCecile BoëxJacek Koss Bogumil

Mahen BonettiStephanie Bosch SantanaLynne BrydonDevin BrysonClaire BurkertJeffrey BuryZoe ButtDiana Campbell BetancourtRicardo CarmonaSandra CeballosClaudia CelliniMalika ChaghalBrian ChikwavaKennedy ChinyowaDavid ClarkeKsenija CockovaCecily CookCaroline CooperLuca CoronaSuzanne CotterAlice CreischerRobert CribbVanessa CrowleyIvet CurlinSusan Curtis-KojakovicIgor CusackSandra DagherMona DamlujiTsitsi DangarembgaGeert-Jan DavelaarCatherine DavidStuart DayVanessa De SmetRuth DeFriesTorie Rose DeGhettMamadou DiméMamadou DioufAnja DirksThea DoelwijtSilvia DolinkoMarilyn Douala-Bell SchaubMichael DreyerNorkor Duah

Laurent DuboisRos DunlopVirginie DuprayHertiana Dwi PutriElvira Dyangani OseNtone EdjabeRena EffendiRuth EichhornGalit EilatTarek El-ArissSafia ElhilloBeti EllersonRobert ElsieCharles EscheDaria EvdokimovaLiza FaktorSolange Oliveira FarkasFariba FarshadRashiq FataarYasmin FeddaAnne FeenstraKristin FeireissCarla FernándezTatiana FloresGeraldine ForbesRichard FungAlice GabrinerDaniel W GadeAudrey GadzekpoNathalie GallonLina GhaibehRebecca GladeVibbeke GlorstadLilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang YouJan GoossensThiresh GovenderMike van GraanCathy GrahamLouise Noelle GrasKristen GreshAida GrovestinsAndrew GumbelSunil GuptaDaves Guzha

Stefan de HaanMustafa HaidMalu HalasaKathy HalbreichDavid HananHou HanruNita HasaniHe ShuzhongJulius HeinickeAnn HermelijnAriel HeryantoPandora HodgeFrancis HodgsonJohn HodgsonBrian HolmesRose IssaShannon JacksonEva-Lynn JagoeJyotindra JainMaarten JansenNina JurnaEdwin JurriensSanjay KakRoobina KarodeHamid KeshmirshekanHicham KhalidiBernard KhouryBastiaan KluftMichket KrifaJ. B. KristantoRaman Siva KumarLuba KuzovnikovaPeter LabanSiri LamoureauxJill LaneBerend van der LansPeju LayiwolaDoreen LeeTayeba Begum LipiAna LongoniLliane LootsTanja LubbersSandro LuninBeral MadraFlorencia MalbránKaren Malpede

ACKNOWLEDGE MENTS


271ACKNOWLEDGE MENTS

Georgy MamedovLynee MareeMirjam MarksSithabile MatheTélesphore Mba BizoDuncan McCargoDavid McTierRahul MehrotraSusan MeiselasWim MelisMariangela MéndezAngela MingasZayd MintyRima MokaieshHarper MontgomeryIdrissou Mora-KpaïJessica MorganRabih MrouéEduard MukaHuma MuljiNat MullerMarie MuraccioleNeo Potlako MuyangaSanette NaeyéRavi NaidooOhemaa Nana Asaa Safoa IIJean-Yves NavelKristina NelsonGeorge NgwaneKatherine NighErnst NoormanZoe NorridgeOrwa NyrabiaChika Okeke-AguluNnenna OkoreZaher OmareenEllen OmbreJoshua OppenheimerRobyn OrlinBenjamin OrloveJulio OrtegaJoe Osae-AddoFran Osseo-AsareRobtel Neajai PaileyScully Pamela

