Openingstoespraak van Prinses Laurentien tijdens de Routes Award ceremony 2009 in de Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg te Brussel, België, 26 januari 2010

Toespraak | 26-01-2010

Excellencies, dear laureates, dear friends,

There is an interesting dynamic about getting together on an annual basis. It is an art to strike the right balance between making it an uplifting reunion of old friends, telling each other familiar stories, and attracting new friends, bringing in surprising viewpoints. In particular, arts and culture have the power to bring comfort and provoke at the same time. And this is precisely where the European Cultural Foundation sits: in the delicate but exciting spot between comfort and the provocative, between what we know and what we like to explore.

All this to say that I am delighted to see both familiar and new faces, in an exciting new location. A reunion to rally behind a European award that honours and supports those active in arts and culture who reveal the complex reality of our cultural diversity.

Let me try and briefly capture why I believe the Routes Award is so important.

The very origin of the Award is of course very dear to me - it is a joint tribute by the ECF, and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture of the Netherlands to Princess Margriet´s outstanding dedication to furthering the cause of culture across Europe during her longstanding Presidency of the ECF. So an award to outstanding personalities dedicated to groundbreaking work in the area of cultural diversity is a natural fit.

A second reason why this award matters has to do with the theme of diversity that the award aims to promote. In an intrinsically diverse Europe, we are all trying to understand how people of different languages, memories and beliefs can live, move, meet and mingle within each other and within Europe's changing landscape. At ECF we view and value diversity as a central component of our European "tissue". But we are all too aware that cultural diversity can neither be taken for granted nor can it be ignored. This award therefore acknowledges the existence, necessity and complexity of cultural diversity.

And then thirdly, the very name of the award. Why "Routes"? Old friends who were here last year will recall how then laureate Professor Stuart Hall gave his take on the name:

"The past is being transformed before our very eyes and some are being deeply unhinged, by the forces of contemporary globalisation. It has therefore become imperative to think more about our 'routes' - that is to say, the very different pathways which different cultures, people, traditions, languages and religions have taken to the present; which have brought us into, and convened us - some would say conscripted us all - to the same spaces and times in an increasingly globalised world."

ECF explores these routes in an attempt to untangle the many strands of cultural diversity as a concept and a reality within our complex, ever-changing world. At ECF, we are a catalyst for the power of culture to open up public debate and civil engagement in identifying and building our common society. We therefore want to engage as many people as possible in bringing to the fore Europe's cultural richness. For us, this award is a clear and visible sign of this intent, as well as one of the means by which we hope to achieve our goal.
We talk about inspiring but sometimes distant and abstract notions of culture. But arts and culture are about people. In the end, it is precisely the creativity of artists that fuels their leadership from a societal perspective. Their authentic imagination reveals the challenges of our time and complexities at the heart of our societies. Their imagination can shed a different and refreshing light on those challenges and complexities.

Just this morning, I had the great honour to participate as an artist in a panel discussion about the possible role of artists in the debate about climate change. The event gathered policy-makers, scientists, NGOs and indeed artists. We talked about our different artistic ways of expressing ourselves on climate change - through film, dance, fiction writing… Some saw themselves as activists, others as facilitators. There were voices of anger and protest, and voices of hope and empowerment. Whatever the motivations, the language and metaphors used to discuss climate change was unusual, energizing and inspirational. I see it as a case in point about the power of culture that some of you here, also attended this climate change event!

Similarly, the Routes Award recognises artists, thinkers and cultural players whose work causes us to look - and look again and differently - at diversity. Not in a static way, but in a way that inspires debate around the complex interaction that takes place between people and cultures in our societies.

This brings me to the laureates of this year's ECF Princess Margriet Routes Award. As you saw, they are two outstanding personalities, who make a real difference through their work: cultural activist and founding Director of Belgrade's Centre for Cultural Decontamination, Borka Pavićević, and the internationally-acclaimed Swiss theatre-maker Stefan Kaegi. Interestingly, they live and work in very different spheres. They themselves and in their work, they stand for the complexity of cultural diversity itself:

Borka Pavićević, dramaturge and Director of the Centre for Cultural Decontamination, is being honoured for the commitment, bravery and imagination she has shown in creating a place and possibilities for culture as a public voice against intolerance, xenophobia and cultural homogenisation. Theatre-maker Stefan Kaegi has been chosen for his engaging documentary theatre productions which show the hidden lives and minds behind our globalised social landscapes. Princess Margriet will read the laudatio´s.

The laureates were chosen by an independent jury of exceptional individuals. We are grateful for their time, expertise and thoroughness. As it so happens, their choices reflect the many-faceted cultural expressions that the ECF wishes to honour and to share with a broader audience. These choices underline our deeply-held belief that cultural diversity cannot be reduced to a simplistic notion. We are all in constant search to understand it, balancing between comfort and a desire for the provocative.

The Routes Award is also a strong statement of the values embedded in the Foundation's other activities aimed at making unheard voices, heard. We believe in the need for enabling positive and previously unheard voices to be heard and listened to, hopefully. We work with partners to inspire narratives that bring a renewed understanding of Europe - narratives that can engage all generations and especially empower the next generation of Europeans to build a future together.

In developing these narratives, we must realise that young people already live and experience Europe in a totally different way than their parents, let alone grandparents. For one, young Europeans have a different notion of borders and boundaries: they have never experienced the geographical borders within Europe. And to them, there´s nothing new about what older generations call new media; it is their daily reality! As someone from the Danube Foundation - a network of young committed Europeans - put it: "Dreaming is possible again; we have to claim Europe and shape it with our own ideals and stories. Engagement with other Europeans and the exchange of ideas are essential for creating shared stories and leaving our prejudices behind."

For us at ECF, it is a privilege to be part of a movement that dares to be ambitious and positive about the European project. We look forward to engaging with strong partners and contributing to this process. I am convinced that the Routes Award is a fitting honour and support to those artistic and cultural voices from different regions of Europe that have the power to really make a difference, to shape and to tell new narratives for Europe.
I wish you an inspiring gathering with memorable encounters and being touched by both old and new stories.

Thank you.