Prince Claus Fund Network News
Annette is leaving us (sniff, sniff) and Joumana is back (we're so happy), but you will see Annette during the awards ceremonies and we might even be able to smuggle her into one of the meetings.
Reserve your dates for the Prince Claus Awards and the Network Committee Meeting
December 2nd 2008: arrival and reception at the mayor
December 3rd 2008: individual meetings and Awards Ceremony
December 4th 2008: 1st day of Network Committee Meeting
December 5th 2008: 2nd day of Network Committee Meeting
December 6th 2008: departure
Ticket reservations by partners themselves
Tickets should be reserved and paid by each one of you individually (the non-active partners will then send their invoices to Joumana).
Proposal for the December Network Committee Meeting; Please let Joumana know what you think
As a follow-up to the discussion on sustainability in Senegal, Partners can explain the nature of their collaboration with the Fund and how partnerships work with other funders.
December 3rd 2008
Individual meetings with Joumana will be scheduled but also use this morning if you wish to schedule meetings with other partners.
December 4th 2008
Presentation by each partner of their collaboration under the Network Partnership Program. As many partners have expressed an interest to know what other organizations are doing with the Prince Claus Fund, we thought it would be useful for each partner to explain their partnership activities with the Fund. This will give everyone a better idea of what others are doing, how they work and what specifically they are doing with the Fund. We will also discuss the intentions, expectations and results of the joint activities in the PCF partnerships.
December 5th 2008
Morning session: Presentations of the other partnerships of each organization: Each partner will be asked to describe other partnerships that it has (financial or other) and how these partnerships function. The idea here is, on the one hand to share information about the different organizations and, on the other hand to see how other partnerships function and whether or in what ways they differ from a Prince Claus Fund partnership.
Afternoon session: Discussion of the PCF Network Partnership paragraph and its use for communication, the next committee meeting, conclusion and evaluation of the December Committee meeting. Other agenda suggestions are welcome.
The final version: a paragraph on Network Partnership for use on all our websites
An open, mutually beneficial exchange based on respect and trust. That is the core of The Prince Claus Fund’s Network Partnership Programme. Each year the Fund invites two cultural organisations with their own established networks in Asia, Africa, Latin America or the Caribbean to become Network Partners for 3 years. The partners and the Fund build a relationship through working together on innovative activities, giving advice, inspiration and support and sharing the experience of their networks.
Read more for the Calendar of Events related to the 2008 Prince Claus Awards
Can you help?
Message from the Awards Team
You have all received the nomination request for the 2009 Prince Claus Awards on ‘Culture and Nature’. As we are still urgently looking for new nominators and nominations, we would kindly ask you to send your contributions to Fariba de Bruin-Derakhshani (f.debruin@princeclausfund.nl) or Merel Oord (m.oord@princeclausfund.nl)
What's new?
News from the Ecole des Sables
First the very good news : The HIVOS Foundation in Holland decided to support the Ecole des Sables financially for 2 years sure and eventually 3 years. That's an important step for us.
L'Ecole des Sables had a very busy summer. The month of July a groupe of dancers, actors, mime artists from Lyoncame to the Ecole des Sables to study traditional and contemporary African Dances and work with the people from the fishing village Toubab Dialaw (fishermen, wrestlers, football players, rappers, theatre groupe) setting up public happenings and performances in different places of the village. This work was a big success and created an even better relationship between the School and the village people.
This project was followed by a 6 weeks workshop for 25 dancers from Holland together with 15 senegales dancers. Another strong experience for everybody in the middle of the rainy season with heavy rain showers which transformed the savanna landscape into a lush green almost dschungel [that’s German for rainforest ! editor].
More news from l'Ecole des Sables
News from Videobrasil
Halter and Lamas undertake residencies in Brazil
Awarded by the Videobrasil Residency Programme at the 16th Videobrasil (2007), artists Federico Lamas, from Argentina, and Dan Halter, from Zimbabwe, will arrive in Brazil in September to start exchange programmes in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The winner of the FAAP Digital Arts Prize, Lamas will stay at the Lutetia Building, which houses the foundation’s artistic residency programme. His project consists of spending time letting himself be influenced by the surroundings. “I was never able to dedicate 100 percent of my time to a personal project. I am eager to learn what processes are going to lead me to the work, rather than what the result will be,” he asserts. The author of pieces such as Roger and Weekend, Lamas will bring to São Paulo some VJ sets that he has just finished, and plans on presenting here. Halter, who will take up a two-month-long residency at Capacete Entretenimentos, made possible by the Prince Claus Fund, is coming from two group exhibitions in South Africa and a residency in Zurich, Switzerland, also with no plans in place. “I have been working with the plastic cases that have become a symbol for refugees worldwide, and with the names they are called in each location, which are quite revealing of the predominant nationality of immigrants in each country,” he says. In one of the installations he created using the bags, he combines them with the eight-bit characters in Space Invaders, a game from the 1970s.