Alke PandeIntan ParamadithaGabriel PartosRaj PatelJay PatherAna PatoBorka PavicevicNelly Rocio PenarandaRob PerréeDave PetersonKwame PianimKatarzyna PieprzakEdgar PieterseMarcel Hendrik PinasDaniel PiperBruno PlasseJane PlastowRobert PledgeKira PollackGonzalo Portocarrero MaisMichelle ProvoostAna Elena PugaDavide QuadrioRonald RaelCarlo RattiNada RazaDouglas RepettoOussama RifahiTarcila Rivera ZeaCaroline Robertson von-TrothaFrançoise RobinClaudia RodenLia RodriguesWilma RoosRacha SalahMinna SalamiFrancisco SalgadoRasha SaltiNadia SamdaniGerard SamuelStaci ScheiwillerMarc SchmitzMaria ScurrahJessica Segall

Hamid SeveriNada ShaboutStephen SheehiVidya ShivadasEphim ShlugerSuha ShomanAdrienne SichelDayanita SinghGera SnellerMichael SorkinSean SoutheyMarpue SpaerDavid SpaldingMichael SpavorSharath SrinivasanArthur SteinerAlex van Stipriaan LuïsciusTheodore SutherlandAhmad Yudi TajudinPeter TaylorOdile TevieGeorgina ThompsonFernando de ToroNahid ToubiaTsegmid TsendpurevBoima TuckerMike UwemedimoAnniemie VanackereSofia Vollmer de MaduroKarin Von RoquesNathalie de VriesBas VroegeJasper WalgraveJonathan WatkinsLisa WedeenSelene WendtAnnu WileniusXi BeiJanette YarwoodPraise ZenengaDaniel ZivGertjan Zuilhof

272

THE PRINCE CLAUS FUND WISHES TO THANK

The Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Amsterdam for the reception given to welcome the international guests of the Prince Claus Fund

The Dutch Embassies in Iran, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Cameroon, Argentina, China, Albania, France, Kazakhstan and Senegal for their co-operation in the organisation of ceremonies and events celebrating the 2015 Prince Claus Awards in the laureates’ respective countries

*****

Very special thanks to the Directors of the Luxury Hotels of Amsterdam and Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy that have offered rooms to the international guests of the Prince Claus Fund, and particular thanks to Mr M. van Aelst

Hotel de l’Europe and Mr T. Krooswijk for sponsoring the Prince Claus Fund annual dinner on 3 September

The Luxury Hotels of Amsterdam for organising the Amsterdam for Cultural Expression benefit gala on 6 October

OUR TORCHBEARERS

AkzoNobelBeamSystems Mr and Mrs De Bruin-HeijnDon Quixote Foundation Marc and Janneke Dreesmann-BeerkensMarry de Gaay Fortman and Evert Meiling KLM STICHTING KRAMER-LEMS Stichting Optimix Ribbink-Van Den Hoek FamiliestichtingTEFAF Versteeg Wigman Sprey advocaten

Special thanks to:America Digitaal Druk EW Facility Services & AttendFD MediagroepHéman HorecaverhuurHerômeInterbest Outdoor Media Passenger Terminal Amsterdam


273THE PRINCE CLAUS FUND WISHES TO THANK

OUR COLLABORATING PARTNERS

274

THE PRINCE CLAUS FUND

BOARD OF THE PRINCE CLAUS FUND

HRH Prince Constantijn Honorary ChairHenk Pröpper Chair, Director De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsHerman Froger Vice Chair, Lawyer, former Ambassador to Sri Lanka, South Africa, Israel and Portugal, Vorden, The NetherlandsPascal Visée Treasurer, Management Consultant, Rotterdam, The NetherlandsBoris Dittrich Lawyer, Advocacy Director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender programme for Human Rights Watch, Berlin, GermanyMarjorie Boston Artistic Director of RIGHTABOUTNOW Inc., Amsterdam, The NetherlandsBregtje van der Haak Documentary Filmmaker and Journalist, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsPatricia Spyer Professor of Socio-cultural Anthropology of Contemporary Indonesia, Leiden, The Netherlands

