ECF is delighted to announce the new ECF Princess Margriet Award laureates for 2014 – Teatro Valle Occupato from Rome and Teodor Celakoski from Zagreb. The sixth ECF Princess Margriet Award will be presented at an official ceremony at BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts, in Brussels on 18 March 2014.

“Teatro Valle Occupato and Teodor Celakoski are very inspiring for all who are struggling against the wave of austerity measures and privatisation that have been threatening the sustainability of cultural institutions crucial for artistic and community life to flourish. We see once again that collective forms of action based on shared responsibility are presenting innovative and alternative models across many spheres, not only that of culture. This is what needs to be recognized, celebrated and upheld.”

— Rana Zincir Celal, Jury member

Teatro Valle Occupato saved Italy’s oldest theatre from an uncertain future in 2011 by occupying it. Since then, the loose-knit collective of performers, directors, technicians and citizens has transformed the space into one of Europe’s most ground-breaking cultural venues reinvigorating cultural life in the heart of Rome. The group focuses on keeping the Teatro Valle alive and open to all by using non-hierarchical decision making to involve greater democratic participation. In constructing and defending culture as a common activity, this community inspires similar initiatives all over Europe. The jury has chosen to award the Teatro Valle Occupato in recognition of its collective energy in making culture a space for people to join in, where culture becomes a process that produces new values and forms of social life.

“It is precisely the precarious conditions felt by countries hardest hit by the financial crisis that Teodor Celakoski and the collectives he works with and Teatro Valle Occupato are trying to address and to overcome. For many countries, these new models of cultural collaboration and not to forget self organisation are ways to lead us out of the mess. The future of cultural institutions and cultural makers will be determined by these initiatives, and the question of the commons, which has political questions beyond art, is a very important message of solidarity.”

— Chris Dercon, Jury member

Guided by the idea that culture can be an agent for transformation,Teodor Celakoski has brought together and mobilised a broad range of citizens to explore new forms of public agency. Among his key initiatives are the Multimedia Institute with its cultural center MaMa as a junction of various communities focusing on digital culture, human rights and critical theory; Clubture, a collaborative platform which connects independent cultural organisations in Croatia; and Right to the City (Prova na Grad), an alliance engaging citizens and communities against the privatisation of urban commons. The jury described Celakoski as a pivotal figure in shaping Croatia’s independent cultural scene and praised him for his commitment to making real democratic processes possible.

In going beyond the traditional spheres of culture, Teodor Celakoski and Teatro Valle Occupato show us how collective forms of action can tangibly influence a wider civil sphere. As the economic crisis leads to public spending cuts in many countries, citizens and collectives are mobilising to create alternatives to neoliberal orthodoxies.

The international jury’s choice is very much in tune with ECF’s thematic focus on the role culture plays in engaging people in their community wielding new possibilities of democratic participation.

The Jury for the sixth ECF Princess Margriet Award is comprised of:

• Bojana Cvejic, Performance theorist and maker, Brussels/Belgrade
• Rana Zincir Celal, Program Manager, Columbia Global Centers | Turkey and Executive Board Member, Anadolu Kultur
• Chris Dercon, Director, Tate Modern, London
• Christian Esch, Director, NRW Kultursekretariat, Wuppertal
• Els van der Plas, General Director, Muziektheater, Amsterdam

?> via culturalfoundation.eu