Alex and David Beesley feature in Dossier
The expectations and dreams of prostitutes that wander through the night in Melbourne, Australia, are portrayed in animated documentary Revolving Door, which won the Contemporary Investigations/Acquisition Prize at the 16th Videobrasil (2007). The theme of the new edition of FF>>Dossier, filmmakers Alexandra and David Beesley are known for the critical, yet close-up stance with which they approach prostitution, as well as for their unusual choice of languages, such as animation. According to them, the idea was born from the need, common in documentary films, to protect the identity of real characters. However, for Paul Wells, a professor and theoretician specializing in animation who wrote the Essay for the Dossier, the use of this language allows for much more than just that. “Crucially, animated film uniformly challenges the orthodoxies of traditional ‘live-action’ cinema, by offering up different ways of imagining ourselves, and by revising the ‘realism’ embedded in conventional representations of the material world,” he writes. “Revolving Door is a resonant example of the ways in which animation can be used to challenge the limitations of photographic record.”
more: www.videobrasil.org.br/ffdossier
Drik’s 19 years old!
Drik completed its 19th year on 4th September 2008. A memorable evening of reminiscing and sharing of experiences took place at the Drik Gallery on 11 September. Emphasizing on its theme of the year ‘Freedom’ Drik focused on the 1971 Liberation War memories and invited celebrated photographers who preserved Bangladesh’s most beloved and bitter event in still images; Rashid Talukder, Naib Uddin Ahmed, Aftab Ahmed, Abdul Hamid Raihan and Jalaluddin Haider.
Each of the veteran photographers spoke of their experiences to kindle memories and inspired those present – Drik’s fellow compatriots and well-wishers.The evening was concluded by serving Iftar (meal taken to break the religious fast during the month of September, Ramadan).
Drik Partnerships
(www.drik.net/ini-drik-partnership)
August 2008 successfully concluded Drik’s fourth phase in the Drik/Fredskorpset South-South partnership facilitating exchange of personnel amongst South Asian countries like Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan. Drik as the lead partner manages the exchanges and funds facilitated by Fredskorpset of Norway (www.fredskorpset.no). It now moves onto its fifth and final phase of exchange.
Nobel Peace Prize films and documentaries
(www.viddler.com/explore/GrameenBank/videos/4/497.711) Drik’s AV department took on the project of ‘localising’ the Nobel Media Centre films and documentaries of Professor Muhammad Yunus, the Grameen Bank and the Peace Prize ceremonies from English to Bangla versions. All films had to be transcribed, edited, voiced-over, subtitled in English and audio balanced. The finished versions are now on display in the audio visual lounge of the permanent exhibition on the 11th floor of the Grameen bank building. This was an important and successful nationalistic project undertaken by Drik as a whole.
Report of CER discussion on Resisting Urbicide: Restoring Palestinian Heritage
On 11 September, at the Gemak Centre for Art and Poitical Debate, the Prince Claus Fund and its Cultural Emergency Response (CER) programme organized the public discussion “Resisting Urbicide: Restoring: Palestinian heritage” in cooperation with the Open Academy in The Hague and The Hague Municipal Museum.
Urbicide is a term which stands for the destruction of the urban identity, a process which often happens intentionally during times of conflict. In post-war reconstruction, the restoration of cultural heritage is of enormous interest for repairing the values and sense of identity of people living in the affected areas. This lies at the core of what the Cultural Emergency Response Programme of the Prince Claus Fund seeks to achieve by providing quick and effective financial support to cultural heritage damaged or destroyed by man-made or natural disasters.
The destruction of urban identity was central to the discussion with the Palestinian architect Dr Nurhan Abudjidi. In 2007 Dr Abudjidi presented her doctoral dissertation on urbicide and the destruction of urban identity in Palestine. She now lectures at the Free University of Brussels and specializes in Palestinian cultural heritage, urban warfare and collective memory. read more
Read more about projects supported by the Prince Claus Fund