2015 PRINCE CLAUS AWARDS COMMITTEE Bregtje van der Haak Chair, Documentary Filmmaker and Journalist, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsSuad Amiry Architect and Writer, Ramallah, Palestine / New York, USASalah Hassan Professor of African Art History and Visual Culture, Sudan / Ithaca, USAKettly Mars Writer, Port au Prince, Haiti Ong Keng Sen Theatre Producer and Artistic Director, SingaporeGabriela Salgado Independent Curator, Argentina / London, UK

Fariba Derakhshani is Secretary to the Awards Committee

OFFICE OF THE PRINCE CLAUS FUND

Joumana El Zein Khoury DirectorFariba Derakhshani Programme Coordinator AwardsBertan Selim Programme Coordinator Grants & Collaborations Deborah Stolk Programme Coordinator Cultural Emergency Response Caro Mendez Coordinator Monitoring & EvaluationMette Gratama van Andel Coordinator ResearchDilara Jaring-Kanik Coordinator OutreachLiesbeth van Biezen Coordinator FundraisingAdrienne Schneider Executive AssistantSarah Smith Communications OfficerLinda van der Gaag ResearcherEveline de Weerd ResearcherEmma Bijloos ResearcherAlexander Bishop Staff member Cultural Emergency Response ProgrammeSlavica Ilieska Staff member Grants and Collaborations ProgrammeCora Taal Staff member Monitoring & EvaluationSaskia van Boheemen Staff member Awards ProgrammeNathalie Ho-Kang-You Office AssistantEvelyn Onnes-Fruitema Documentalist (Volunteer)


275THE PRINCE CLAUS FUND

NETWORK COMMITTEE

Malika Chaghal Executive Director of Cinémathèque de Tanger, Tangier, MoroccoJoseph Osae-Addo and Tuuli Saarela Co-Directors of ArchiAfrika, GhanaZoe Butt Director of San Art, VietnamJama Mussee Jama and Ayan Mahamoud Founders of Redsea Online Cultural Foundation, SomalilandOrwa Nyrabia and Guevara Namer Co-Directors of Dox Box, SyriaMarcel Pinas Director of Kibii Foundation, SurinameLaurence Hugues Director of International Alliance of Independent Publishers, Paris, FranceLaxmi Murthy Associate Editor at Southeast Trust, Southeast Director of Hri Institute, Kathmandu, NepalVirginie Dupray Executive Director at Studios Kabako, Kisangani, DR CongoAna Piedad Restrepo Jaramillo Director of Museo de Antioquia, Medellín, ColombiaEdi Muka Co-Director of Tirana Institute of Contemporary Art (TICA), Tirana, Albania

Bertan Selim is Secretary to the Network Committee

STEERING COMMITTEE CULTURAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE (CER)

Charlotte Huygens Outgoing Chair, Deputy Director at Museum Panorama Mesdag, The Hague, The NetherlandsMechtild van den Hombergh Incoming Chair, Van den Hombergh Consultancy, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsOle Bouman Founding Director at Shekou Design Museum, ShenzhenChina / Amsterdam, The NetherlandsValerie Sluijter Former Netherlands Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina, The Hague, The NetherlandsEvert Meiling Van Ede and Partners, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsMichelle Parlevliet Research Fellow in Human Rights and Peacebuilding, University of Amsterdam, Bosch en Duin, The Netherlands

Deborah Stolk is Secretary to the Steering Committee Cultural Emergency Response

276

LAUREATES OF THE PRINCE CLAUS FUND 2015–1997

2015 Principal Prince Claus AwardNewsha Tavakolian Iran

Further 2015 Prince Claus AwardsLatif Al-Ani IraqAmakhosi ZimbabweJelili Atiku NigeriaJean-Pierre Bekolo CameroonEtcetera ArgentinaPerhat Khaliq ChinaFatos Lubonja AlbaniaOssama Mohammad SyriaOksana Shatalova KazakhstanY’en a Marre Senegal

2014 Principal Prince Claus AwardAbel Rodríguez Colombia

Further 2014 Prince Claus AwardsIgnacio Agüero ChileRosina Cazali GuatemalaLav Diaz PhilippinesFX Harsono IndonesiaGülsün Karamustafa Turkey Museo Itinerante de Arte por la Memoria PeruLia Rodrigues BrazilSPARROW (Sound & Picture Archives for Research on Women) lndiaTran Luong Vietnam

The 2014 Prince Claus Awards performance was a dance choreographed by Lia Rodrigues and a film and music performance con ceived by Fernando Arias with Colombian musicians Urián Sarmiento and Pedro Ojeda

2013 Principal Prince Claus AwardAhmed Fouad Negm Egypt

Further 2013 Prince Claus AwardsChristopher Cozier Trinidad & TobagoCarla Fernández Mexico Naiza Khan PakistanLu Guang China Idrissou Mora-Kpaï BeninZanele Muholi South AfricaOscar Muñoz ColombiaOrquesta de Instrumentos Reciclados Cateura Paraguay Teater Garasi/Garasi Performance Institute IndonesiaAlejandro Zambra Chile

The 2013 Prince Claus Awards performances were by Carla Fernández, Mona Anis, and Victor Gama with Yetzabel Arias Fernandez, Té Macedo and the Oophaga Ensemble

2012 Principal Prince Claus AwardEloísa Cartonera Argentina

Further 2012 Prince Claus AwardsSami Ben Gharbia Tunisia Habiba Djahnine AlgeriaYassin al Haj Saleh Syria Widad Kawar JordanTeresa Margolles MexicoBoniface Mwangi KenyaPhare Ponleu Selpak CambodiaIan Randle Jamaica Maung Thura alias Zarganar BurmaMaxamed Warsame alias Hadraawi Somalia

The 2012 Prince Claus Awards performances were by Rabih Mroué, Rima Khcheich, and by Pablo Inza and Moira Castellano

2011 Principal Prince Claus Award Chimurenga/Ntone Edjabe South Africa/Cameroon Further 2011 Prince Claus Awards Saïd Atabekov KazakhstanThe Book Café Zimbabwe Nidia Bustos Nicaragua Rena Effendi Azerbaijan Regina José Galindo Guatemala Ilkhom Theatre Uzbekistan Kettly Mars Haiti Rabih Mroué Lebanon Riwaq Palestine Tsering Woeser Tibet/China

The 2011 Prince Claus Awards performances were by Neo Muyanga and UZUbandi, and by Fernando Arias and Patrick Acogny

2010 Principal Prince Claus Award for ‘Frontiers of Reality’ Barzakh Algeria Further 2010 Prince Claus Awards Decolonizing Architecture institute (DAi) Palestine Maya Goded Mexico Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev Kyrgyzstan Kwani Trust Kenya Dinh Q. Lê Vietnam


277LAUREATES OF THE PRINCE CLAUS FUND 2015–1997

Ana Maria Machado Brazil Mehrdad Oskouei Iran Yoani Sánchez Cuba Aung Zaw Myanmar/Thailand Jia Zhang-Ke China

The 2010 Prince Claus Awards performances were by Dinh Q. Lê, Thi To Phuong Nguyen and the +84 Contemporary Dance Group

2009 Principal Prince Claus Award for ‘Culture and Nature’ Simon Vélez Colombia Further 2009 Prince Claus Awards Gastón Acurio Peru El Anatsui Nigeria/Ghana Sammy Baloji DR Congo Kanak Mani Dixit Nepal Doual’art Cameroon Instituto de Historia de Nicaragua y Centroamericana (IHNCA) Nicaragua Liang Shaoji China Jivya Soma Mashe India Santu Mofokeng South Africa Desiderio Navarro Cuba The 2009 Prince Claus Awards performance was given by The Omnibus Ensemble

2008 Principal Prince Claus Award for ‘Culture and the Human Body’ Indira Goswami India Further 2008 Prince Claus Awards

Tania Bruguera Cuba Carlos Henríquez Consalvi El Salvador Uchechukwu James Iroha NigeriaLi Xianting China Ma Ke China Venerable Purevbat Mongolia Jeanguy Saintus Haiti Dayanita Singh India Ousmane Sow Senegal Elia Suleiman Palestine The 2008 Prince Claus Awards performance was given by Ma Ke and by Ayikodans

2007 Principal Prince Claus Award for ‘Culture and Conflict’ Faustin Linyekula DR Congo Further 2007 Prince Claus Awards Patricia Ariza Colombia Ars Aevi Bosnia & Herzegovina Augusto Boal Brazil Óscar Hagerman Mexico Emily Jacir Palestine Harutyun Khachatryan Armenia Hollis Liverpool alias Chalkdust Trinidad & Tobago Godfrey Mwampembwa alias Gado Kenya Radio Isanganiro Burundi The Sudanese Writers Union Sudan The 2007 Prince Claus Awards performance was given by Hollis Liverpool, alias Chalkdust and by Faustin Linyekula and Serge Kakudji

2006 Marking the 10-year anniversary of the Prince Claus Fund, Principal Prince Claus Award Reza Abedini Iran Further 2006 Prince Claus Awards Lida Abdul Afghanistan Erna Brodber Jamaica Henry Chakava Kenya Committee for Relevant Art Nigeria Frankétienne Haiti Madeeha Gauhar Pakistan Al Kamandjâti Association Palestine Michael Mel Papua New Guinea National Museum of Mali Mali Christine Tohme Lebanon The 2006 Prince Claus Awards performance was given by the Stars of the Sahel Opera

2005 Principal Prince Claus Award for ‘Humour and Satire’ Jonathan Shapiro alias Zapiro South Africa Further 2005 Prince Claus Awards Niède Guidon Brazil Slamet Gundono Indonesia Edgar Langeveldt Zimbabwe Joaquín Salvador Lavado alias Quino Argentina Ebrahim Nabavi Iran Opiyo Okach Kenya Michael Poghosian Armenia Lenin El Ramly Egypt Chéri Samba DR Congo Abdul Sheriff Tanzania

278

The 2005 performance was by Jant-Bi, with choreography by Germaine and Patrick Acogny

2004 Principal Prince Claus Award for ‘The Positive Results of Asylum and Migration’ Mahmoud Darwish Palestine Further 2004 Prince Claus Awards Jawad Al Assadi Iraq Ivaldo Bertazzo Brazil Bhutan Archery Federation Bhutan Halet Çambel Turkey Omara Khan Massoudi Afghanistan Memoria Abierta Argentina Tin Moe Myanmar Farroukh Qasim Tajikistan Aminata Traoré Mali

The 2004 Prince Claus Awards performance was given by Carlinhos Brown

2003 Principal Prince Claus Award for ‘The Survival and Innovation of Crafts’ Wang Shixiang China Further 2003 Prince Claus Awards Arab Human Development Report 2002 Biboki Weavers and Yovita Meta Indonesia Carlinhos Brown Brazil G.N. Devy India District Six Museum South Africa

Mathare Youth Sports Association Kenya New Argentinian Cinema: Lita Stantic Argentina Mick Pearce Zimbabwe Reyum Institute of Arts and Culture Cambodia Hasan Saltik Turkey The 2003 Prince Claus Awards performance was given by Heri Dono

2002 Principal Prince Claus Award for ‘Languages and Transcultural Forms of Expression’ Mohammed Chafik Morocco Further 2002 Prince Claus Awards Ali Ferzat Syria Ferreira Gullar Brazil Amira Hass Israel Marcelo Araúz Lavadenz Bolivia Lembaga Kajian Islam dan Sosial Indonesia Youssou N’Dour Senegal Virginia Pérez-Ratton Costa Rica Walter Tournier Uruguay Wu Liangyong China The 2002 Prince Claus Awards performance was given by Youssou N’Dour with Senegalese and Moroccan rappers

2001 Principal Prince Claus Award for ‘Carnival’ Peter Minshall Trinidad Stichting Zomercarnaval The Netherlands

Further 2001 Prince Claus Awards Chris Abani Nigeria/USA Duong Thu Huong Vietnam Samuel Fosso Central African Republic Jahan-e Ketab Iran Mehri Maftun Afghanistan Antoun Maqdesi Syria Elena Rivera Mirano Philippines Ibrahim Salahi Sudan/UK Talingo Panama Iván Thays Peru The 2001 Prince Claus Awards speech was delivered by Rex Nettleford The 2001 Prince Claus Awards performance was by Peter Minshall and the Callaloo Company

2000 Principal Prince Claus Award for ‘Urban Heroes’ Jaime Lerner Brazil Francisco Toledo Mexico Viva Rio Brazil Further 2000 Prince Claus Awards Bush Radio South Africa Communalism Combat India Cui Jian China Film Resource Unit South Africa Arif Hasan Pakistan Bhupen Khakhar India Komal Kothari India Werewere Liking Ivory Coast Ayu Utami Indonesia Van Leo Egypt


279LAUREATES OF THE PRINCE CLAUS FUND 2015–1997

The 2000 Prince Claus Awards speech was delivered by Ismail Serageldin The 2000 Prince Claus Awards performance was a film and performance by Wu Wenguang

1999 Principal Prince Claus Award for ‘Creating Spaces of Freedom’ Fellag France/Algeria Al-Jazeera Qatar Vitral Cuba Further 1999 Prince Claus Awards Patrick Chamoiseau Martinique Paulin J. Hountondji Benin Cildo Meireles Brazil Pepetela Angola Dessalegn Rahmato Ethiopia Juana Marta Rodas and Julia Isídrez Paraguay Claudia Roden UK/Egypt Cheick Oumar Sissoko Mali Tsai Chih Chung Taiwan Ken Yeang Malaysia The 1999 Prince Claus Awards speech was delivered by Albie Sachs The 1999 Prince Claus Awards performance was by William Kentridge

1998 Principal Prince Claus Award for ‘The Art of African Fashion’ Tetteh Adzedu Ghana Alphadi Nigeria Oumou Sy Senegal

Further 1998 Prince Claus Awards Rakhshan Bani-Etemad Iran Heri Dono Indonesia Ticio Escobar Paraguay Jyotindra Jain India Jean-Baptiste Kiéthéga Burkina Faso David Koloane South Africa Baaba Maal Senegal Carlos Monsiváis Mexico Redza Piyadasa Malaysia Nazek Saba-Yared Lebanon Rogelio Salmona Colombia Kumar Shahani India Tian Zhuang Zhuang China The 1998 Prince Claus Awards speech was delivered by Carlos Fuentes The 1998 Prince Claus Awards performance was an African Fashion Show

1997 Principal Prince Claus Award Zimbabwe International Book Fair Zimbabwe Further 1997 Prince Claus Awards Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa Senegal Index on Censorship UK Sardono W. Kusumo Indonesia Malangatana Valente Ngwenya Mozambique Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia Ghana Bruno Stagno Costa Rica Jim Supangkat Indonesia Abdeljelil Temimi Tunisia Ernest Wamba-dia-Wamba Tanzania

The 1997 Prince Claus Awards speeches were delivered by Kwasi Wiredu and Yvonne Vera

Published and produced by the Prince Claus Fund, AmsterdamEditors Fariba Derakhshani, Barbara MurrayEditorial assistants Isabel Mora Le Moyne, Chloe BergerDesign Irma Boom Office, AmsterdamPrinting Lenoirschuring, Amstelveen

Prince Claus FundHerengracht 6031017 CE AmsterdamThe Netherlands

T +31.20.344.9160F [email protected]

© 2015, Prince Claus Fund

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the Prince Claus Fund and the copyright holders. Copyright permissions have been sought from all copyright holders.

ISBN 978-90-822913-2-2

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